N&H Prose Composition, preliminary exercises

Latin Learning Latin
21

  1. Mīlitibus

  2. Vēnī tibī, I think you mean, though it might more correctly be vēnī ad tē, fratrem meum or somesuch

22

I’ve decided to mark all macrons from now on, not only the grammatical ones, in order to practice my vocabulary.

I have a bad feeling about this one, sorry if there’s a lot of mistakes.

Preliminary Exercise D

  1. Who saw the man, who killed the king?
    Quis virum vīdit, quī rēgem interfēcit?

  2. Did you, who were present, see him?
    Vīdīsne eum tū, quī aderās??

  3. Did not Marius, the Roman general, conquer the Teutones?
    Nōnne Marius, imperātor Rōmānus, Teutōnēs vīcit?

  4. He was not killed by the enemy, was he?
    Num ab hostibus interfēctus est?

  5. Has he lost the presents which you gave him?
    Perdidītne dōna, quae eī dēderās?

  6. What general conquered the Teutones?
    Quis imperātor Teutōnēs vīcit?

  7. What did you buy for your brother?
    Quid ēmīs fratrī tuō?

  8. I have lost the book which I bought for my brother.
    Perdidī librum, quem fratrī meō ēmeram.

  9. Whose son are you?
    Cuius filius es?

  10. Were you not present?
    Nōnne aderās?

  11. Surely he did not say that?
    Nōnne id dīxit?

  12. What name is dearest to you?
    Quod nōmen tibi cārissimum est?

  13. This is the book that I lost.
    Hic est liber quem perdidī.

  14. What cities has he taken?
    Quās urbēs cēpit?

  15. By whom was he killed?
    Ā quō interfectus est?

  16. Am I not your father?
    Num pāter tuus sum?

  17. He did not say that, did he?
    Nōnne id dīxit?
    I don’t see any difference between that and no. 11.

  18. She is not the woman, whose son was present.
    Nōn est fēmina, cuius filius aderat.

  19. What city do I see?
    Quam urbem videō?

  20. What man’s house have you bought?
    Domum cuius virī ēmistis?

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vīdistīne for the singluar. But, “you who were present” sounds plural to me, so vīdistisne eum vōs, quī aderātis?

  1. He was not killed by the enemy, was he?
    Num ab hostibus interfēctus est?

The e in interfectus is of hidden quantity. There is no evidence that it was long.

  1. Has he lost the presents which you gave him?
    Perdidītne dōna, quae eī dēderās?

Final T in a word shortens the vowel, so the I in perdidit is short. The E in dederās is short.

  1. What general conquered the Teutones?
    Quis imperātor Teutōnēs vīcit?

Nothing wrong here, but I thought I would note that you don’t have to use quis in this sort of sentence - quī imperātor would be fine as well. But, I think (not sure) that Cicero liked to use quis before vowels.

  1. What did you buy for your brother?
    Quid ēmīs fratrī tuō?

ēmistī

  1. Surely he did not say that?
    Nōnne id dīxit?

Here you want num.

EDIT - I accidentally published before finishing. The rest will be in the next post.

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  1. This is the book that I lost.
    Hic est liber quem perdidī.

Just a note: The I in hic is short, as you have indicated, but the syllable is heavy. That is to say, the C is doubled at least when followed by a vowel, making “hic est” sound like hiccest.

  1. Am I not your father?
    Num pāter tuus sum?

The A in pater is short, but the one in māter is long. It’s a bit confusing at first.

This is apparently an ancient distinction - it’s present in Ancient Greek as well, which actually gives different vowels to the two: πατήρ for “father”, μήτηρ for “mother”.

  1. He did not say that, did he?
    Nōnne id dīxit?
    I don’t see any difference between that and no. 11.

I think that here the writer means what we would write as “He said that, didn’t he?”. So, nōnne is correct here, but not in 11.

  1. She is not the woman, whose son was present.
    Nōn est fēmina, cuius filius aderat.

It may be worth it to add an illa to go with fēmina - I read it as “it isn’t a woman whose son was present”. Although, context would probably be sufficient for that.

The first I in fīlius is long.

quote]20. What man’s house have you bought?
Domum cuius virī ēmistis?[/quote]

Just a note: consonantal I in the middle of a word makes the preceding syllable heavy. Cuius in this example is pronounced cui-ius. That doesn’t change the answer, though.

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Sic puto:

  1. He was not killed by the enemy, was he? (surprised/annoyed) or Surely he wasn’t killed by the enemy?
    An ab hostibus interfectus sit? vel Num ab hostibus interfectus est?

  2. Surely he did not say that?
    Num id dixit?

  3. Am I not your father? = Surely I am your father.
    Nonne pater tuus sum?

  4. He did not say that, did he? (surprised/annoyed) or Surely he didn’t say that.
    An id dixerit? vel Num id dixit? >

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27

Thanks Sceptra Tenens and adrianus! I should pay more attention to some small details. It seems like I remembered that the 2. person endings in the perfect are istī and istis only after going through half of the exercise…

It’s also funny how I studied the difference between nōnne and num, but then gave them the opposite meanings. Maybe it was because of the negation implied in the first, while it’s actually used for questions expecting a positive answer. But now that I think of it, there’s a similar use in Hebrew!

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Preliminary Exercise E

  1. The people elected Pompey consul.
    Populus Pompeium consulem creāvērunt.

  2. Marius, who was often elected consul, was a great general.
    Marius, quī saepe consul creātus est, imperātor magnus erat.

  3. You have often asked me for advice, which I cannot give you.
    Saepe mē rogāvistī/is cōnsilium, quod tibi/vōbīs dāre nōn possum.

  4. He was thought a good general by all.
    Imperātor bonus ab omnibus habitus est.

  5. You wished to conceal the sword from me, but it was given me by the slave.
    Voluistī/is gladium ā mē cēlāre, sed mihi ā servō dātus est.

  6. You have been taught many things by your master.
    Multōs ā magistrō tuō doctus es / vestrō doctī estis.

  7. Did I not teach you Greek?
    Nōnne tē/vōs linguam Graecam docuī?

  8. The general asked the consul for the soldiers.
    Imperātor consulem mīlitēs rogāvit.

  9. Marius, who became the enemy of Sulla, killed many Roman citizens.
    Marius, quī inimīcus Sullae factus est, multōs cīvēs Rōmānōs interfēcit.

  10. You and I will hide this from our friends.
    Tu et ego ab amīcīs id cēlābimus.

  11. He, having been made king, did not ask his people for advice.
    Is, rex factus, populum suum cōnsilium nōn rogāvit.

  12. We were asked for the sword, which we have concealed from our father.
    Rogātī sumus gladium, quem ā patre cēlāvimus.

  13. I was asked by Caius for a sword.
    Gladium ā Caiō rogātus sum.

  14. They were thought to be very wise.
    Habitī sunt multō sapientēs.

  15. I hid from Caius the sword for which you asked me.
    Cēlāvī ab Caiō gladium, quem mē rogāvistī.

  16. Were you not taught Greek by your master?
    Nōnne ā magistrō tuō/vestrō linguam Graecam doctus es/doctī estis?

  17. They became consuls, because they were thought to be wise.
    Consulēs factī sunt, quod sapientēs habitī sunt.

  18. Why did you hide this from Caius?
    Cur ā Caiō id cēlāvistī/is?

  19. You, who did this, were not elected consul by the citizens.
    Tu, quī id fēcistī, ā cīvibus consul nōn creātus es.

  20. The man, whom you asked for advice, has taught me many things.
    Vir, quem cōnsilium rogāvistī/is, multōs mē docuit.

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  1. The subject is singular, and so the verb should be.

  2. I wonder if possum should be in the perfect tense here. It seems logical to me.

  3. ‘Many things’ = neuter plural.

  4. ‘This’ probably means they want a form of hic.

  5. Better valdē than multō, I think, or the superlative of sapiēns.

  6. As 10, above.

  7. As 10.

  8. As 6.

30

celare doesn’t need a preposition, it takes a double accusative object like docere or rogare. E.g. doces me linguam, te rogo sententiam

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Preliminary Exercise F

  1. He killed himself with his own sword.
    Sē gladiō suō interfēcit.

  2. He has a garden which was given him by his friend.
    Eī hortus, quī eī ab amīcō suō dātus est.

  3. He bought the house for himself and his wife.
    Domum suī et feminae suae ēmit.

  4. I have never seen him himself, but I have seen his children.
    Numquam eum ipsum vīdī, sed vīdī līberōs suōs.

5., His children ask him for bread, which he cannot give them.
Līberī eius eum rogant pānem, quem eīs dāre nōn potest.

  1. He has given his children the bread which they asked him for.
    Dedit līberīs suīs pānem, quem eum rogāverant.

  2. They have ships and sailors, but they have not many harbours.
    Habent nāvēs nautāsque, sed multōs portūs nōn habent.

  3. He wished to conceal his opinion from me, but I asked his friends.
    Volēbat sententiam suam mē cēlāre, sed amīcōs eius rogāvī.

  4. Your Gauls fear Caesar and his army.
    Gallī tuī timent Caesarem et legiōnem eius.

  5. He led his army against the Gauls, and took their camp.
    Legiōnem suum contrā Gallōs dūxit, et castra eōrum cēpit.

  6. The citizens themselves wished to make him consul.
    Cīvēs ipsī volēbant eum cōnsulem facere.

  7. We have many friends, whom we do not often see.
    Multōs amīcōs habēmus, quōs nōn saepe vidēmus.

  8. I myself will give you his sword.
    Ego ipse gladium eius tibi dābō.

  9. We ourselves have many ships.
    Nōs ipsī multās nāvēs habēmus.

  10. He himself gave me his own sword.
    Is ipse gladium ipsī mihi dēdit.
    (Should eius come here before ipsī?)

  11. I killed him, because he wished to make himself king.
    Eum interfēcī, quod suum ipsum rēgem facere volēbat.
    (I assume ipsum is needed in the subordinate clause, although the subject of the main clause is first person and therefore suum cannot refer to it anyway.)

  12. I had many friends once, but now I have few.
    Multōs amīcōs ōlim habēbam, sed nunc habeō paucōs.

  13. I asked you for their bread.
    Tē/Vōs pānem eōrum/eārum rogāvī.

  14. They gave us their sailors and ships.
    Nautās et nāvēs suās nōbīs dēdērunt.

  15. We ourselves have been taught many things by him.
    Nōs ipsī multa ab eō doctī sunt.

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  1. He has a garden which was given him by his friend.
    Eī hortus, quī eī ab amīcō suō dātus est.

Hortus is the subject here, so ab amīcō suō, with the reflexive adjective, means ‘by its [i.e., the garden’s] own friend’. You could either alter the subordinate clause to express the possession non-reflexively or alter the main clause to make ‘he’ its subject.

  1. He bought the house for himself and his wife.
    Domum suī et feminae suae ēmit.

Suī is genitive. I think you want the dative.

  1. Your Gauls fear Caesar and his army.
    Gallī tuī timent Caesarem et legiōnem eius.

  2. He led his army against the Gauls, and took their camp.
    Legiōnem suum contrā Gallōs dūxit, et castra eōrum cēpit.

Exercitus is the usual word for an army.

  1. He himself gave me his own sword.
    Is ipse gladium ipsī mihi dēdit.
    (Should > eius > come here before > ipsī> ?)

The sword here belongs to the subject of the sentence, so the reflexive possessive adjective should be used.

  1. I killed him, because he wished to make himself king.
    Eum interfēcī, quod suum ipsum rēgem facere volēbat.
    (I assume > ipsum > is needed in the subordinate clause, although the subject of the main clause is first person and therefore > suum > cannot refer to it anyway.)

I don’t know about this one. What you’ve written doesn’t look right to me, but I’m not sure if it can be corrected by just leaving out suum or not.

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Nonnè “Eum interfeci quod is se regem facere volebat.” vel “Eum interfeci qui se facere vellet regem.”
Here se refers to the subject of its own clause. (Direct reflexive, A&G §300.)
Hîc se pronomen subjectum clausulae suae spectat. (De pronomine reflexo et directo, inquire in A&G, sectionem trecentesimam.)

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I’m confused. I learned Latin with M&F’s intensive course, and their explanation of the direct and indirect reflexive is different. M&F (p. 237) seem to be stricter when it comes to the rules determining the part of the sentence to which a reflexive would refer, while A&G’s seems to be more like a guideline.

Moreover, M&F say that the intensive pronoun is used in addition to the reflexive make it a direct one, while A&G say that it comes instead of the indirect reflexive, and only by later authors instead of the direct one.

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“eum interfeci quod is se facere volebat regem”

This is a clause inside a clause. In “is se facere volebat regem” the “se” in subclause “se facere regem” does refer to the subject of the verb of ‘saying’ in the subclause “is X volebat”, in this case to the subject of the verb of wishing. It just so happens that here it is not the principal verb of the main clause. Nor is the “is x volebat” clause a case of indirect speech hanging off the main clause “eum interfeci”.

Clausula intra clausulam hîc habes, quâ se pronomen ad subjectum verbi orationi obliquae serventem pertinet, etiamsi non ad subjectum verbi clausulae principalis. Nec exemplum orationis obliquae est clausula per “is X volebat” à clausulâ primâ pendens.



“He said that he had killed him because he wished to make himself king.”
“Dixit se eum interfecisse quod is se facere voluisset regem.” (nisi fallor)

I don’t think you can avoid the ambiguity in this reported speech. Even this,
“Dixit se eum interfecisse qui se facere voluisset regem”,
as well as the previous example, could mean “He said that he killed that man because that man wanted to make him (the killer) the king.”

Ambiguitatem evitare non potes, ut opinor. Cum “Dixit se eum interfecisse qui se facere voluisset regem”, significari potest hoc: “Locutor dixit se alium interfecisse quod alius voluisset ut locutorem fecisset regem.”

Vide http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WmT6mS5v4dAC&pg=PA24 (pp.24-26)

Note that this is ambiguous in English, also. // Ambiguum et anglicé, nota.
“He said that he had killed him because he wished to make himself king.”

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Preliminary Exercise G

  1. A state which has a good king enjoys peace.
    Cīvitas quae rēgem bonum habet pācem fruātur.
    Is this a relative clause of characteristic? Should habet be habeat instead?

  2. Relying on the courage of his soldiers, he led them against the enemy.
    Virtūte mīlitum suōrum frētus, contrā hostēs eōs dūxit.

  3. They died of fear.
    Metū mortuī sunt.

  4. Oxen feed on grass, and lions on flesh.
    Bovēs gramine vescuntur, leōnēsque carne.

  5. We use riches, and wish to get possession of them.
    Dīvitiīs ūtimur, et volumus eīs potīrī.

  6. Relying on his wings, Mercury had no need of a ship.
    ālīs suīs frētus, Mercuriō nāve opus nōn erat.

  7. A man who performs his duty is worthy of praise.
    Dignus est laude quī officium suō fungātur.

  8. The enemy wish to get possession of our camp.
    Hostēs volunt campīs nostrīs potīrī.

  9. Through his help I can now use my sword.
    Auxiliō eius possum jam gladiō meō ūtī.

  10. We have need of the soldiers we have asked him for.
    Opus est nōbis mīlitibus quōs eum rogāvimus.

  11. A man who is contented with little is worthy of a happy life.
    Quī parvō contentus sit dignus est vitā beātā.

  12. We shall often use the books which you have given us.
    Saepe librīs ūtēmur, quōs nōbis dāvistī/is

  13. You seem to me to be worthy of praise.
    Vidēris mihi dignus laude.

  14. We have no need of these ships.
    Nōbis hīs nāvibus opus nōn est.

  15. They attacked the city, relying on the courage of their soldiers.
    Urbem aggressī sunt, virtūte mīlitum suōrum frētī.

  16. I did this through the advice of Caius.
    Cōnsiliō Caiī hoc fēcī.

  17. By this courage he took the city.
    Hāc virtūte urbem cēpit.

  18. Did you use the riches which were given you?
    Ūsusne es dīvitiīs quae tibi dātae erant?

  19. Many men have died of hunger.
    Multī virī fame mortuī sunt.

  20. You, who perform your duties well, have many friends.
    Tū, quī officia tua bene fungeris, multōs amīcōs habēs.

37

  1. Yes. The indicative for a particular state: “the state, which has a good king, is enjoying peace”. And “pace (ablative) fruatur”.
    Ut dicis,—nisi aliqua civitas significatur, quae res hîc non pertinet. Pacis verbum ablativo casu, nota, cum ablativo servet frui verbum.

  2. dedisti

38

The next exercise is comprised of small chunks of prepositional phrases, and not real sentences. Sometimes its hard to understand the meaning because of lack of context.

It is rather long, so I will post it in two parts.

Preliminary Exercise H (pt.1)

  1. Among the captives.
    Apud captīvōs.

  2. At the house of Caius.
    Domī Caiī.

  3. Over and above the dowry.
    Super dōte.

  4. Before his feet.
    Ante pēdēs suōs/euis.

  5. Without a ransom.
    Sine pretiō.

  6. From him.
    Ab eō.

  7. With his friends.
    Cum amīcīs suīs/eius.

  8. With you.
    Tēcum/vōbiscum.

  9. Because of his age.
    Propter aetātem suam/eius.

  10. Owing to his joy.
    dēbitus/a/ī gaudiō (dat.) suō/eius.

  11. Through fear.
    Per metum.

  12. Kind towards the poor.
    Humanus/a/ī ergā pauperēs.

  13. To advance towards the city.
    ad urbem aggrēdī.

  14. Through the river.
    Per fluminem.

  15. In the presence of the king.
    Cōram rēge.

  16. Through scouts.
    Per explorātōrēs.

  17. By the king.
    Ab rēge.

  18. From the fame of his deeds.
    Gloriā actiōnum suōrum/eius.

  19. From that time.
    Ā tempore illō.

  20. Out of the bravest soldiers.
    Ē mīlitibus fortissimīs.

  21. He was sent to him with gifts.
    Cum dōnīs eī missus est.

  22. As hostages.
    (I’m not sure about this one.)

  23. For so great a service.
    Pro meritō majōre.

  24. Instead of horses.
    Ob equōs.

  25. On the nearest hill.
    In colle proximō.

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  1. vel apud vel in vel inter
  2. vel in domo Caii vel apud Caium vel ad Caium
  3. vel urbem versús vel adversùs urbem
  4. vel exploratoribus
    17.vel a rege vel ab rege
  5. vel ex eo/illo tempore
  6. ut obsides

bene factum est, ut ego opinor discipulus ut tu.

40
  1. no such word, should be flumen