In Exercitium 2 (de Exercitia LLPSI) Orberg scripsit:
- Cur praedones a nautis timentur?
Nautae perterriti ut praedones eos ceperint et in servitutem missi erunt.
Doesn’t 1. mean ‘Why are the pirates afraid of the sailors’ ?
hi, ask yourself whether TIMEO is in the active or passive, cheers, chad 
I’m thinking that ‘a nautis’ is the give away… literally ‘by the sailors’… I know that timeo means to be afraid
I’m thinking that ‘a nautis’ is the give away… literally ‘by the sailors’… I know that timeo means to be afraid…
“Timeo X” means, as you say, “I am afraid of X”, but perhaps a better translation (from a pedagogical point of view) would be “I fear X”. Consider this, and then follow cb’s advice.
Of course..why are the pirates feared by the sailors.
I’ve had this problem before…on this forum!..I’ve got a sort of dyslexia or something about it. I think it’s because timeo, timere means to fear and to be afraid…transitive? / intransitive?
Does seem odd that timeo can simultaneously mean I am afraid and I am feared.
I’ve had this problem before…on this forum!..I’ve got a sort of dyslexia or something about it. I think it’s because timeo, timere means to fear and to be afraid…transitive? / intransitive?
Does seem odd that timeo can simultaneously mean I am afraid and I am feared.
Not at all. Lewis and Short defines timeo as meaning, “to fear, be afraid … to dread”. In the sentence you gave,
Cur praedones a nautis timentur?
timeo is presented in the 3rd pers. pl. present passive indicative, which means that its meaning has become passive, i.e. instead of “to fear”, it would indicate “to be feared”. The phrase a nautis denotes the new doer of the action (so to speak); in other words, the sailors are the ones doing the fearing.
In other words, it’s not that timeo has two meanings: it’s simply that the sentence uses the verb in the passive form rather than the active. Remember that all verbs in Latin can also be conjugated according to voice (i.e. active or passive), besides the usual tenses, moods, etc.
Are you sure Timeo can mean “I am feared” ? I thought it it is strictly ‘I’ and ‘fear’ or ‘afraid’.
Such as:
I fear
I do fear
I am afraid
I am fearing [not that anyone really uses that]
etc.
I am not very learned in latin yet but I think ‘I am feared’ is more like “Sum [feared]”.
timeo (activâ voce) = I fear
timeor (passivâ voce) = I am feared
Sure you use it in English, to emphasize the ongoing condition of fear about a future event. “I’m fearing the worst”, said to those left behind when walking through a door. [Note the difference in English between “I expect you to call tomorrow” and “I’m expecting you to call tomorrow” and “I’m afraid of what you might do with that” and “I’m fearing what you might do with that.”]
Verè anglicè id adhibetur, ut adfirmetur natura conditionis timoris continua, et timoris in futuro exspectati. “Pessimum quod eveniat timeo,” eis relictis dictum cum per januam intras.
I stand corrected! I should have known that from all the thriller movies I’ve seen.
Thanks for clarifying timeo vs. timeor. I am not far enough in my studies to have known how that worked.
multas gratias vobis ago.