Familia Romana: CAP VI - I/40
Dominus servos malos baculo verberat.
I’d have expected a preposition before baculo (eg cum baculo). Is the preposition understood, and if so is it because of baculo or verberat?
Latine Disco mentions ablative of separation, but in a different context.
It’s ablative of instrument; no preposition is required although English would require one in translation.
Yes, ablative of means/instrument is one of the concepts being introduced in chapter 6.
Thanks both of you for the prompt and helpful reply.
My 7th graders quickly figured out that baculum means a stick of some kind. When I explained here it was a walking stick, but that Iulius could use it for other purposes, they quickly decided the best translation was “multi-purpose stick,” and so now they render it whenever they see it. I love my 7th graders.
Hehehe! Clever! As long as you don’t have to multi-task, eg docere et verberare 