Ex vs Ab

Are you learning Latin with Wheelock's Latin 6th Edition? Here's where you can meet other learners using this textbook. Use this board to ask questions and post your work for feedback.
Post Reply
elduce
Textkit Member
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:55 am
Location: Connecticut, USA

Ex vs Ab

Post by elduce »

In the exercises a sentence read that "We seek advice from the leader" (paraphrased).
I wrote:

Consilium ex duce quaesimus.

The answer was:

Consilium ab duce quaesimus.

I understand 'ab' to mean 'away from', as moving away from.
Advice should come 'out of' the leader, 'from within'. Right?

Thanks

PS Wheelock's answer key should be revised.
ego amo megaforce

User avatar
benissimus
Global Moderator
Posts: 2733
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
Location: Berkeley, California
Contact:

Re: Ex vs Ab

Post by benissimus »

elduce wrote:In the exercises a sentence read that "We seek advice from the leader" (paraphrased).
I wrote:

Consilium ex duce quaesimus.

The answer was:

Consilium ab duce quaesimus.

I understand 'ab' to mean 'away from', as moving away from.
Advice should come 'out of' the leader, 'from within'. Right?
ab can mean simply "from", as can ex, but I am more inclined to relate ex with "out of". ex is really a more violent concept, expressing that the motion begins within one thing and goes elsewhere. ab expresses motion originating from a source, in a more vague sense (could be within the source or from its periphery), and going elsewhere.
PS Wheelock's answer key should be revised.
In what way? It was just updated last week.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

cweb255
Textkit Fan
Posts: 251
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:15 am

Post by cweb255 »

Ex, although taking an ablative, always implies a physical motion out of something, that is ex urbe (urbi? damn those i-stems...no wait, urbe) but can on few occasions be figurative such as "out of this situation we learned" although personally I'd use ab there.

User avatar
benissimus
Global Moderator
Posts: 2733
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
Location: Berkeley, California
Contact:

Post by benissimus »

The more important point I meant to mention is that quaero can express the person from whom something is asked with either ab or ex, and even de. Also, I assume you mean quaerimus, not quaesimus. quaeso, -ere is actually the original form, hence the S in the perfect and supine stems, but this verb is defective.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

elduce
Textkit Member
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:55 am
Location: Connecticut, USA

Post by elduce »

Oops. Mea culpa. I meant "quaerimus". As to answer key revisions I noticed in ch.26 a few things. I'll get back to you. Thanks.
ego amo megaforce

Post Reply