neuter < ne (not) + uter (either): neither
(neither one nor the other; neither of the two)
Uter puer
aegrotat, Mārcusne an Quīntus? │ Which boy is ill, Marcus or Quintus?
> Neuter puer,
¦ nec Mārcus nec Quīntus. │ Neither boy, neither
Marcus nor Quintus.
Neuter eōrum [masc.] vēnit. │ Neither
of them came.
Neutra eārum [fem.] vēnit. │ Neither of
them came.
Neutra aciēs laeta ex eō certāmine abiit. (Livy)
│ Neither army (battle-line) went off rejoicing from that battle.
mēcum ubi est, tēcum
est tamen; tēcum ubi autem est, mēcum ibi autemst: [i] neuter [ii] neutrī
[dative case with the verb invideō] invidet (Plautus) │ when she's with
me, still she's with you; and when she's with you, she's with me as well: [i] neither
of us envies [ii] the other.
A few more
off-beat examples from Adler:
Utrum nauta baculum meum, an saccum meum
habet ? Neutrum habet. │ Does the sailor have my stick or my
sack? He has neither.
Utrum vēndere vult equum hunc an illum? Neutrum
vēndere vult. │ Does he want to sell this horse or that one? │ He wants
to sell neither [ = he doesn’t want to sell either (of
them)]
Utrum occīdere vult gallīnam hanc an
illam? Neutram occīdere vult. │ Does he want to kill this hen or that
one? He wants to kill neither [ = he doesn’t want to kill either
(of them)]
Māluntne loquī
potius, quam scrībere? Neutrum libenter faciunt. │ Do they prefer to
speak rather than (to) write? │ They prefer doing neither.
Exercise: Complete the Latin
sentences with the appropriate form of neuter:
[1] He doesn’t
want to marry either [one (f.)] of them [f.] │ ____ eārum in mātrimōnium
dūcere vult.
[2] He wrote
neither letter. │ ____ litterās
scrīpsit.
[3] Neither of
them [m.] seems very strong to me. │ ____ eōrum mihi valdē fortis
vidētur.
[4] The walls of
neither city are high. │ Moenia
____ urbis alta sunt.
[5] We must help
neither of them [ = we mustn’t help either of them].
│ ____ eōrum iuvāre
dēbēmus.
[6] Julia isn’t in
either cottage / is in neither cottage. │ Iūlia est in _____ casā.
[7] The boy is
neither’s son / isn’t the son of either [of them] │ _____ fīlius est puer.
neuter; neutrā; neutram; neutrās; neutrīus; neutrīus; neutrum
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