24.02.27: Level 3+ (review); correlatives [7] making comparisons (4) quō … eō; quantō … tantō; quālis … tālis …

[xii] quō … eō … [or: eō … quō …]

[xiii] quantō … tantō … [or: tantō … quantō …]

Both used in combination with a comparative adjective or adverb:

the more (the … er) ….  the more (the … er) e.g. the bigger the better

hominēs quō plūra habent eō cupiunt ampliōra

• The more men have, the more they desire.

quō minus cupiditātis, eō plūs auctōritātis (Livy)

• the less greed, the more weight

quae eō frūctuōsiōrēs fīunt, quō caldiōre terrā arātur (Varro)

• and they become more fruitful the warmer the ground in which ploughing takes place

quantō pulchrior tempestās erat, tantō fēlīciōrēs erāmus

• The nicer the weather was, the happier we were.

quantō erat gravior oppūgnātiō, tantō crēbriōrēs litterae mittēbantur (Caesar)

• The more severe the siege was, the more frequently letters were sent.

atque quantō, nox, fuistī longior hāc proximā, tantō brevior diēs ut fīat faciam (Plautus)

• and, Night, the longer you were than the last one, I’ll make the day so much the shorter.

quantō in pectore hanc rem meō magis volātō, tantō mī aegritūdō auctior est in animō (Plautus)

The more I keep this matter flying about in my heart [ = the more I think it over], the more my distress is increased [ = grows] in my mind.

[xiv] tālis … quālis … [or: quālis … tālis …] | of such a sort … as …

cum esset tālis quālem tē esse videō (Cicero)

• since he was such a man as I see you are

Ac sī quis est tālis quālis esse omnis oportēbat … (Cicero)

• And if there is anyone such as everybody ought to be … 

et tālis est quaeque rēs pūblica, quālis eius aut nātūra aut voluntās, quī illam regit (Cicero)

• And each state is of such a kind as either the nature or the will of the person who rules it.

A number of proverbs illustrate not only the use of this correlative but also the way in which English often does not translate them using a restricted dictionary definition as it literally occurs in Latin:

[1]

Quālis pater, tālis fīlius.

Like father, like son.

Nōn semper homō tālis est, quālis (esse) dīcitur. [Lit: He’s not always the sort of man as he’s said to be.]

• A man is not always as he is said to be.

[2]

Quālia dīxerīs, tālia audiēs. [Lit: Such things you might say, so you will hear.]

• Whatever you say, you will hear the same, i.e. If you speak good (or bad) things about other people, you will hear the same about yourself.

Tālia dicentur tibi, quālia dīxerīs ipse. [Lit: Such things will be said to you as you will say yourself.]

• Whatever you say will be said to you.

[3]

Quālis homō, tālis sermō. [Lit: As is the man, so is his speech.]

Quālia verba virī, tālis et ipse vir est. [Lit: As are the words of the man, so too is the man himself.]

Both convey the same idea:

• A man is what he says / a man is determined by his words.

Tālīs hominum ōrātiō, quālis vīta. [Lit: Such is the speech of men, so is their life.]

• Men’s words show the life they lead.

[4]

Quālīs vīs vidērī, tālis estō. [Lit: As you wish to be seen, be such]

• Be the way you want to appear.

Quālēs sumus, tālēs esse videāmur. [Lit: Let us be seen to be such as we are.]

• Let’s not pretend to be something that we’re not.