I am working on Exercise 6 in Adler (pensum septimum, page 25).
One of the sentences for translation is:
Have you my good baker’s good bread or that of my friend?
My attempt is:
Utrum panem bonum habes mei boni pistoris an mei amici?
However, Adler’s key gives the following (with a couple of variations not relevant to my question):
Utrum tibi est bonus pistoris mei boni panis an amici mei.
In the process of writing this out I have realised the answer to my own question. I was going to ask why “bonus” is not in the genitive, since it is part of “my good baker’s”. However, I now realise that “bonus” is part of the phrase “bonus panis”, even though the two words are separated by “pistoris mei boni”.
I will leave it here as a point of interest for any other struggling students of Adler!
@timothee: what are you missing? maybe a beginner’s attempt at getting something something right? my guess is that the op felt “my friends” should be genitive simply because of the genitive’s common role of denoting possession. i’ve made similar mistakes before in attempting composition. just a thought.
My apologies to Tom and Ailuros. I was really trying to turn every stone to see if genitive could possibly be used. There could be some kind of construction with a genitive. Hope you didn’t take it as a teasing, as it certainly wasn’t, but sincere curiousness. I suppose I should shut up for a little while.
Yes, indeed, this was my mistake. Thanks for pointing it out though, otherwise I would probably continue making the same mistake! As ailuros surmises, I was thinking of ‘my friends’ as possessive.
Interesting question. I guess amici et amicae would spell it out. I dont think Romans would have thought equally about their male and female friends. Amica can mean mistress concubine so I guess caution is necessary.
@timothee and seneca2008: my apologies to you both. i was being snippy. i don’t know either of your countries of origin/residence, but in the us “am i missing something?” is an expression of exasperation more appropriate for a heated exchange (I’m more or less an attorney, and have been on the receiving end of this expression many, many times before, so, trust me, that’s the idiom). my mouth is now going back to shut, where it belongs. best to all!
This shows the difficulties we face in translating from ancient languages when even apparently simple phrases in English are loaded with such significance. I live in London.
We have all learned something today which is why we participate in this forum.
