I was working through exercise 42 of NH and this one has really got my puzzled. I just can't figure out the grammar of it.
"Relying on his wings Mercurius had no need of a ship."
Key: "Mercurius alis freto nullum nave opus erat."
Nullum doesn't match nave and does 'opus erat' mean he had a need? I really don't get it. To me opus erat would mean that there was work/task.
Mercurius' wings
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Mercurius' wings
“Cum ego verbo utar,” Humpty Dumpty dixit voce contempta, “indicat illud quod optem – nec plus nec minus.”
“Est tamen rogatio” dixit Alice, “an efficere verba tot res indicare possis.”
“Rogatio est, “Humpty Dumpty responsit, “quae fiat magister – id cunctum est.”
“Est tamen rogatio” dixit Alice, “an efficere verba tot res indicare possis.”
“Rogatio est, “Humpty Dumpty responsit, “quae fiat magister – id cunctum est.”
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Re: Mercurius' wings
The nullum is in agreement with opus. Mercurius should be matching with freto in the dative. Thus written Mercurio alis freto nullum nave opus erat = "Mercury, relying on his wings, had no need of a ship", but literally "For Mercury, relying on his wings, there was no need by means of a ship". Genitive could also be used with navis.Kasper wrote:I was working through exercise 42 of NH and this one has really got my puzzled. I just can't figure out the grammar of it.
"Relying on his wings Mercurius had no need of a ship."
Key: "Mercurius alis freto nullum nave opus erat."
Nullum doesn't match nave and does 'opus erat' mean he had a need? I really don't get it. To me opus erat would mean that there was work/task.
opus est (esse) is an idiom meaning "there is need / it is necessary"
Also, navi is far more common as an ablative of navis than nave, though I doubt most textbooks would mention this.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae
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