HUM 293 / REL 293 - Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 2
A sentence should have a verb. The verb is the word which tells us the main action of the sentence
eg.
The dog bites the man.
The dog bites the man on the leg.
The dog bites the man in the street.
The dog bites the man because he's angry.
The dog bites the man once.
The dog bit the man yesterday.
In each of these sentences "bites" (or "bit") is the verb - it tells us what is happening. The rest of the sentence tells us who is doing the action (the dog), and maybe fills in some other details (Who? What? Where? Why? When?)
When translating or interpreting from one language to another, it is important to recognize the main action of a sentence (the main verb), and then look for answers to the questions Who did What?, to Whom?, and Where? Why? When? How?
The "subject" is the person or thing doing the action eg. "the dog" is the subject in each of the sentences above.
Verbs which indicate a transfer of action between a subject (such as "the dog") and an object (such as "the man") are called "transitive" verbs.
Some sentences may contain a verb and its subject, but no object
The dog howls.
The bird flies.
The child runs.
The verb "howls" does not transfer the action from the dog to something else - no-one gets "howled". Such verbs are called "intransitive".
When the action of the verb is reflected back onto the subject it is said to be "reflexive".
The dog scratches itself.
The bird pecks itself.
The child sits (itself) down.
This week's Question Word is quem - whom?
English speech and writing tend to be rather sloppy and ungrammatical. We often use "who?" in place of "whom?"
Who saw you?
If the question is asking about the subject of the verb - use "who?"
Whom did you see?
If the question is asking about the object of the verb - use "whom?". The subject is "you". The questioner wants to know about the person you saw.
"Who?" and "Whom?" are Interrogative Pronouns - they ask a question, and stand in place of a noun.
English also uses "who" and "whom" (without the question mark) as Relative Pronouns - pronouns which link or relate one part of a sentence to another.
1. The child who broke the window got into trouble.
2. The child whom I saw ran away.
These sentence are not questions - they link two statements (relate one to another)
1a. The child broke the window.
1b. The child got into trouble.
2a. The child ran away.
2b. I saw the child.
Latin uses slightly different words when making statements.
Use
quis = who?
quid = what?
quem = whom?
only for questions (as Interrogative Pronouns).
Don't try to use them as Relative Pronouns.
This week's Assignment will ask you to make a set of Vocabulary Flash Cards.
Use a pack of 3"x5" index cards and cut them in half to give 3"x2½".
If you find that they are still a bit big for comfortable handling, cut them in half again to give 1½"x1" cards.
On one side write out the Latin, and on the other the English for each of the vocabulary words from Wheelock, pages 5-6. You will be adding new words each week from now on
When learning a Latin verb, it is best to learn all its "principal parts" right from the beginning. We will not use all of them just yet, but it is easier to learn them now than to come back and re-learn the full set when you need them later.
So, for the verbs, write them out and learn them in the form
| amō | amāre | amāvī | amātum |
| on the reverse, you only need to write | |||
| "to love" | |||
| the meanings above are | |||
| I love | to love | I have loved, I loved | loved, having been loved |
| but you do not need to write them all out - just learn "to love" | |||
| NOTE - sometimes the Fourth Principal Part is listed in the Masculine form amātus, rather than the Neuter form amātum. It is used as an adjective, so has Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter forms - only one form needs to be learnt. | |||
Put the flash cards in a stack in any order, Latin side up, with an elastic band to keep them together.
Put a blank or colored "marker card" at the bottom of the stack.
Start with the top card, read the Latin aloud, think of its meaning, check the reverse.
If you got it correct, put the card at the bottom of the stack.
If you got it wrong, put the card about a quarter of the way down the stack.
Go to the next card and repeat the process.
Carry the stack with you through the day, and when you have a few minutes to spare, start going through the stack.
You do not need to go through the whole stack all at one time - just keep working from the top down in spare moments during the day.
When you reach the marker card which had been at the bottom of the stack, turn the stack over, and start with English to Latin.
Continue until you come to the marker card again.
Then go back to Latin to English.
Carry the stack with you, and use it every day from now on.
You will be adding to the stack every week.
You will find that some words become very familiar - you get them right each time.
When that happens, put them into a secondary stack, to be checked only once a week, and eventually only once a month.
From now on, each day, go through the main set at least once a day, Latin to English, then English to Latin.
Back to this Week's Assignment
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
