Embarrassing...

Latin Learning Latin
1
  1. Num fugam temptaverunt?

    2. (Qui viri castra ponunt?) - Ii sunt viri quorum armis Germani victi sunt.

    I think I have some kind of block…nervousness before 3rd declension or something?

    And can interrogative pronouns be used in the plural to imply that the asker knows there to be more than one person doing whatever he asks about?

    Thanks.
2

I’m assuming your question about interrogative pronouns relates to the “qui viri”…

In this case, it’s an interrogative adjective, so follows the usual agreement rules… It’s saying “Which men are pitching camp?” You’re experiencing the same problem I had when I was growling that relative pronouns were out to get me! Relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns and interrogative adjectives can be kind of hard to distinguish from each other…

So what in general is the problem?

Kilmeny

3

Ii sunt viri quorum armis Germani victi sunt - is the problem…

I had a total block before (one of those sentences I guess), but I’ll have a guess: These are the men by whose arms the Germans were conquered.

4

I believe you’ve got it right. That’s what I was reading it as. See, you’re doing just fine! :smiley:

Kilmeny

5

is temptare to test also?

They didn’t test/try the fugitive…heh or something like that :-[

6

In the next exercise, it’s rendered as “they attempt flight”. It sounds awkward, I’d translate it more freely with “they tried to flee”.

I think it has to do with Latin being more concrete than English, but you’ll have to ask the Latin composition wizards for more information on that.

Ingrid

7

Fugam temptare seems to be D’Ooge’s Latin, for he wanted you to use a verb of the 1st conj. fugam petere or fugam capere are more common. But you find temptare viam “try a path” and temptare belli fortunam “try the fortune of war”.

8

So what is fugam temptare?

And what is attempt flight!

9

[quote author=Episcopus link=board=3;threadid=514;start=0#4538 date=1061414751]
So what is fugam temptare?

And what is attempt flight!

[/quote]

I would have translated “fugam temptare” as “to tempt toward flight”, as in, the people in question thought that running away was a really good idea. According to the Collins dictionary:

tempto to feel, test by touching; to make an attempt on, attack; to try, essay, attempt; to try to influence, tamper with, tempt, incite"

“Attempt flight” is what hang-gliders do… (Oh, wasn’t that what you meant? :wink:)

(“Attempt” is the deponent verb “conor, conari, conatus”, but it can also be “tempto, temptare” as was used above.)

Kilmeny