Translation question

Latin Learning Latin
1

Salvete!

I was wondering, how to translate the sentence He entered the house through the backdoor. I came up with the following variants:

  • Aedificium per posticam intravit.
  • Aedificium posticâ intravit.

Which one is correct? Or are both correct and merely emphasizing different aspects?

Valete,

Carolus Raeticus

2

per porticam “through the backdoor” and porticâ “by the backdoor”.
I would say both work, Carolus.
Bonum utrum, dicam, Carole.

3

Salve Adriane!

Thank you. I did some further research. A search on the internet for “per ianuam” gave several results:

  • Miraculosus Christi per Ianuam clausam ingressus: this is the title of a book containing a sermon.
  • Marcus per ianuam (in hortum ad equum) currit: from a grammar site.
  • Qui non intrat per ostium in ovile ovium, sed ascendit aliunde, ille fur est et latro: from the Evangelium secundum Ioannem, 10.1 and .2

However, I’m still wondering about the second variant, i.e. using an ablative.

Having a look at A&G’s New Latin Grammar, I do not think that such an ablative would be an ablative of the way by which (A&G, sect. 429.4a) as that seems to imply some spatial extent of this “way” which is not the case with a mere doorway.

It could be an ablative of Means or Instrument (A&G, sect. 409), but the examples given by Allen & Greenough do no fit exactly. Nonetheless, Aedificium posticâ intravit feels good (I guess, I have developed a slight weakness for the pure ablative).

Vale,

Carolus Raeticus

4

In this, you actually have both:
Portâ unâ cum per portam habes hîc:

You might also like to translate “entered from” instead of “entered by”, as in “à portâ”
Aliter, sensus per “à portâ” concipiatur

5

And Google just translated “The owl swallowed the mouse.” as “Noctuam devoravit mus.”!!!

And “scuba diver” as “Aliquam varietas” :: I have seen the old English adjective “divers” = “various” in the Bible, but how does “scuba” become “aliquam”!?!?

“The cat scratched the dog.” became “Cati scratched canis.”.