Again, we can use Vincent’s video from the previous post to
review some of the ways that Latin uses cases and verb tenses
[A] Case usage
Genitive case
Satis ¦ temporis: enough time; literally enough
¦ of time (Fr: assez de temps; Russ: dostachono [+
genitive] vremeni)
Deī ¦ gratiā │ by the grace ¦ of God
Hoc est maximī ¦ momentī │This is ofvery
great ¦ importance= this is very important
Accusative case
Illam terram valdē amō. │ I really
love that region.
in mentem vēnit │ came into my
mind; accusative when something moves from one place into or ontoanother
Soleō facere pelliculās │ I usually make films
Sed etiam faciō aliās rēs │But I also do
other things
Et oportet cūrāre et mentem et corpus │ And
it is necessary to (you have to / one has to) look after both the mind and the
body
Ablative case
[i] prepositions:
in + ablative: in; on
in cubiculō meō │ in my
bedroom
in culīnā │ in the kitchen
in umbrā │ in the shadow
in studiīs et etiam in lūdīsāthlēticīs │
in (my) studies and also in athletics
sine + ablative: without
sine corpore sānō: without a
healthy body
[ii] As mentioned before, the ablative has many uses that
convey adverbial phrases in English; there is no purpose in sitting down and
trying to learn them all at the same time. They also all have their own
grammatical terms. They frequently occur in the literature and so pick them up
as you go along; I have picked out the ones that matter at the moment.
mēnsē proximō │ next month; ablative
of time when i.e. expressing a specific point or period in
time
praeteritō annō │ last year
hīs diēbus │ these days
Deī ¦ grātiā │by the grace of God;
ablative of means / instrument i.e. by what means is the
action performed; it is also used with physical objects e.g mīles hostem ¦
gladiō¦ necāvit │ the soldier killed the enemy ¦ with a sword
Et oportet cūrāre et mentem et corpus ¦ magnā dīligentiā.
│ And you need to took after both the mind and the body ¦ with great
care
cūrāte … ut valeātis ¦ mente et corpore │
See to it … that you are healthy in the mind and in the body; in
grammar this is known as the ablative of specification which
is not easy to define: you should take care of your health – in what respect?
– in terms of the mind and the body.
[B] Tense usage
Present tense
cēnat │ he is having dinner
faciō │ I do
tempus tam cito fugit │ time flies / is flying so quickly
Vincent’s videos are a great
resource for review; he uses vocabulary and many constructions that have been
covered in earlier posts. And he speaks Latin in a very natural manner.
I will deal with the video
in three stages; this is the first stage
[i] transcript / translation
/ vocabulary; in the video he does use a couple of constructions that are more
advanced and so, I will mark them in italics but will not deal
with them in any depth at this stage either in this post or the next ones.
1. Tempus fugit. │Time
flies.
2. Salvēte, Vincentius loquor.
│ Hello, this is Vincent speaking. [lit: I, Vincent, am
speaking.]
3. Soleō facere pelliculās
in cubiculō meō. │I usually make movies in my bedroom. [lit: I’m in the habit
of making …]
4. Sed nunc in culīnā sum.
│But now I’m in the kichen.
5. Et vidētur frāter meus
illīc. │ And you can see my brother over there. [lit: my brother is seen …]
6. In umbrā cēnat. │He’s
having dinner in the dark [lit: shadow]
7. Est diēs duodētrīcēsimus
mēnsis Maiī. │It’s the 28th of May.
8. Et hodiē mihi in mentem
vēnit huius reī. │ And today this thought came into my mind.
9. Mox erō duodētrīgintā
annōs nātus. │I shall soon be 28 years old. [lit: I shall have been born for 28
years.]
10. Tempus tam cito fugit.
│Time flies so quickly.
11. Nōlō fierī senior. │I
don’t want to get older.
12. Sed nōn possum hoc
vītāre. │ But I can’t avoid this.
13. Tempus nōn possum
sistere. │I can’t stop time.
14. Quid dēbeō facere
igitur? │ What, therefore, must I do?
15. Oportet bene ūtītempore.
│I have to use (my) time well.
16. Praeteritō annō coepī
currere. │Last year I started running.
17. Et currēbam multum. │And
I used to run a lot.
18. Cotīdiē, ferē cotīdiē.
│Every day, almost every day.
19. Nunc autem iam nōn
possum invenīre satis temporis. │But now I can no longer find enough time.
20. Sed etiam faciō aliās
rēs quae necessāriae sunt. │But I also do other things which are necessary.
21. Quantum fierī potest … │
As much as possible …
22. … cōnor exercēre
mē in studiīs et etiam in lūdīs āthlēticīs. │ I try to train myself in studies
and in athletic games [athletics]
23. Interdum errō.
│Sometimes I make a mistake.
24. Sed saltem cōnor ferē
cotīdiē fierī melior quam heri. │But at least almost every day I try to become
/ make myself better than yesterday.
25. Deī grātiā hīs
diēbus fruor optimā valētūdine. │ By the grace of God, I
enjoy excellent health these days.
26. Hoc est maximī mōmentī.
│This is most important.
27. Quia sine corpore sānō
nōn est facile exercēre mentem. │ Because without a healthy body it isn’t easy
to exercise the mind.
28. Et oportet cūrāre et
mentem et corpus magnā dīligentiā. │ And you need to [lit: it is necessary to]
look after both the mind and the body with great care.
29. Ad celebrandum
diem nātālem meum itinera faciam, dua itinera, saltem dua. │To
celebrate my birthday I shall go on a trip, two trips, at least two.
30. Mēnsē proximō ībō prīmum
ad Iowa ad amīcum vīsitandum. │ Next month I’ll first go to
Iowa to visit a friend.
31. Is fīet sacerdōs. │He’ll
become a priest.
32. Mox ōrdinābitur. │ Soon
he’ll be ordained.
33. Et deinde iterum itinerābor ad
Arizonam. │ And then I’ll travel to Arizona again.
34. Quod illam terram valdē
amō. │Because I really love that region.
35. Bene, cūrāte sodālēs ut
valeātis mente et corpore. │OK, friends, take care of your mental and physical
health. [lit: …see to it, friends, that you are healthy in the mind and in the
body]
Vocabulary
[1] Nouns
1st declension
terra, -ae [1/f]: land; territory; region
umbra, -ae [1/f]: shadow
2nd declension
cubiculum, -ī [2/m]: bedroom
culīna, -ae [1/f] kitchen
lūdus, -ī [2/m]: game
momentum, -ī [2/n]: importance
3rd declension
corpus, coporis [3/m]: body
frāter, frātris [3/m]: brother
iter, itineris [3/n]: journey
mēns, mentis [3/f]: mind
sacerdōs, sacerdōtīs [3/m]: priest
tempus, temporis [3/n]: time
valētūdō, valētūdinis [3/f]: (state of) health
5th declension
diēs, -ēī [5m/f]: day
rēs, -eī [5/f]: thing; matter; issue
[2] adjectives
1st / 2nd declension adjectives
āthlēticus, -a, -um: athletic
necessārius, -a, -um: necessary
praeteritus, -a, -um: past
proximus, -a, -um: (or, depending on context, last)
sānus, -a, -um: healthy
These next two take the exact same endings as any other 1st
/ 2nd declension adjectives, but they are known specifically as superlative forms
e.g. the biggest, the smallest etc.
optimus, -a, -um: (the) best; very good
maximus, -a, -um: (the) greatest
3rd declension adjectives
facilis, -e: easy
nātālis, -e: ‘natal’ i.e. relating to birth > diēs
natālis: birthday
senex, senis: old
Note: Nōlō fierī senior. │ I don’t want to get older.
What you see in [i] senior and [ii] optimus and maximus are
examples of
[i] the comparative i.e. older
[ii] the superlative i.e. (the) best
The comparatives and superlative forms have not been covered
in the group yet although they’ve been mentioned in passing.
[3] verbs
1st conjugation
amō, amāre [1]: love
cēnō, cēnāre [1]: have dinner
errō, errāre [1]: make a mistake
vītō, vītāre [1]: avoid
2nd conjugation
dēbeō, dēbēre [2]: owe; must / ought / should
exerceō, exercēre [2]: train; exercise
soleō, solēre [2]: be accustomed to / in the habit of (doing)
valeō, valēre [2]: be well / strong
3rd conjugation
currō, currere [3]: run
sistō, sistere [3]: stop
3rd-iō conjugation
fugiō, fugere [3-iō]: flee
4th conjugation
veniō, venīre [4]: come
inveniō, invenīre [4]: find
[4] Irregular verbs
fīō, fierī: become; be made
nōlō, nōlle: not want; refuse
possum, posse: be able; can
[5] pronouns / demonstratives (more on this
in a later connected post)
ille, illa, illud: that; that (man, woman, thing); he / she
/ it
is, ea, id: this / that (man, woman, thing); he / she / it
illam terram valdē amō │ I really love that region
In the first post reviewing the imperfect tense, I made up a
little story based on Little Red Riding Hood to show how the imperfect tense is
used.
Here are a few lines from the Roman poet Catullus (Catullus
8); we’re not studying the poem here, and so I shall give a translation and
then focus on how he uses the imperfect tenses.
Don’t be concerned about other aspects of the grammar; the
poem will be looked at again later.
Catullus has just broken up with his girlfriend, Lesbia.
That’s a long story! In the poem he is sitting talking to
himself:
Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre, │ Miserable Catullus, stop
playing the fool
et quod vidēs perīsse perditum dūcās. │ And what you see has
perished, consider it lost
Fulsēre quondam candidī tibī sōlēs, │ Bright suns once shone
for you
cum ventitābās quō puella dūcēbat │
When you would always come to wherever the girl led you.
amāta nōbīs quantum amābitur nūlla. │ loved by us as
no girl will ever be loved.
Ibi illa multa cum iocōsa fīēbant, │ There when
those many playful things happened / took place
quae tū volēbās nec puella nōlēbat,
│ which you wanted, nor did the
girl refuse
[1] All of those imperfect tenses show what the
relationship used to be like habitually and over a period of
time.
[Line 4] …quō puella dūcēbat: to wherever the
girl used to lead you / would lead you i.e. she kept leading
him on…
[Line 4] cum ventitābās │ when you
would always come; a small point to note: some Latin verbs can
add a suffix: veniō, venīre [4]: come; ventitō, ventitāre [1]: often
come i.e. the suffix can in itself imply repetition or intensity:
clāmō, clāmāre [1]: shout; clāmitō, clāmitāre [1]: yell, but
it suggests more than a single shout; the yelling goes on and on
dictō, dictāre [1]: repeat; dictitō, dictitāre [1]: say (it
again and again)
[Line 4] Ventitābās quō puella dūcēbat │ When you
would always come to wherever the girl led you.
The impression I have of that line, and the imperfect tenses
- especially 'ventitābās' - emphasise it, is that Catullus was completely
smitten by her, and, almost like a little puppy, kept on following his
“mistress”.
[Line 6] Ibi illa multa cum iocōsa fīēbant │ There
when those many playful things used to take place; so, whatever
“playful things” were happening, they were happening frequently! But they’re
not happening now.
[Line 7] quae tū volēbās nec puella nōlēbat,
│ which you wanted, nor did the
girl refuse i.e. that was what they both felt over a period of
time; whatever playful things they were up to, Catullus kept on wanting them,
and she was not in the habit of refusing him!
[2] Three important verbs: [i] fiō, fieri (become; take
place) [ii] volō, velle (want) and [iii] nōlō, nōlle: not want / refuse; they
have been discussed in previous posts. There is also information in the files.
And I’ve posted an image of Lesbia looking utterly tired of
him, and Catullus writing his poem.
It was a dark and stormy night. The
wind was howling through the trees, bats were flying overhead
and people were rushing to shelter from the rain.
Phrases connected with the weather or other natural
conditions were covered in earlier posts, but here are some in the imperfect
tense:
1. Nox erat obscūra et in caelō pallida
lūna fulgēbat. │ The night was dark and in the sky
a pale moon was shining.
2. Lūna lūcēbat tamquam merīdiē.
(Petronius) │ The moon was shining as if it was still midday.
3. Statim urceātim pluēbat. (Petronius)
│Immediately it started to rain in bucketfuls.
4. Intus igne calēscēbat dīvīnō. (Thomas of
Celano) │ Inside he was growing warm with a divine heat.
5. Sōl splendēbat, nūllus ventus flābat, frīgora
erant, ex arboribus pendēbat pruīna vitrea. │ The
sun was shining, no wind was blowing, it was cold,
and a glassy hoarfrost hung from the trees.
[frīgus, frīgoris [3/n]: cold (but often seen in the
plural)]
6. Tōta īllā nocte continenter … ningēbat (Royal
Society 1789) │ It was snowing continuously that whole night.
7. Iam nāvibus cinis incīdēbat, …, calidior et
dēnsior (Pliny) │ Now ash, hotter and thicker, was falling upon
the ships
8. … et iam lūcēscēbat (Livy) │ And
now day was appearing (it was dawning)
9. ūnō tempore et longās nāvēs… aestus complēbat,
et onerāriās … tempestās adflīctābat (Caesar) │ at the same
time, the tide began to fill the ships of war, and the
storm began to dash the ships of burden
And here is one final
(slightly adapted) excerpt with translation, but without comments since all the
uses have come up in the previous posts. Every one of the verbs when translated
is in the English past simple tense, but all of them in Latin are in the
imperfect.
[1] Inter deōs Rōmānōs agricolae nōn sōlum Cererem sed
Bacchum quoque adōrābant et in summō honōre habēbant.
Bacchus enim vīnum hominibus dabat et multās artēs docēbat.
Ad Bacchī ārās agricolae dōna multa, et in prīmīs ūvās vīnumque iūcundum ferēbant,
et ārās flōribus laetīs pampinīsque ōrnābant.
Among the Roman gods, the farmers worshipped not
only Ceres, but also Bacchus, and held him in the highest
honour, for Bacchus gave wine to people and taught many
skills. The farmers brought many gifts to the altars of
Bacchus, and especially grapes and delicious wine, and they decorated the
altars with cheerful flowers and vine-leaves.
[2] Deus igitur vītēs Ītalicās cūrābat, et ā
perīculō dēfendēbat. Fōrmōsus erat deus, et, quod
vītēs amābat, capillōs suōs pampinīs saepe ōrnābat. Nec
Italōs Graecōsque sōlum docēbat, sed ad longinquās terrās nāvigābat,
aliīsque gentibus vīnum dabat, artēsque rūsticās docēbat.
The god therefore took care of the Italian
vines, and defended (them) from danger. The god was handsome,
and because he loved the vines, he often adorned his
hair with vine leaves. Nor did he teach only the Italians and
the Greeks, but he sailed to distant lands, and gave wine
to other nations, and taught rustic arts.
Image: apologies for the
irony, but the fresco depicts Bacchus, the god who, according to the text,
defended the vines from danger.
But he didn’t defend them
from what’s behind him: that’s Mount Vesuvius.
Tandem
in caelō columbās albās vidēbant. Columbae per caelum [undique] volābant
et folia ad locum herbōsum portābant. Parentēs ad locum contendērunt* et
ecce! īnfāns in herbā placidus impavidusque dormītābat; columbae in
terrā, in arboribus [passim] sedēbant; columbae per caelum volābant,
et parvulī corpus foliīs tegēbant. … Post multōs annōs Horātius, iam
adolēscēns, Rōmam, magnam urbem, incolēbat. Sed dīvīna rūra et vītam
rūsticam semper laudābat.
At last they saw white doves in the sky.
The doves were flying [in all directions] through the sky
and (were) carrying leaves to a grassy place. The parents
hurried* to the place and lo! The child was sleeping, peaceful and
undaunted, on the grass; doves sat [here and there /
everywhere] on the ground, in the trees; doves flew through
the sky, and covered the body of the child with leaves… After
many years Horatius, already a young man, inhabited Rome, a
great city. But he always praised the divine countryside and
the rustic life.
[* perfect tense: to be discussed soon after the review
topics are finished, but you can see the difference: they rushed to the place
i.e. they did it once and it was finished: not imperfect tense.]
Again, there are some similar uses to the ones in the
previous post:
Tandem in caelō columbās albās vidēbant. │
At last they saw [could see] white doves in the sky. They “were seeing” them
for a length of time.
Columbae per caelum [undique] volābant. │ The
doves were flying [in all directions]; an action in progress
and also a sense of randomness i.e. undique (in all
directions)
Folia ad locum herbōsum portābant. │They were
carrying leaves to a grassy place / a place full of grass; an action
in progress
Īnfāns in herbā placidus impavidusque dormītābat.
│ The child was sleeping, peaceful and undaunted, on the grass; an
action in progress; impavidus (fearless; undaunted) and so the
child wasn’t concerned; the child kept on sleeping would work
nicely here.
Columbae in terrā, in arboribus [passim] sedēbant. │ Doves were
sitting [here and there] on the ground, in the trees; again, an action
in progress and, again, the use of passim (here and there;
everywhere)
… et parvulī corpus foliīs tegēbant. │
…and were covering [kept covering] the child’s body
with leaves; an action in progress and the idea that they kept on doing it
would also work.
Post multōs annōs Horātius … Rōmam, magnam urbem, incolēbat.
│ After many years Horatius … inhabited [lived in] Rome, a
great city. The verb describes a general situation that happened over a period
of time with no sense of end.
Sed … vītam rūsticam semper laudābat. │ But he
always praised / used to praise … rural life; this was
something that he was in the habit of doing
Caelum iterum serēnum erat. Iam Rōmānī in Campō Mārtiō iterum ambulābant,
sed rēgem nusquam vidēbant. Mox autem Iūlius, iuvenis Rōmānus, per viam
Rōmānam iter ad urbem tenēbat. Subitō ā sinistrā, magnum et serēnum,
Rōmulum prope viam vidēbat.
The sky was clear again. Now / already the
Romans were walking again in the Campus Martius, but
they did not see the king anywhere. Soon, however, Julius, a
young Roman, was well on his way to the city by the Roman
road. Suddenly on the left he saw the great and serene Romulus
near the road.
1. Rōmānī in Campō Mārtiō iterum ambulābant. │The
Romans were walking again in the Campus Martius, i.e. like theEnglish
past continuous; this was an ongoing action, an action in progress
… sed rēgem nusquam vidēbant. │… but they did
not see the king anywhere. [“They couldn’t see him
anywhere” would work] i.e. they were looking around for him but “weren’t seeing
him”; of course, we don’t translate it that way but that is what’s implied as
is the sense of this action going on for a length of time
nusquam vidēbant │literally: they
saw him nowhere; there is a suggestion of "randomness"
i.e. everywhere they looked, they couldn't see them. Other examples of that are
in the next post.
2. iter ad urbem tenēbat │ [1]literally:
he was holding the road to the city (we still have it in: the
ship maintained its course towards the port) > [2] He was well on his way to
the city.
It’s a simple example but it makes the point. When
translating from Latin into your native language, I suggest the “two steps”:
[1] Translate it literally even if it sounds clumsy because
the literal translation matches the grammatical uses of the original Latin. [2]
Sit back and only then think about how it would be more fluently rendered in
your own language. But don’t bypass step [1]
And be wary of online translations of the Roman authors –
poetry in particular - because some translators think that they wrote
the Aeneid, and not Virgil, and sometimes go off on flights of fancy, writing
what they want to say, rather than what the original author
said! Schoolbooks and other textbooks stick as closely as they can to the
original and, if I’m translating quotations, I also try to do that otherwise
the translation can be misleading.
3. Here is a good example from Aquinas which also shows
another way the imperfect tense can be used.
nōn [hūc et illūc] [i] ībat, nec perambulābat vīcōs
et mūnicipia, sed [iī] iter tenēbat versus Ierusālem. │
He was not going [here and there] traversing the
villages and towns, but kept on his way straight towards
Jerusalem. Note the use of the imperfect to suggest [i] ‘randomness’ with no
sense of end, and that [ii] he kept on doing something but,
again, no suggestion that the action was completed.
A Russian speaker would recognise [i] immediately: Ya khodil
v parke; Russian uses an imperfective aspect meaning “I was
walking about in the park i.e. with no particular sense of
direction.
4. Subitō ā sinistrā … Rōmulum prope viam vidēbat.
│Suddenly he saw [could see]… Romulus near the road.
Think about: “I saw a little bird in a tree” but there is a
suggestion of a length of time; you didn’t suddenly see the bird and then look
away; you saw it / you could see it for a while. Latin is conveying that idea.
And that is also a general point: Roman authors may use
different tenses to convey different ideas, but just stick to the main uses
otherwise you end up tied in knots trying to work out why they used them!
In angulō Tiberis Campus Mārtius iacēbat. In Campō Mārtiō iuvenēs Rōmānī corpora dīligenter exercēbant. Ita firma et valida habēbant corpora. Post lūdōs in flāvīs Tiberis undīs natābant. Ita Tiberis corpora fessa recreābat. Hīc forte Rōmulus cīvibus suīs iūra dabat; bonōs cīvēs laudābat; malōs cīvēs culpābat.
At the corner of the Tiber lay the
Campus Martius (Field of Mars). In the Campus Martius the young Romans
diligently exercised / trained their bodies. Thus, they had firm
and strong bodies. After the games they swam in the yellow
waves of the Tiber. Thus the Tiber revived their tired bodies.
Here perhaps Romulus gave / issued laws to
his citizens; he praised good citizens; he blamed bad
citizens.
Again, we see the same uses:
In angulō Tiberis Campus
Mārtius iacēbat. │ The Field of Mars lay at the corner of the Tiber
i.e. it always lay there; it didn’t suddenly move somewhere
else!
Ita firma et valida habēbant corpora.
│ Thus, they had firm and strong bodies, i.e. that was the
general condition of their bodies over a period of time.
Actions which they used
to do or regularly did:
Corpora dīligenter exercēbant.
│ They diligently exercised / used to exercise their bodies.
In flāvīs Tiberis
undīs natābant. │They swam / used to swim / would swim in the
yellow waves of the Tiber.
Hīc forte Rōmulus cīvibus
suīs iūra dabat. │ Here Romulus perhaps used toissue laws
to his citizens.
bonōs cīvēs laudābat;
malōs cīvēs culpābat.│He would praise good
citizens; he would blame bad citizens.
Rōmulus erat Mārtis
fīlius. Mārs erat deus bellī et armōrum. Mīlitēs Rōmānī
Mārtem adōrābant et in Mārtis ārīs victimās mactābant.
Rōmulus igitur mīlitēs et arma vehementer amābat. Urbis Rōmae
prīmus rēx erat. Sed virī sōlum urbem habitābant; neque
uxōrēs neque sorōrēs habēbant.
Romulus was the
son of Mars. Mars was the god of war and weapons. Roman
soldiers worshipped Mars and sacrificed victims
on the altars of Mars. Romulus, therefore, greatly loved the
soldiers and weapons. He was the first king of the city of
Rome. But only men inhabited the city; they had neither
wives nor sisters.
So, the excerpt shows what
the general situation was over a period of time or actions that they habitually
performed
Rōmulus erat Mārtis
fīlius │ Romulus was the son of Mars.
Urbis Rōmae prīmus rēx erat.
│Romulus was the first king of the city of Rome.
Rōmulus igitur mīlitēs
… amābat. │ Romulus, therefore, greatly loved the
soldiers …. i.e. he didn’t love them one day and hate them the next (even if
they lost, which they sometimes did)
Sed virī sōlum urbem habitābant
│But only men inhabited the city.
...neque uxōrēs neque
sorōrēs habēbant. │They had neither wives nor
sisters.
Mīlitēs Rōmānī Mārtem adōrābant.
│Roman soldiers worshipped / used to worship / would
worship Mars
Mīlitēs Rōmānī … in Mārtis
ārīs victimās mactābant. │Roman soldiers made sacrifices on
the altars of Mars, i.e. it was something that they habitually did.
Apart from the present tense
of all the conjugations, two other tenses have been discussed in earlier posts:
[i] the imperfect tense
[ii] the future tense
Here, we’ll look again
at the imperfect tense and how it is used.
The word ‘imperfect’ in
everyday English suggests that something has not been done well, but its
original meaning – from Latin – is ‘un│finished’: im│perfectum.
French and German have
imperfect tenses: j’allais; ich ging. Russian uses an imperfective aspect in
its verbs.
English does not have a
single separate imperfect tense but uses a variety of constructions to convey
the following ideas:
[1] I was walking along
the road │ when I suddenly saw my friend.
was walking conveys
that an action that was ongoing – it wasn’t finished; in English grammar that
is called the past progressive / continuous i.e. it was in
progress.
[2] Little Red Riding
Hood used to visit her grandmother.
'Used to' conveys something
that a person did frequently – in English grammar we would say that it
was habitual or frequentative i.e. it was
done on a regular basis.
English can complicate
matters by using other verb forms that are also used as other tenses:
When I was a little boy, │I
[i] visited my grandparents every summer │ and in the mornings
we [ii] would walk in the forest.
[i] and [ii] have other
tense usages in English, but they can also be used, as they are used here, to
convey the same idea of actions that were habitually performed i.e. more than
once. English often combines these with expressions of time: I visited my
grandparents every summer; in the mornings we
would walk in the forest
[3] When I was a
little boy, │ I visited my grandparents …
When I was a little boy, …
When I lived in Paris …
The expressions convey
something that lasted over a period of time
[4] The Greeks attacked the
Trojans for ten years
The suggestion here is that
the Greeks kept onattacking the Trojans. The translation here could also be: The Greeks had been attacking the Trojans for ten years.
[5] Suddenly the brave
soldier ran towards the enemy’s battle-line.
Did he get there, or did a
Carthagininan archer put a stop to it? The basic English verb does not imply
that.
Suddenly the brave
soldier started running ….
English needs some other
form to convey the idea that the action started; in Latin grammar
this is known as the inceptive use (from Latin: incipiō,
incipere [3-iō]: begin)
Latin uses a single
verb form to convey all of the five concepts above: the imperfect
tense.
And here’s a stupid little
story to show them all:
The ‘imperfect’ Little Red
Riding Hood
When Little Red Riding
Hood lived in Fairytale Land, she used to visit her
grandmother who had a house in the forest. Little Red Riding
Hood would buy doughnuts for her grandmother and always bought them
from Starbucks. One day, when she was walking through the
forest, a big bad wolf kept staring at her. She was scared
of wolves, and so she started heading towards the police
station.
[1]
Little Red Riding Hood lived in
Fairytale Land.
Her grandmother had a
house in the forest.
She was scared
of wolves.
These three suggest what
was the general situation over a period of time
[2]
She used to visit her
grandmother.
She would buy doughnuts.
She always bought them.
Habitual actions, actions
that were done regularly or more than once
[3]
She was walking through
the forest.
Process: this was an action
that was ongoing with no suggestion that she ever got to
grandmother’s house
[4]
A big bad wolf kept
staring at her.
an action that continued for
a period of time
[5]
She started heading towards
the police station
Inceptive: it refers to
the beginning of the action with no suggestion that she
reached it
Now look at this one:
The ‘perfect’ Little Red
Riding Hood
One day Little Red Riding
Hood’s mother gave her a basket of doughnuts and told her
to go to her grandmother’s house. Little Red Riding Hood promised to
obey her mother. When Little Red Riding Hood entered the woods
a wolf came up to her. "Good day to you, Little Red
Riding Hood," the wolf said. "Thank you, wolf,"
she replied. Then the wolf ate her.
None of these would be
expressed by the imperfect in Latin because they all refer to one-off, single
actions in the past. Latin uses a different tense for these – the perfect tense
– which has not yet been discussed in the group. Once the
review posts are over, we’ll look at it in detail.
victima, -ae [1/f]: a beast
for sacrifice; the term “sacrificial victim” which is how some dictionaries
describe this word could lead us into thinking that the text is referring to human
sacrifice whereas the reference pertains to blood offerings in terms of
animals.
It goes into detail about
sacrificial rituals, and I just quote one small part of it:
"Human sacrifices as a
means of expiation were not unknown to the earliest Greek and Roman worship,
and continued in certain cases (e. g. at the feast of the Lycaean Zeus and of
Iupiter Latiaris) until the imperial period. Where, however, they continued to
exist, criminals who were in any case doomed to death were selected, and in
many places opportunity was further given them for escape. As a rule, these
human sacrifices gave way to symbolical exercises in which the rite either
merely suggested the original form, or else for human victims effigies or
puppets were substituted."
[A]
1. How is Rome described?
2. How are the streets of
Rome described?
3. There was only one temple
in the Roman Forum, wasn’t there?
4. Describe the colour(s) of
[i] the togas and [ii] the shawls
5. What adjective is used to
describe the Roman Forum?
6. All the Roman ruins have
gone, haven’t they?
7. There are ugly, unhappy
lizards running around, aren’t there?
[B] Match the Latin with the
English:
cotīdiē; etiam nunc; nōn
iam; nunc; ōlim; quoque; undique
also; at one time (in the
past); even now; every day; everywhere; no longer; now
[C] Find the Latin:
[1]
Roman men [nominative; subject
of the sentence] │ used to walk in the Forum.
[2]
The Romans at one time
used to inhabit │ a small town [accusative; direct object]
The Romans used to
sacrifice │ many victims [accusative; direct object]
There are many roses
│ among the ruins [accusative; with preposition]
[3]
the streets │ of
the town [genitive; possession]
the togas │ of the
men [genitive; possession]
the shawls │ of
the women [genitive; possession]
on the corners │ of
the streets [genitive; possession]
[4]
On the altars the Romans
used to sacrifice many victims │ to the Roman gods [dative;
indirect object]
[5]
in the
Roman Forum [ablative; with preposition]
on the
altars [ablative; with preposition]
on the
corners [ablative; with preposition]
The Romans decorate /
adorn the streets │ with (by means of) temples and monuments [ablative
of means i.e. what was used to perform the action]
oppidānus, -ī [2/m]:
town-dweller; usually plural: oppidānī (townsfolk)
vīnea, -ae [1/f]: vineyard
[iii] Note: adjectives and
nouns of nationality
It’s not always easy to
distinguish between these, and not all texts have consistent patterns of
editing or capitalisation, and so I will list the pattern that the author
herself uses, but you will see variants.
Britannus, -ī [2/m]: a
Briton
Britannicus, -a, -um:
British
Ītalus, -ī [2/m]: an Italian
Ītalicus, -a, -um: Italian
[A]
1. Describe the sky of
Italy.
2. What colour are the
bullocks?
3. How are the eyes of the
bullocks described?
4. The British use bullocks
to plough their fields, don't they?
5. What three adjectives are
used to describe the horses?
6. The Romans build their
towns on steep slopes, don’t they?
7. But there aren’t many
hills in Rome, are there?
8. Which adjectives describe
Roman roads?
[B] Some review of case
usage from earlier posts.
Find the Latin for:
[1]
British farmers
[nominative; subject of the sentence] (... plough the fields)
Roman roads [nominative;
subject of the sentence] (are through plains)
[2]
They plough │ the
fields [accusative; direct object]
The farmers desire │ money [accusative;
direct object]
Roman roads are │ through
plains [accusative; with preposition]
They carry olives
and grapes [accusative; direct object] │along Roman roads [accusative;
with preposition]
They carry olives and grapes│ to
the towns [accusative; with preposition]
[3]
the sky │ of Italy [genitive;
possession]
the sky │ of
Britain [genitive; possession]
the eyes │ of the
bullocks [genitive; possession]
[4]
The townsfolk give money │to
the farmers [dative; indirect object]
The sky is pleasing
│ to the Britons [dative; with adjective 'pleasing to
someone']
[5]
in / on the
plain [ablative; with preposition]
in Italy
[ablative; with preposition]
on hillsides
[ablative; with preposition]
in carts
[ablative; with preposition]
They plough the fields
│ with horses [ablative; expressing the means by which
something is done]
