excersie 78, the answer in the key is given as this
Quid oppidani parant? Oppidani bellum parant
my question is how come bellum is in the genitive case, and not the dative. Arnt the people preparing FOR war? which would make it ‘bello’?
might be a stupid question but any help would be great thanks
Hello Tomkulaga,
my question is how come bellum is in the genitive case
“bellum” is actually in the accusative case (2nd declension, neuter). “Bellum” is receiving the action of the townsmen so it takes the accusative. “Parant” already has the sense of “for” built into its meaning so there is no need for the dative case.
Confusing, yes?
I took a look at the preceeding exercise (#77). It has the answer to your question in footnote #2.
D’Ooge usually covers this stuff in footnotes and earlier exercises, but he does cover it.
hey, thanks for that, i did mean the accusitive, and i did check out the foot note and its clear 
thanks alot for your help
-tom