Questions tagged [grammar-identification]
Use this tag when asking about a grammatical structure you cannot name and want explained.
149
questions
9
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"quae haec mihi dōna dedistī"
In the story "Atalanta" in Fābulae Syrae by Luigi Miraglia, Venus gives Hippomenes three golden apples to throw during a foot race with Atalanta, to distract her. As he throws the third ...
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3
votes
1
answer
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Can someone explain this construction?
I'm trying to read the opening (Latin) poem of Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy.
Here's a link to the page in the edition.
The title is Democritus Junior ad Librum Suum. For some reason ...
- 411
3
votes
1
answer
50
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Sentence in Rhetorica ad Herennium
Iste, inquies, qui se dici divitem putat esse praeclarum, primum nunc videte, quo vultu nos intueatur: ...
(IV. 63)
What's the structure of the qui-clause?
Should it be
qui(:=iste) putat [se dici ...
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3
votes
1
answer
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Questions for sentences in Phaedrus's «Aesopus Latinus»
I have some problems in understanding these sentences in Phaedrus, III.7 (the wolf and the dog):
Canis simpliciter: "Eadem est condiciō tibi, praestāre dominō sī pār officium potes."
Why ...
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7
votes
1
answer
99
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Can an adjective modify a pronoun or an unmentioned subject in Latin?
In English it's quite awkward to modify a pronoun with an adjective. You can say: 'He, angered, answered the door' but that's not recommended. I just assumed that that rule applied to Latin as well ...
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6
votes
1
answer
83
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Question for DE SERMONE COTIDIANO
I am reading the adaptation of De Sermone Cotidiano in Lingua Latina: Sermones Romani.
In the Discipulus (II) section, there is the sentence:
Inter haec iussū magistrī surgunt pusillī ad elementa, et ...
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10
votes
1
answer
371
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Non Nobis Domine - Sed nomini or nomine
Non nobis Domine, Domine
Non nobis Domine
Sed nomini, Sed nomini
Tuo da gloriam
Referring to the third line in Non Nobis Domine, I have seen this phrase written both 'Sed nomine' and 'Sed nomini'. In ...
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5
votes
1
answer
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"utrum quod celebrem sit documento necne": why documento and not documentum
In Latin translation of the Analects (didn't find who are the translator(s)) we read in Chapter 1, verse 4:
Cotidie de tribus rebus me examino: utrum ...; utrum....; utrum quod celebrem sit documento ...
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6
votes
1
answer
207
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"Quam" as relative pronoun or conjunction?
In LLpsI 38:106:
Italia, ..., longō cursū abs tē dīviditur: prius circum Siciliam tibi nāvigandum est quam in illā terrā urbem condere poteris.
What is the role of quam here?
If it is relative, what ...
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4
votes
0
answers
81
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Is "dante" a participle in Ps 103:28
What parts of the verb are dante and aperiente in Ps 103:28 (Vulgate)?
dante te illis colligent aperiente te manum tuam omnia implebuntur bonitate.
My guess is the ablative of the present participle (...
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8
votes
1
answer
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Simplex sigillum veri
G. Polya in How to Solve It translates simplex sigillum veri as "simplicity is the seal of truth".* In this discussion on latindiscussion.com, most people seemed to agree that the Latin is ...
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5
votes
1
answer
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Question for a sentence in Adelphoe
In Terence's Adelphoe 3.4, there is:
fient quae fieri aequum est omnia.
omnia, quae, fient are all plural, why is aequum est singular, what is the role of quae in its clause?
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2
votes
2
answers
106
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What happened to the expected -ε- thematic vowel in present active indicative 1 p sg and 3 p pl?
I am trying to understand how Greek verbs are formed, having just begun learning their formation in present active indicative. The model verb used is λύω, which I understand to be formed as such:
...
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3
votes
1
answer
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Questions about some sentences
I met some sentences in Lingua Latin per se Illustrata: Roma Aeterna that I can hardly understand:
Hīc Aenēās genitōrem Anchīsēn āmīsit, ille enim cōnfectus aetāte ē vītā excessit — nēquīquam ex ...
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5
votes
1
answer
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When to use present form for a past thing?
I'm reading the passage about the Trojan War in Lingua Latina per se Illustrata: Roma Aeterna (Ch. 37).
The verbs are mostly in past forms (imperf., perf. or plup.), but in line 140~142:
Aenēās vērō, ...
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7
votes
1
answer
221
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Sentences hard to understand (LLpsI)
Ecce eī in somnō appāruit maestissimus Hector, fīlius Priamī mortuus — sed quālis erat, quantum mūtātus ab illō Hectore quī ex tot proeliīs victor redierat!
Sordidam barbam crīnēsque cruentōs gerēbat ...
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6
votes
0
answers
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Preposition preceding a verb [duplicate]
i came across this sentence in Orberg's book:
"Quid inest in saccis?"
Or
"Ecce iulius ad villam advenit."
My question is that why there are aditional prepositions, namely another &...
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5
votes
1
answer
265
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What does "Graecōs Argōs" in this sentence mean? (LLpsI)
Trōiānī vērō, cum Graecōs Argōs in patriam suam āvectōs esse arbitrārentur, tum dēmum post tot annōs portās aperuērunt atque exīre ausī sunt.
as is annotated, Argī is a city, but I can hardly ...
- 1,212
5
votes
1
answer
232
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Why is the subject in the infinitive clause in accusative case?
Dōrippa: Nūlla fēmina mē miserior vīvit, Sanniō. Melius est mē mortuam esse quam sine amīcīs in hāc urbe vivere!"
Sanniō: Quid ais: 'sine amīcīs'? Nūper nōn modo Lepidus...
Why is mē mortuam ...
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4
votes
1
answer
98
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in terra pax “in“ hominibus bonae voluntatis
Does the occurrence of “in” before “hominibus”, which seems to be found in some but not all renderings of this verse, follow usual Latin usage? A plain dative seems like it would work to me (pax ...
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6
votes
1
answer
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Is there any verb omitted in this sentence? (LLPSI)
In Lingua Latin per se Illustrata: Chapter 32, Line 158:
Sed frūstrā hoc optō, nam iam illī pīrātae eam spem mihi ēripient, idque eōdem diē quō ab amīcā meā dēsertus sum.
dēsertus sum seems to be ...
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0
votes
0
answers
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indicative vs subjunctive tenses [duplicate]
What is a difference between indicative and subjunctive in Latin? For example:
ego sum
ego sim
Context: I am a Latin self-learner. I am trying to get an idea about its tenses.
Thank you.
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4
votes
2
answers
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Why indicative in a indirect question?
In the repeat entry of Smith & Hall's English-Latin dictionary (which can be read in Latinitium), there is an example:
According to grammar books, a verb in an indirect question should be ...
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9
votes
2
answers
402
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Why are descriptive subjects in the genitive?
I notice that in the De Naturis Animantium of Suetonius, he uses the genitive to describe the subjects of behavior. So, for example, he writes est [...] anatum tetrissitare ("it is of ducks to ...
- 2,816
7
votes
1
answer
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What does "vel potius" mean in this sentence from LLpsI?
Mare et ventī nēminī oboediunt nisi Neptūnō. Ille cūrāvit ut nōs ē tempestāte servārēmur nēve mergerēmur — vel potius nōs ipsī quī mercēs ējēcimus.
It's a sentence out of Chap.28 of Lingua Latina per ...
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4
votes
1
answer
150
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What tense is the verb "data est" in?
What is the tense of data est? I feel like it is the perfect passive (he was given), but that would be datus est.
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7
votes
2
answers
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What is the subject of "venit" in this sentence from Naufragium?
Reading Naufragium by Erasmus (1523), I came across this sentence. I include the whole sentence for context, but I'm only asking about the part in bold:
Circumspicienti tandem venit in mentem de ima ...
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3
votes
1
answer
86
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What are the verb conjugation names called in Latin?
What are the terms in Latin for the Latin verb conjugations? I would like to also know the Latin for the mixed conjugation (or if preferred that known as the io sub conjugation) and any term for verbs ...
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6
votes
1
answer
93
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Translating Monica's Tomb
I am trying to translate this sarcophagus. The text is (excluding the Christogram at the top)
Sepulchrum ubi B. Monicae corpus apud Ostia Tiberina annis MXL iacuit ob in eo edita in eius ...
- 597
5
votes
2
answers
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What is affecta modifying in this sentence from Fabulae Faciles?
In the following sentence from Fabulae Faciles, I cannot figure out what affecta is modifying:
Vix vestem induerat Glauce, cum dolorem gravem per omnia membra sensit,
et paulo post crudeli cruciatu ...
- 2,816
4
votes
2
answers
312
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Why or when do we use Genitive to say you're in a place
I was under the impression that you would use mostly Ablative to say something like in the hall and Accusative to say into the hall
IN ATRIO
vs
IN ATRIUM
But now I've read that you could use ...
- 1,647
3
votes
1
answer
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AB + ablative, AD + accusative. Does it apply to other similar verbs?
Stumble upon these 2 sentences:
UNDE VENIT MEDUS? TUSCULO VENIT.
QUO IT MEDUS? ROMAM IT.
Both are telling me from where Medus came from a to where he is going.
I notice that the name of the towns ...
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7
votes
1
answer
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What is the grammar of ‘quid illud quod’ in Ambrose De. ob. Val. 35?
Introduction and question
Ambrose is generally not too hard to read; his structure is pretty straight forward, his word-choice is not too weird, and he seems to have favoured a style which would be ...
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5
votes
1
answer
364
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Why Does Cicero use the Third-Person Singular Instead of the Plural Form?
Cicero, de Oratore (2.25.108):
"...in quibus hoc praecipit ratio et doctrina ut vis eius rei, quam definias sic exprimatur ut neque absit quicquam neque supersit,"
"...on which ...
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5
votes
2
answers
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When using the verb *to be* do you always use nominative for subject and object?
When using the verb to be do you always use nominative for subject and object?
For example:
FEMINAE DOMINAE VIRORUM SUNT.
Or
FEMINA EST PULCHRA
- 1,647
4
votes
1
answer
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If a demonstrative is not modifying a noun, is it called a demonstrative pronoun?
I was confused on this since aren't demonstrative adjectives phrases like , "this fast" or "this large". If they are, then demonstrative adjectives not necessarily modifying nouns ...
13
votes
1
answer
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Why is it "nomen mihi est" for "my name is", but it's "tibi nomen est" for "your name is"?
I understand that there is no strict order, but why is it that this specific order is preferable over something like "mihi nomen est" or "nomen tibi est".
The image below is from ...
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5
votes
4
answers
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"gerund + genitive" vs "gerund+accusative" ("scribendo epistulas" vs "scribendo epistularum")
So far I was thinking the way of saying "He spends time in writing letters" (example from A&G) might be terit tempus scribendo epistulas or terit tempus scribendis epistulis.
But can ...
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3
votes
3
answers
432
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Is "dentibus" ablative in "Lupus collum ovis petit dentibus..."
In Cap. IX of LLPSI Pars I, Ørberg tells the story of a black sheep wandering into the forest where it's confronted by a wolf. The wolf finds the sheep alone in the darkness of the forest, and the ...
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6
votes
1
answer
101
views
What role does "municipatum" play in this sentence?
The abbot Berno of Reichenau, in the opening sentence of his Prologus in Tonarium, some time between 1021 and 1036, called himself the following:
licet parvus meritis, servus tamen Dei Genitricis ...
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28
votes
4
answers
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ATM in Vatican City: "Inserito scidulam quaeso ut faciundam cognoscas rationem"
The automated teller machines in Vatican City show this screen when awaiting a card:
Could someone, quaeso, break this down word by word? There are a number of things here that I find puzzling or ...
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4
votes
1
answer
277
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Plural for Succubus and Incubus
Succubus & incubus don't show up in the Latin dictionaries I've searched. I'm wondering what the plurals would be. I did find succuba, 1st decl fem. Could it be that it didn't morph into a 2nd ...
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8
votes
1
answer
333
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How to say indirect speech + "there is/are" in latin?
I only know to say the "there is/are" in latin we use "est/sunt" , but how about when it is part of indirect speech?
E.g
" He/she said that there is (something) "
I'm ...
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4
votes
2
answers
557
views
Quem quaeritis?
Different versions of the Visitatio sepulchri, have different line endings. Some use Christicole whereas elsewhere I have seen Christicolae.
What is the difference between Christicole/Christicoles/...
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6
votes
1
answer
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Can valeo be used transitively?
Looking through the entry in Lewis & Strong, I couldn't find any mention of the accusative being used with valeo, except as the object of certain prepositions. However, the following use of magna ...
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3
votes
1
answer
102
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What are the Roles of "Quin" and "Sit" in "fieri non potest quin sit"?
In the question on Sherlockian logic, Batavulus, in his answer gave an alternative translation of the clause "it must be believed"/ "one must believe it", which is:
"fieri ...
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4
votes
1
answer
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Is this Gerundive-Based Quote from Seneca A Direct or Indirect Question?
Introduction
In his answer to Q: What is the difference in meaning/usage between "nasciturus" and "nascendus"?, Mitomino provided some interesting examples of the use of the ...
- 6,940
5
votes
1
answer
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"nec sit terris ultima Thule" - how should terris be interpreted?
Seneca's Medea:
Venient annis saecula seris,
quibus Oceanus vincula rerum
laxet, et ingens pateat tellus,
Tethysque novos detegat orbes
nec sit terris ultima Thule.
I have my doubts with respect to ...
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3
votes
1
answer
98
views
"Multi quidem facilius se abstinent ut non utantur, quam temperent ut bene utantur" (the usage of comparatives)
From Augustine De Bono Coniugali:
Multi quidem facilius se abstinent ut non utantur, quam temperent ut bene utantur.
While the meaning of the sentence is clear, I'm not sure about the grammatical ...
- 6,889
4
votes
0
answers
114
views
Can a finite verb modify another verb as if it were a gerund? (De manibus delapsa arma ceciderunt)
How should we interpret the connection between delapsa and ceciderunt in the following:
de manibus audacissimorum civium delapsa arma ipsa ceciderunt (Cic. De Officiis)
Naturally I could not see ...
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