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I was trying to translate a quote from Leibniz:

Nominum casus semper eliminari possunt substitutis in eorum locum particulis quibusdam.

My attempt is:

We can always eliminate the nominal case, instead of them some particles are substituted.

How can I improve this translation to be closer to the original?

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'Nomen' here means Noun. Leibnitz is explaining a version of Latin.

"The cases of nouns can always be eliminated by particles of some sort substituted in their place."

quibusdam is the ablative plural of quidem 'particular,' 'certain.'

'in their place,' i.e. in place of traditional cases Acc., Gen., Dat., Ablative.

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    In my opinion, substitutis ... quibusdam is an ablative absolute here, not an ablative of means. Hence I would translate, "The cases of nouns can always be eliminated if particles of some sort are substituted in their place."
    – David Konietzko
    May 13, 2019 at 14:39
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    I agree with David. While translating the ablative as "by" ("eliminate by") is possible in theory, I am convinced Leibniz meant it as an ablative absolute.
    – Cerberus ♦
    May 14, 2019 at 13:10

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