In a previous post, Scribo wrote Quia vocabulam meam graecam multam parvam est! . I didn’t want to disrupt the flow of a really interesting discussion, so I thought I’d create a separate thread.
Why is this in the accusative? Does quia always take this case (in my admittedly very brief study so far, I confess I hadn’t noticed this). Or is there some sort of implied indirect speech, which I think would take the accusative - but then wouldn’t parvam est have to be parvam esse?
Sorry if I’m getting confused…
David
It shouldn’t be. I’d have said: …quia verborum Graecorum mea copia valde exilis [or tenuissima] est.
Hey there,
I think you might be thinking quia is a preposition when in fact it is a conjunction that simply means “because.”
Good luck!
How about this? …quia vocabularium meum Graecum est multum parvum (or paucum).
Well, actually I was wondering why the person I quoted had apparently used the accusative with quia, and whether it was a common usage. It seemed odd precisely because I thought quia was a conjunction meaning because… All responses so far (and thank you for them) offer alternatives rather than explanations, so should I take it from that the original was incorrect?
By the way, I asked out of genuine curiosity, not to try to pick holes in anyone’s grammar, a task for which I am wholly unqualified.
Thanks
David
David