Questions tagged [grammar-identification]
Use this tag when asking about a grammatical structure you cannot name and want explained.
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What does “enim et” mean?
A couple days ago, a friend sent me an excerpt from a new game, asking about a Latin phrase in it:
Contra Diabolus enim et alii Daemones
(In the game, this is the motto of a group of Catholic ...
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1answer
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Syntax of Ille: “numquam est ille miser cui facile est mori”
What is the syntax of ille in the sentence: "numquam est ille miser cui facile est mori"? I get that cui is indirect object, but what is the function of the demonstrative pronoun ille in the sentence?
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What sort of grammatical construct is ‘Quod per sortem sternit fortem’?
In the poem ‘O Fortuna’ (anon., 13th c., but made famous by Carl Orff’s setting), there is this verse:
Quod per sortem
sternit fortem
mecum omnes plangite!
This is typically translated as ‘...
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2answers
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On the use (or not) of genitive in some verses of the Vulgata
I'm a bit puzzled with some verses of the Vulgata, regarding the use or not of genitive. Consider 3 Regnum (1 Kings in non LXX-based bibles). Verses 13-15 in Chapter 10 go as follows:
[13] Rex ...
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2answers
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What does “Dominus providebit” mean?
Does "Dominus providebit" mean "The Lord will provide" or "The Lord provides"?
I once had a bit of an argument with a guy who studied Latin over that. It's an inscription that appears on the rim of ...
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On the (typical?) ambiguity of “Porta clausa est”
It is often said that Porta clausa est can have two readings depending on the categorial nature of the participle: verbal (cf. clauditur/clausa est) or adjectival (cf. clausa est/clausa fuit), which ...
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How was the “elliptical dual” used?
In a comment on this answer, TKR brought up an interesting point of grammar I'd never heard of.
Αἴαντε [Ajax-DUAL] is an interesting case. Though readers of Homer since antiquity have interpreted ...
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1answer
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Parsing Priapea 31
Intermediate here. I am having a hard time parsing this poem (Carmina Priapea 31). Apologies for the tawdry material, by the way :)
Donec proterva nil mei manu carpes,
licebit ipsa sis pudicior ...
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«θύων τε γὰρ φανερὸς ἦν πολλάκις μὲν οἴκοι» (Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.1.2)
Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.1.2:
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, ὡς οὐκ ἐνόμιζεν οὓς ἡ πόλις νομίζει θεούς, ποίῳ ποτ᾽ ἐχρήσαντο τεκμηρίῳ; θύων τε γὰρ φανερὸς ἦν πολλάκις μὲν οἴκοι, πολλάκις δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν κοινῶν τῆς ...
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How often is “et” used as an adverb, and what might distinguish that usage?
The conjunction et, in addition to its common use as a coordinating conjunction meaning and, can also be used adverbially, encompassing similar meanings as those found in words like etiam, item, etc. ...
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Agreement in “medio tutissimus ibis”
Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book II, line 137 gives us the aphorism
(in) medio tutissimus ibis
The English translation for this is typically given as "In the middle, you will go most safe."
How does "...
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1answer
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On Declensions and Gender
after advancing on German gramatically as my second foreign language, I wanted to pursue my interest in Latin. Grammar seemed to me pretty straightforward, yet so many to memorize. I'm self-teaching ...
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Three (very similar) mottoes and a general grammar question
Hope you guys don't mind helping me.
I'm looking to translate three mottoes into Latin, and I think these are beyond my capability to naturally translate:
Do not be too kind; do not be too angry; ...
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1answer
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What do the future active participle “editurus” and the gerundive or gerund “scribendum” mean in this sentence?
When I was trying to find information to answer ktm5124's question about
“anticipātiō, anticipātiōnis”, I came across a passage that I am not advanced enough to understand fully. I'd like to ask for ...
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1answer
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Parsing a subphrase of an ablative absolute
I can't figure out how the phrase "et audito eo multa faciebat" in the following sentence should be parsed:
Herodes enim metuebat Ioannem, sciens eum virum iustum et sanctum, et
custodiebat eum: ...
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1answer
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Use of subjunctinve in a North & Hillard translation exercise
North & Hillard Ex. 228 includes:
Next day Caesar had again an army which, though diminished, was prepared to face all dangers manfully.
A footnote states: "Of the concessive conjunctions ...
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Why is there “is” in “… dīcitur is locus…”?
Why is there is (it) in the following phrase from Ørberg's Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, page 118?
Ōstium sīve ōs flūminis dīcitur is locus quō flumen in mare īnfluit.
Literally: By Ostium or ...
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1answer
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What is the meaning of the phrase “solitō māiōre”?
A fellow member of a Latin Discord server I participate in posted this link to an article with a question regarding how one would interpret the phrase "solitō māiōre". Despite our efforts to interpret ...
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“Veni, O Sapientia…”
I could use a little help with parsing the second verse of this famous Advent hymn:
Veni, O Sapientia,
Quae hic disponis omnia,
Veni, viam prudentiae,
Ut doceas et gloriae.
I ...
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1answer
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Relative Clause of Purpose with Quo
Moreland has this sentence in Relative Clause of Purpose (Unit 14):
Properatis quo celerius adveniatis.
which it translates as:
You hasten by which you may arrive more quickly.
The adjective '...
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1answer
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Future-Perfect?
In North & Hillard, Ex 215, the following sentence:
There can be little doubt that the guides, whether through treachery or ignorance, were mainly responsible for the disaster.
is translated ...
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1answer
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Did I translate and understand this optative correctly? (Greek)
In book X of his Republic, Plato is talking about the prizes and rewards made out to good men. Once again, I have the gist of the sentence, but I'm a little unsure of a minor detail.
καὶ ἀνθρώπων ...
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What construction is used with φάθι εἶναι? (Plat. Rep. 6.508e)
I think I have the gist of this short sentence, but I would like a little more clarity on one detail. What construction is governing the phrase φάθι εἶναι? I have parsed φάθι as the 2nd singular ...
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2answers
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Origin and explanation of memoriae
For an assignment, I have been translating several Latin inscription (on tombstones) from 400–600 AD and one phrase that occurs quite often is memoriae (sometimes with an adjective such as ...
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1answer
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The (implied) meaning of “Et” in “Et in medio…” of Ubi Caritas
Here is a passage in Ubi Caritas:
Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur: Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus. Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites. Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.
The English ...
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votes
1answer
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grammar perplexity in Ficīnus
I'm reading Ficīnus's Latin translation of Plato's Apology and came across the following passage, two things in which baffle me. (They're unrelated, so I'm making them two separate questions.)
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“Et in terra pax hominibus bona voluntas” [sic!]
I have a German Christmas song of the 16th century, which is bilingual, German–Latin. The lyrics go as follows (I translated the German parts into English):
O how beautiful the group of ...
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Is the sentence “omnis res est” (“every thing is”) grammatical?
Is the sentence omnis res est ("every thing is") grammatical?
Likewise, are sentences like aliqua res est and nulla res est grammatical?
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Understanding the stem(s) of 'struere'
The present, perfect, and participle stems1 of the verb struere are stru-, strux-, and struct-.
The -s- in the perfect stem and the -t- in the participle stem are nothing unusual, but they seem to ...
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2answers
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“Stantes erant” vs. “stabant”
Triggered by this question.
What's the difference in meaning between:
Stantes erant pedes nostri, in atriis tuis, Jerusalem.
and
Stabant pedes nostri, in atriis tuis, Jerusalem.
and does this ...
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Can the supine ablative be used for motion?
I came across an Asterix translated into Latin.
In the first story page the village chief notices that Asterix and Obelix return from a hunt and says: Asterix atque Obelix venatu redeunt!
My question ...
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1answer
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Translation of “…quae parvas aves capit et est.”
I was reading Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata to practice my fluency of understanding simple sentences. In the tenth chapter, Bestiae et Homines (page 69), I came across a description of eagles.
...
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1answer
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What's the difference between mutantur and mutamur?
A quote by John Owen:
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
I was wondering if you could tell me the difference between mutantur and mutamur?
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A list of the categories and subcategories of the Latin conjunctions
I am learning Latin. I have bought a grammar book, which is not that great. My professor is using words like adversative conjunction, comparative, conditional, and so on. I can't find any long list ...
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The three maxims at the Temple of Apollo (Greek)
There were three maxims carved into the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
γνῶθι σεαυτόν (know thyself)
μηδὲν ἄγαν (nothing in excess)
Ἐγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτη (a pledge comes from folly)
The first two maxims make ...
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1answer
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Why is the relative pronoun put in the dative case? why feminine? (Greek)
I was a little stumped, here, when I came across the feminine relative pronoun ᾗ.
ἴσως δή, εἶπον, παρὰ τὸ ἔθος γελοῖα ἂν φαίνοιτο πολλὰ περὶ τὰ νῦν
λεγόμενα, εἰ πράξεται ᾗ λέγεται.
καὶ μάλα, ...
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What is the significance of the different declensions and conjugations?
I've been slowly trying to teach myself Latin with the help of this site.
I've gone past the parts where it talks about first, second, third etc declension nouns, and it all seems quite arbitrary as ...
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What's it called when a verb shares the same root as its object or modifier?
I have noticed in both Greek and Latin that sometimes a verb shares the same root as its object or modifier. This construction looks funny to me as an English speaker, as we don't often encounter this ...
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Proper parsing of “respondeo dicendum quod”
Anyone who has read the Scholastics, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, are familiar with the basic structure of an articulus: (Here's an example.)
Objections ("videtur quod...")
Quote from authority ("sed ...
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What does “illos” refer to in this passage from Seneca?
While researching an answer for this question, I came across the following passage from Seneca. The bolded part, particularly "illos", left me with some doubts about the sentence syntax:
Et quid ...
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1answer
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'Credo' with dative problem
Here is a small problem with 'credo', there is an example in my dictionary saying that 'crede mihi (dat.)' means 'believe me'.
Gildersleeve & Lodge gives credere under Dative with Intransitive ...
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1answer
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Does 'concrescere' take dative?
I wonder is 'rigido rostro' here in dative or ablative? Under "Dative and verbs compounded with prepositions" (Gildersleeve & Lodge) it is said, that " Many verbs compounded with the prepositions ...
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How to understand 'quae prosum sola nocendo'?
There is a line in Ovid's Metamorphoses II 519, which I don't understand at all
(Juno's complaint)
'quaeritis, aetheriis quare regina deorum
sedibus huc adsim? pro me tenet altera caelum!
...
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1answer
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'Subiecit' meaning in Ovid Metamorphoses III 167?
Here is a line in Ovid which I find confusing:
quo postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni
armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque retentos,
altera depositae subiecit bracchia pallae,
vincla ...
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1answer
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Dative of Personal Interest?
In this line in Ovid Metamorphoses Book III. 505, is fratri put in the Dative because ' of the person in whose honour, or interest, or advantage or for whose pleasure, an action takes place, or the ...
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Infinitive ' habere ' usage in this sentence
How to understand a meaning of the infinitive 'habere' here, is it here as a subject (The Infinitive as a Subject, Gildersleeve & Lodge, page 275)?
Nam cum posse existere potentia sit, sequitur ...
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How are adjectives shown to agree in gender with a noun?
So I just learned about adjectives needing to agree with their nouns in gender. If I understood correctly, an adjective that is considered to be feminine will be known because of the kind of ...
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1answer
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Formation of participles from deponent verbs
Here I have the deponent verb
persequor, persequi, persecutus sum, persecutum. Following standard deponent rules, I am able to form the following (apparently these active participles are active in ...
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1answer
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Part(s) of speech of words and correct listing forms of “pauci, paucae, pauca”
The Cambridge Latin Course Dictionary lists the words
pauci, paucae, pauca
which I assume are adjectives, and it is defined as "few, a few". I cannot find this listing in the same form on wikitionary, ...
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Understanding the grammar: «illis Evangelii nuntiandi praebens mandatum»
The following is the Latin text from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), Prologue, Chapter 1, Section 2:
2 Ut haec vocatio in toto resonaret orbe, Christus Apostolos misit, quos elegerat, ...
