sentences for kids...

Latin Learning Latin
1

Hi.

I’m wondering if someone can help me with standard sentences a parent would use with kids. My kids ( 6 and 3) are thrilled when they can understand a Latin sentence, and obedience is way up. Go figure…

So…

Go clean up your room
Brush your teeth.
Time for your bath
Clean up your plate.
Let’s go outside.

My Latin is too basic for me to figure these out.

Thanks!

2

I’m very impressed that your children have been taught some Latin! It’s great that you’ve taken some advantage of the fact that children can pick up languages with relatively little effort up to the age of seven or so.

With regard to your various commands and wishes for your children, here are some translations:

Go clean up your room:

agite liberi, cubicula vestra componite!

N.B. “agite” is a word that I think you might find rather useful with these translations. It has the equivalent of English “come now,” which often precedes imperatives. The singular would be “age”.
I am ignorant of your children’s genders, so I keep the vocative ambiguous with “liberi”=children . If you want to be more specific: boys = “pueri”; girls = “filiae”; or you = “vos”; there are more poetic alternatives!
“Compono” is the closest word for “tidying” - a concept without a proper word for the aristocratic and slave-surrounded Romans whose language survives! It has the sense of “put things in their right place”
Additionally, “vestra” means “your” but in commands such as these it is very often omitted, as confusion of possession is rare in such situations. In the following translations I have omitted it.

Brush your teeth.

dentes detergite!

(detergo is a nice verb that has the perfective lexical meaning (or, more technically, aktionsart) of “wipe/brush” clean, so the order implies that the brushing should not just begin, but be carried through to completion!

Time for your bath!

nunc tempus balnei est.

“balnei” (or “balinei”) is effectively an objective genitive, which qualifies what the purpose of the time is, namely a bath. "nunc"could plausibly be replaced by “hoc” - this. I think a more elegant alternative would be the use of the gerundive, but unless your kids are phenomenal prodigies and your teaching is extensive this suggestion is only to placate me! viz. “nunc vobis est abluendum”.

Clean up your plate.

My rendering is dependent upon my (perhaps incorrect) interpretation of the English. Over here across the pond, the phrase has more the sense of “finish off the food on the plate [and thus make it clean]” as opposed to “wash it up”. I’m not sure which one you mean but I’ve gone for the former as opposed to “catillos purgate” or somesuch phrase;

“agite, cibum peredite” (come now, finish off eating [your] food)

Let’s go outside.

Finally, after all the imperatives comes a jussive subjunctive! Once more, I’d be very impressed if your children know the subjunctive mood! Nonetheless:

egrediamur

or

exeamus

would do the trick.

Hope these are of use!

~dave

3

Thanks a lot!
The kids will simply learn the sentences as I say them! I am not going into grammar with them, at least not yet. Especially since some of your explanations went way over my head! LOL…

BTW, the kids in question are:

  1. a 6 yo boy, who finished Prima Latina and is begging for more.
  2. a 3 yo girl, who asked her dad how to say ‘racoon’ in latin. (thankfully for dad, it was written on the cage..)

So, no grammar for them yet :wink:

4

I re-read your answers, and have a few more comments.

yes, I meant “finish eating the food off your plate” , and no “wash your plate”. So you guessed correctly.

My son knows what an imperative and a subjunctive are. We’re French speaking, so he’s familiar with conjugation, and loves reading the Bescherelles (the equivalent of 501 Latin Verbs, but it has 12,000 French verbs instead). In fact, he often asks me questions I can’t answer. Like why is there a past imperative ? How can you give an order in the past tense? I have no idea.. But the Bescherelles does list it…

And in your answer to me, I have no idea what a “jussive subjunctive” is, or “aktionsart” for that matter.

I have much to learn, still.

5

When the complaining about brushing their teeth started tonight, I used the latin sentence.
My son was thrilled, and kept repeating the sentence to learn it by heart, totally forgetting he was “supposed” to complain!!!

Woohoo!! :wink: