RSS Feed for the unit Getting started on Classical Latin

Introduction

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

The aim of this unit is to enable you to get started in Latin. It has been developed in response to requests from students who had had no contact with Latin before and who felt they would like to spend a little time preparing for the kind of learning that takes place on a classical language course. The unit will give you a taster of what is involved in the very early stages of learning Latin and will offer you the opportunity to put in some early practice.

This unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course Reading Classical Latin (A297).

Original Copyright © 2004 The Open University. Now made available within the Creative Commons framework under the CC Attribution – Non-commercial licence (see http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/).

Learning outcomes

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

By the end of this unit you should have:

an awareness of the links between English and Latin;
an understanding of basic English grammar in order to recognise and describe the way languages work;
an awareness of the fundamentals of pronunciation in Latin.

1 Learning Latin

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

The aim of this unit is to enable you to get started in Latin in a fairly leisurely but well-focused way. The material has been developed in response to requests from students who had had no contact with Latin before and who felt they would like to spend a little time preparing for the kind of learning which takes place on a language course – and, in particular, on a classical language course.

If you have taken Classical Studies courses in the Open University or elsewhere, you will be used to the demands of extensive reading of set books, note-taking and preparing essays. However, the ‘tools of the trade’ for classical language learning are somewhat different, and you will need to develop new skills, of which the most basic are actually the most important, since they underpin everything else that you do as you progress your studies in the area.

This unit will give you a taster of what is involved in the very early stages of learning Latin and will offer you the opportunity to put in some early practice. It is self-contained and is designed to be used on its own before you embark on further studies in the area. It may be a help to have your English dictionary to hand, particularly if it lists etymologies (source words) and derivations.

Your learning priorities at the very beginning of your studies are to learn or revise some basic English grammar in order to recognise and describe the way languages work; and to establish a way of learning Latin vocabulary thoroughly. These topics are addressed in the main sections of this unit.

You also need to establish a study pattern suited to your lifestyle and to the demands of this type of language learning. ‘Little and often’ is best; however, you may not be able to set aside an hour or so each day. This unit will give the opportunity to try out various study patterns and find out what suits you best. You will also be able to find out which aspects of language learning come easily to you, and which seem more difficult or more time-consuming. For example, some people find dealing with grammar difficult. Others may worry about memorising words, although with practice many people find that they can develop techniques to help with this. As you work through this preparatory material, you might like to experiment with different ways of learning vocabulary – for example, writing out the Latin words, saying them aloud, thinking of English words derived from, and therefore similar to, the Latin words, using flash cards, getting a friend to test you, putting vocabulary items on tape and listening to them, or a combination of these strategies. If you can set up the habit of learning just a few words each day, you will benefit enormously.

The material which follows is designed to be studied in small sections. In all, it will probably take about 10 hours to work through it. Of course, you could easily spend longer if you wish, especially if you begin to make your own lists of English words derived from Latin. However, if you have only a small amount of time available, you will find it useful to familiarise yourself with some grammatical terms and concepts.

2 Links between English and Latin

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Although Latin is not the direct ancestor of English, as it is of Italian, French and Spanish (the so-called ‘Romance’ languages), it has nevertheless given us an enormous number of words. According to some estimates, nearly half of all English words come from Latin. You may be familiar with the idea that words such as science, transport and solution are derived from Latin, but did you know that street and kipper come from Latin words which entered ordinary speech during the period from the first to the early fifth centuries AD, when Celtic Britain was part of the Roman Empire?

Activity 1

There are other homely words in this category. Try matching the English words on the left with their Latin origins on the right.

English word	Latin origin
beer	libra
box	saccus
candle	caseus
wine	mille passus
cheese	uallum
lb (an imperial pound in weight)	bibere
mile	pisum
peas	uinum
pound	buxus
sack	salarium
salary	castra
sock	pondo
street	strata (uia)
wall	candela
caster/cester/chester (as in Lancaster, Gloucester, Chester)	soccus

Answer

English word	Latin origin
beer	bibere (= to drink)
box	buxus (= boxwood)
candle	candela
cheese	caseus
lb (an imperial pound in weight)	libra
mile	mille passus (= 1,000 paces)
peas	pisum
pound	pondo (= by weight)
sack	saccus (= large bag)
salary	salarium (= salt ration)
sock	soccus (= slipper)
street	strata (uia) (= paved way)
wall	uallum (= palisaded earthwork)
wine	uinum
caster/cester/chester (as in Lancaster, Gloucester, Chester)	castra (= camp, fort)

In the sixth century, the Latin of the Christian church added such words as monastery and minster, pope and noon (from nona hora = ninth hour = 3pm) to the language, which was then essentially Anglo-Saxon. When William the Conqueror and his Normans came to Britain in the eleventh century, a vast number of words, derived both from Norman French and from written Latin, entered English. Among these are duke, general, soldier, army, palace, law, chivalry, merchant, mutton, beef and pork. In some instances, English was further enriched by having two versions of what was originally a single Latin word.

Words from Latin through French	Words from Latin
treason	tradition
rage	rabies
ray	radius
poor	pauper
reason	ration, ratio
firm	secure
abridge	abbreviate

The Renaissance in Europe, the Enlightenment in Britain, and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century growth of science and technology produced thousands more words derived from Latin, such as administration, computer, decimal, horticulture, interface, molecule, missile, satellite and superhuman.

This is a huge and fascinating topic. If you would like to think about it in greater depth, you could read Latin in our Language by Peter Barker (1993). This book contains many vocabulary exercises.

Activity 2

In addition to the words which have been derived from Latin or from Latin through French, English also uses a number of words taken straight from Latin without any change. See if you can match each of the Latin/English words on the left with the appropriate word from the list on the right, which gives the meanings of the original Latin words.

Latin/English word	Meaning of original Latin word
agenda	teacher
album	lentil
arena	more
camera	thing to be referred
curriculum	rule/method
data	things to be discussed
doctor	sand
exit	empty thing
formula	spoke
fungus	less
index	take!
innuendo	arched roof
lens	he/she goes out
media	things given
minus	mushroom
plus	sign/title
rabies	things in the middle
radius	race course
recipe	by hinting
referendum	fury
vacuum	blank white stone tablet
	(on which notices
	could be written)

Answer

Latin/English word	Meaning of original Latin word
agenda	things to be discussed
album	blank white stone tablet (on which notices could be written)
arena	sand
camera	arched roof
curriculum	race course
data	things given
doctor	teacher
exit	he/she goes out
formula	rule/method
fungus	mushroom
index	sign/title
innuendo	by hinting
lens	lentil
media	things in the middle
minus	less
plus	more
rabies	fury
radius	spoke
recipe	take!
referendum	thing to be referred
vacuum	empty thing

In English there are often two words expressing the same idea, one of Anglo-Saxon origin, the other of Latin origin. Anglo-Saxon words are used in a simple, straightforward style, while Latinate words are the language of elevated discourse and scientific and academic writing. So simple words such as go down, high, sad, speed up, watch, hate, do well and hide, for example, might in some situations become descend, elevated, miserable, accelerate, observe, detest, succeed and conceal.

Activity 3

Use your English dictionary to identify the words of Latin (and French) origin in the following passage from The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The words already in bold come from Greek.

Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow, and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black-currant bushes.
Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner, but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden.
(Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, p. 59)

Now, in order to see the contrast, see how many of the words in the following excerpts from an educational book are derived from Latin. Words derived from Greek are in bold; the name Chomsky is Slavonic.

Chomsky's ideas were enormously influential and have stimulated a fresh interest in the biological basis of language. But the search for truly universal similarities in all languages has revealed very few, and rather unimpressive ones at that (all languages have nouns and use vowels). There do seem to be many common grammatical rules, but they are not absolutely universal and the exceptions raise doubts about just how much of the essence of language is specified in the genes. […]
In 1981 … [they] began a large comparative study of the four types of treatments: interpersonal therapy, which focuses on personal relationships; cognitive therapy, which teaches people how to interpret their experiences more positively; imipramine, an antidepressant drug; and a placebo tablet, without any active ingredient.
(Colin Blakemore, The Mind Machine, pp. 179, 206)

Answer

Beatrix Potter passage:

quietly, Mr., caught, corner, safe

Colin Blakemore passages:

ideas (from Greek through Latin), enormously, influential, stimulated, interest, basis (from Greek through Latin), language, search, universal, similarities, languages, revealed, unimpressive, languages, nouns, use, vowels, common, rules, absolutely, universal, exceptions, doubts, just, essence, language, specified, large, comparative, study, treatments, interpersonal, focuses, personal, relationships, cognitive, people, interpret, experiences, positively, imi (= ammonia) + amine (= ammonium), -depressant, placebo, tablet, active, ingredient

Did you manage the derivations of imipramine? You may have found it difficult because it is a compression of several words.

Activity 4

To conclude this section on links between Latin and English, below is a list of some basic Latin words. Give as many English derivations from them as you can.

Latin word	English derivations
Familia	_______________________________________________
Filia	_______________________________________________
Habito	_______________________________________________
Seruus	_______________________________________________
Celo	_______________________________________________
Clamo	_______________________________________________
Intro	_______________________________________________
Porto	_______________________________________________
Timeo	_______________________________________________
Uoco	_______________________________________________
Amo	_______________________________________________
Curo	_______________________________________________
Ingenium	_______________________________________________
Multus	_______________________________________________
Senex	_______________________________________________

Answer

Below are some suggestions of words you might have come up with.

Latin word	English derivations
familia, household	family
filia, daughter	filial
habito, I live, dwell	habitat
seruus, slave	servant
celo, I hide	conceal
clamo, I shout	exclaim
intro, I enter	enter
porto, I carry	porter
timeo, I fear	timid
uoco, I call	vocation
amo, I love	amiable
curo, I look after	curator
ingenium, talent	ingenious
multus, much, many	multi-storey
senex, old man	senile

3 The pronunciation of Latin

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Contrary to what many people think, we do know how classical Latin (the Latin spoken in the first century BC and the first century AD) was pronounced. One of the main clues is provided by the spelling of Latin names in Greek: thus, since Latin Valeria, for instance, was spelled in Greek, we can tell that Latin V (capital u) was pronounced as a w. Alternative spellings and misspellings on inscriptions also help to show common pronunciations, as do the regular metres of Latin verse, the remarks of ancient grammarians and other writers, and comparison of Latin with other languages.

The Roman alphabet is still very much in use today: it is the alphabet used for English and many other languages throughout the world, and it owed its original spread to the use of Latin in the western Roman Empire. In classical times, the alphabet consisted of 23 letters, not our 26, as it lacked j, v and w.

Below is a letter-by-letter guide to Latin pronunciation.

Letter	Pronunciation
a (short)	as in a man (i.e. nearer cut than cat)
ā (long)	as in father
ae (diphthong)	as in aisle
au (diphthong)	as in cow
b	as in English
c	always hard, like k
ch	rougher than in Scots loch
d	as in English
e (short)	as in get
ē (long)	as in grey
eu (diphthong)	pronounced as e+u (eh-oo elided, not as in you)
f	as in English
g	always hard, as in get
gn	in practice, as in ignorant (should really be ng+n as in hangnail)
h	as in have
i vowel (short)	as in miss
ī vowel (long)	as in meet
i consonant	as in yellow (becomes j in English derivatives)
k	as in English
1	as in English
m	as in English
n	as in English
o (short)	as in not
ō (long)	as in note
oe (diphthong)	as in toil
p	as in English
ph	in practice, as in foot (should really be an aspirated p, i.e. p with an exhaled breath)
q	only in the combination qu, as in queen
r	strongly pronounced, as in Scots and Italian
s	unvoiced, as in hiss, i.e. not as in his
t	as in English
th	in practice, unvoiced, as in thin, i.e. not as in then (should really be an aspirated t)
u vowel (short)	As in put (written as V as a capital letter)
ū vowel (long)	As in school
u consonant	as in wet
x	unvoiced, as in exercise
y	Always a vowel, short or long, like French u, German ü, or Scots guid
z	as in English

In many older Latin texts, and even in current schoolbooks, the consonant u is sometimes written as v. Many people pronounce it, incorrectly, as v, but in fact this pronunciation did not develop in Latin until after the classical period.

In RLT and GVE, long vowels are helpfully marked with a macron (a line over the vowel, for example amīca), to indicate the pronunciation, but the macrons are not part of the spelling, so you need not write them in yourself.

As for the stress accent in Latin, it falls on the first syllable of a word of two syllables, for example séruus, ámo. In a longer word it falls on the penultimate (second to last) syllable, if that syllable is long, for example amícus, honóres, and on the antepenultimate (third to last) syllable, if the penultimate syllable is short, for example família, ígitur.

If you would like to know more about the pronunciation of Latin, you could consult W. Sidney Allen's book Vox Latina (1965).

4.1 Inflexion

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

The underlying grammatical rules of Indo-European languages (for example, English, Gaelic, French, German, Russian, Latin, Greek, Punjabi) are similar, but it is not always easy to appreciate this when you are beginning to learn a new language. A common feature of all these languages is the inflexion of nouns, adjectives and verbs, whereby the end of the word is changed according to its function in the sentence. For example, woman, woman's, women and women's are all inflexions of a noun. This and these are inflexions of an adjective, and teach, teaches, teaching and taught are inflexions of a verb.

In English, many of these inflected forms have ceased to be used in the last few centuries, but many languages use them much more than English does. Latin is one of the languages which is heavily inflected. In English, we have exchanged the inflexions on the whole for a very strict system of word order. For example, ‘Those girls are feeding the horses’ means one thing, and ‘The horses are feeding those girls’ something rather different. Similarly, ‘You are going to Spain tomorrow’ is different from ‘Are you going to Spain tomorrow?’ We can tell who is doing what to whom, in the first example, and whether something is a statement or a question, in the second example, from the order of the words.

This is much less true of Latin. The endings of words (the inflexions) are vital in understanding how words relate to each other and enable us to work out the meaning of a sentence. When learning Latin (or Greek, German or Russian), we have to change our reading habits. We need to look even more carefully at the ends of words than at the beginnings, and only if we do this will the meaning of a sentence become clear and unambiguous. In learning Latin, vocabulary is important, but just as important is the system of word endings.

4.2 Parts of speech

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

In describing the grammar of written Latin, the best method is to use the traditional classical grammar, as worked out by the Greeks and Romans themselves. As a preliminary, it may be useful to learn the ‘parts of speech’ in English. A very brief explanation follows, and then a much fuller discussion.

Part of speech	Explanation	Latin derivation of the term
noun	a naming word	nomen, a name
pronoun	a word used instead of a noun	pro, instead of; nomen, a name
adjective	a word added to a noun	adicere, adiectum, to throw at, add
verb	a ‘doing’ or ‘being’ word	uerbum, a word
adverb	a word added to a verb, adjective or another adverb	ad, to; uerbum, a word
preposition	a word placed before a noun or pronoun	prae, in front of; ponere, positum, to place
conjunction	a joining word	Coniungo, coniunctum, to join

4.2.1 Nouns

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Nouns are used to name people, places, things or concepts, for example Cicero, Italy, tree, happiness. Most nouns can be singular or plural, for example tree, trees. They each belong to a certain gender, masculine, feminine or neuter (from Latin neuter, neither). In English, nouns have natural gender; for example, boatsman is masculine, woman is feminine, student is of common gender (either masculine or feminine), and university and building are neuter. Latin, like English, Greek and German, also has three genders, but while nouns denoting people have natural gender, most nouns are of grammatical gender, as is the case in other European languages (for example ignis, fire, is masculine and corona, a garland, is feminine, while periculum, danger, is neuter). However, neuter nouns in Latin are almost always naturally neuter.

In Latin, nouns are usually subject to inflexions: their endings change. This is sometimes so in English too, as we saw above with woman, women, woman's, and women's.

Activity 5

Identify the nouns in this passage from The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were – Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.
‘Now, my dears,’ said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, ‘you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.’
(Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, pp. 7–11)

Answer

Nouns:

time, Rabbits, names, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, Peter, Mother, sand-bank, root, fir-tree, dears, Rabbit, morning, fields, lane, McGregor's, garden, Father, accident, pie, McGregor.

4.2.2 Pronouns

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Pronouns are used to avoid repeating nouns and to supply the subjects for verbs. I, me, we and us are known as the first person pronouns, you is the second person pronoun, and he, him, she, her, it, they and them are third person pronouns in English. In Latin, pronouns are used only when really necessary for the sense of a sentence, or sometimes for emphasis. Often, a pronoun subject, such as I, you or she, can be understood from the ending of the verb. This and that can also be used as pronouns, both in English and Latin.

4.2.3 Adjectives

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Adjectives are words which describe nouns, for example black horse, these chairs, some people, my chocolate or twelve swans. In Latin they ‘agree’ with the noun they describe: they match with regard to gender and number (and also case – but we will discuss that later). This is occasionally so in English, too. For example, we say that house but those houses.

4.2.4 Verbs

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Verbs are the most important words of all, as is suggested by the fact that the verb in both English and Latin is named after the Latin word uerbum, word! Without a verb, a sentence cannot be a proper sentence, or a clause a proper clause. A one-word sentence consists of a verb only, for example, Run!

The ending of a Latin verb shows who the doer of the action of the verb is (which is why there is usually no need of a pronoun to show this). Below are the present tense person endings of almost every Latin verb:

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	-o (= I)	-mus (= we)
2nd	-s (= you)	-tis (= you)
3rd	-t (= he/she/it)	-nt (= they)

The part of the verb to which the person ending is added is called the stem. Thus, the stem ama- plus -nt produces amant, meaning they love.

As well as indicating an action and the doer of the action, a verb usually tells us when the action happens: I'm eating, for example, tells us of something happening at the present moment, whereas I ate indicates something that happened in the past. This kind of difference is known as the ‘tense’ of the verb. In English, this is often indicated by using another verb to help out the meaning, for example I will eat. This extra verb is sometimes referred to as an auxiliary verb, from Latin auxilium, meaning help. In Latin, on the other hand, a change of person ending, and sometimes a change of stem, indicates a change in the tense.

The main tenses are given below.

Tense	Example
Present	I eat (simple present)
	I am eating (present continuous)
	I do eat (emphatic)
Future	I shall/will eat
	I am going to eat, I am eating [my birthday cake tomorrow]
Imperfect	I was eating (description in the past)
	I used to eat (repeated action)
	I kept on eating
	I began to eat
	I ate (over a long period of time)

As well as implying that an action was going on for some time, the imperfect (from Latin imperfectum, incomplete) has a sense of incompleteness about it: the action has not been definitely finished.

Tense	Example
Perfect	I have eaten (present perfect)
	I ate (past simple, as a completed action)
Pluperfect	I had eaten (further back in the past than the perfect)
Future perfect	I will/shall have eaten

Latin has only the above five (or six) tenses. As you can see, there is by no means the variety of ways of describing actions in Latin that there is in English!

Activity 6

Identify the person and tense of following verbs.

Example	Person and tense
We went	__________________
You are going to speak	__________________
They have arrived	__________________
We used to know	__________________
You are flying	__________________
I was trying	__________________
He will jump	__________________
She fell	__________________

Answer

Example	Person and tense
We went	1st person plural, Latin perfect tense
You are going to speak	2nd person, future tense
They have arrived	3rd person plural, perfect tense
We used to know	1st person plural, imperfect tense
You are flying	2nd person, present tense
I was trying	1st person singular, imperfect tense
He will jump	3rd person singular, future tense
She fell	3rd person singular, Latin perfect tense

Activity 7

The following extract from the parable of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament contains several verbs. Identify them and say which tense each is in.

And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country [...] no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…’
(Luke 15: 14–18)

Answer

Verbs	Tense
had spent	pluperfect tense
arose	Latin perfect tense
began	Latin perfect tense
[to be	infinitive in present tense]
went	Latin perfect tense
joined	Latin perfect tense
gave	Latin imperfect tense
came	Latin perfect tense
said	Latin perfect tense
have	present tense
[to spare	infinitive in present tense]
perish	present tense
will arise	future tense
(will) go	future tense
will say	future tense
have sinned	perfect tense

4.2.5 Adverbs

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, for example running quickly, very clever, quite well.

Adverbs of manner describe how the action of the verb is being done, for example boldly, graciously, well.

Adverbs of time show when the action of the verb is taking place, for example today, then.

Adverbs of place show where the action of the verb is taking place, for example here.

Adverbs of degree show the extent to which an adjective or adverb is true, for example rather slowly, too quickly, very high.

4.2.6 Prepositions

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Prepositions are always used with a noun or pronoun in a prepositional phrase, for example in the sea, to the cinema, behind the clouds, after breakfast, with her.

Notice how in English, we say: This is for him (not he); He went with William and me’ and Give the sweets to Helen and me (not I). These examples show how in English, prepositions (italicised here) really ‘take’ (are followed by) the objective, or accusative, case. The accusative case is something we'll come back to later.

In Latin, too, some prepositions govern the objective/accusative case; others govern another case (the ablative). This is something we have to learn, along with the preposition itself, as a vocabulary item.

4.2.7 Conjunctions

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Conjunctions join together individual words, phrases and clauses (the components of sentences which are longer than a simple sentence of the type: ‘Everyone can enjoy learning Latin’). So-called co-ordinating conjunctions are such words as and and but, as in the following examples:

fish and chips
Last summer they went to the Baltic and visited the city of Riga.
They went to the Baltic but did not manage to visit Riga.

Subordinating conjunctions begin subordinate clauses within sentences, for example when, although, as, since, if. The following examples should make this clearer:

When they went to the Baltic, they visited the city of Riga.
Although they went to the Baltic, they did not see any storks.
As they were going to the Baltic, they took a guidebook with them.
Since they did not know the language, they took a phrasebook.
If we go to the Baltic, we'll have a great time because it's very cheap there.

Conjunctions are extremely important in Latin, as you can tell from the fact that in this unit alone you will learn four words for and (et, from which the ampersand, &, comes, ac, atque and -que added to the end of the second word), three words for but (sed, tamen and autem) and two words for because (quod and quia). Nouns, verbs and adjectives are the glamorous kinds of words, but prepositions and conjunctions are the nuts and bolts of language.

4.3 Sentences: subject and object

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

A sentence consists of a number of words which, to make sense, must include a verb. Unless this is the only word in the sentence (as in ‘Run!’), there will normally be a word telling us who or what is doing the action. This doer, whether noun or pronoun, is called the subject of the verb.

Consider these sentences:

The players ran onto the pitch. The referee blew his whistle, and the centre-forward kicked off.

This short passage has three separate statements (in the two sentences), each determined by a different action expressed by a verb – ran, blew and kicked. There are also three separate doers or subjects of the actions: the players, the referee and the centre-forward.

Activity 8

Identify the subjects and verbs in the following sentences.

I like chocolate.
The boys ran as fast as they could.
Tomorrow Jane and I are going to Paris.
She was sitting beside her friend on the bus and they were talking loudly.
Chris and Robbie climbed the largest tree.

Answer

Subject	Verb
I	like
The boys	ran
They	could
Jane and I	are going
She	was sitting
they	were talking
Chris and Robbie	climbed

Sometimes a sentence also contains a noun (or pronoun), indicating to whom or what the action is being done. In the sentence The referee blew his whistle, the subject is the referee, the verb is blew, and his whistle is the thing to which the action is done. This ‘receiver’ of the action is called the ‘object’ of the verb. Another way to think of this is to ask a question of the subject and verb; for example, ‘The referee blew – what?’ The answer to the question, ‘his whistle’, is the object. Two of the sentences in Activity 8 have objects. Which ones are they?

Activity 9

Identify the subject, verb and object in the following sentences.

The dog fetched the ball.
The girls were quietly reading their books.
We don't like hard work.
In AD 60 Boudicca destroyed Colchester, London and St Albans.
The Romans could not forgive her.
People will be watching you.

Answer

Subject	Verb	Object
The dog	fetched	the ball
The girls	were reading	their books
We	do + like	hard work
Boudicca	destroyed	Colchester, London, St Albans
The Romans	could + forgive	her
People	will be watching	you

As you can see from the examples in Activity 9, in English the subject usually comes before the verb and the object after it, so the order of components is s-v-o. This is not always so, however: the object may come first in English, perhaps for the sake of emphasis; and it is possible to say:

Hard work we don't like,

‘Get lost!’ shouted the man angrily.

As the subject–verb–object order is normal in English, the difference between a word as subject and the same word as object is not shown by inflexion; this is unnecessary. Some of our pronouns form an exception, nevertheless:

Subject (in the subjective case)	Object (in the objective case)
I	me
he	him
she	her
we	us
they	them

This change of form is a vital point to bear in mind when learning Latin, because Latin nouns and pronouns (and adjectives) change their form according to whether they are the subject or object in their sentence: it is the form of the word, or ‘case’ as it is usually known, that determines whether it is the subject or the object.

This is a particularly important point, as English usually relies on word order to distinguish between subject and object, as we have already noted: ‘All nice girls love sailors’ is in the conventional order of subject–verb–object, but changing the order of words to ‘Sailors love all nice girls’ substantially alters the meaning of the sentence.

This would not be so in Latin, because the different case-endings on the nouns (etc.) indicate which is the subject and which the object, even if the order of the words is unexpected: object–subject–verb, for example. All the same, there is a word order in Latin which is more usual than others, and this is subject-object-verb. Because of this, the Latin reader has to wait until the end of the sentence with great anticipation to find out what the action (the verb) is!

4.4 Unravelling sentences

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Activity 10

In the following passage, mark as many subjects, verbs and objects as you can.

James was to drive them. The first day we travelled thirty-two miles; there were some long heavy hills, but James drove so carefully and thoughtfully that we were not at all harrassed. He never forgot to put on the drag as we went downhill, nor to take it off at the right place. He kept our feet on the smoothest part of the road, and if the uphill was very long, he set the carriage wheels a little across the road, so as not to run back, and gave us a breathing. All these little things help a horse very much, particularly if he gets kind words into the bargain.
(Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, Chapter 15)

Answer

Subject	Verb	Object
James	was to drive	them
we	travelled	thirty-two miles
some long heavy hills	were
James	drove
we	were
He	forgot to put (on)	the drag
we	went
	to take (off)	it
He	kept	our feet
the uphill	was
he	set	the carriage wheels
	to run (back)
(he)	gave	a breathing
All these little things	help	a horse
he	gets	kind words

Latin, like English, is not always straightforward:

The dark and vicious place where thee he got
Cost him his eyes.
(Shakespeare, King Lear, 5.3.171–2)

In the words in heavy lettering above, Shakespeare varies the word order from a standard English word order. Thee is the old English objective form of thou, and the normal order would be ‘he got [= begot] thee’. Poets, for special effect or to improve the metrical rhythm, often do vary the order. Consider this example from Shakespeare's Sonnet no. 133:

Me from myself thy cruel eye hath taken
(Shakespeare, Sonnet no. 133, 5)

Here we must resort to analysis to determine the structure:

Which is the verb? – ‘hath taken’
Who/what has done the action? – ‘thy cruel eye’ (subject)
What has been taken? – ‘me’ (object)

Similarly:

To me fair friend, you never can be old;
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still.
(Shakespeare, Sonnet no.104, 1–3)

What is the grammatical structure in ‘when first your eye I eyed'?

What is the verb? – ‘eyed’
Who/what is doing the action? – 'I' (subject)
What is being eyed? – ‘your eye’ (object)

This sort of analysis will be important in your study of Latin. But, as it is the case-ending on the noun which indicates whether it is subject or object, it will be easier to sort out which is which than it is in some English.

Activity 11

To make sure you have understood the principles established so far, see if you can pick out the subject, verb and object in the following examples.

Our hearts you see not;
(Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 3.1, 170)

For that security craves great Lucifer
(Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, 2.1.36)

This casket India's glowing gems unlocks
(Pope, The Rape of the Lock, 1.133)

Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue bestows
(Johnson, London, 126)

Much he the place admired, the person more.
(Milton, Paradise Lost, 9.444)

Two massy [massive] keys he bore, of metals twain
(Milton, Lycidas, 110)

In Peace the thoughts of War he could remove
(Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, 25)

Answer

Subject	Verb	Object
you	see	Our hearts
great Lucifer	craves (for)	that security
This casket	unlocks	(India's) glowing gems
his lavish tongue	bestows	wit, brav'ry, worth
he	admired	the place, the person
he	bore	two massy [massive] keys
he	could remove	the thoughts (of War)

4.5 The cases in Latin

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

‘Cases’ indicate the various functions that nouns, pronouns and adjectives can have in a sentence. The case is shown by the word-ending in Latin.

Although learning about cases is not within the scope of this introductory unit, it may help to have a short checklist of the cases and how they may be translated into English from Latin.

Case	Use	Example in English (‘man’)
Nominative (the naming or subjective case)	used for the subject of a sentence or clause	a man, the man
	used for the complement of the verb ‘to be’ (i.e. after the verb ‘to be’)
Vocative (calling case)	used when addressing someone	Man,…O man, …(normally with a comma before or after, or both)
Accusative (objective case)	used for the object of a verb	a man, the man
	used after some prepositions
Genitive (possessive case)	of, ’s, s’	of a man, of the man, a man's, the man's
Dative (giving case, or the indirect object)	to, for	to a man, to the man, for a man, for the man
Ablative (‘everything else’ case)	used after some prepositions	For a person: (meaning of preposition) + a man, (meaning of preposition) + the man
	used by itself: by, with, from, in, on	For a thing: by, with, from, in, on (whichever seems to fit) + the thing

As you can see from the above table, Latin does not normally distinguish between a and the: so when you translate you should choose whichever seems to make better sense.

When you begin studying Latin, you may find it helpful to make your own grammar notebook. You could add the English meanings to the Latin forms. If you make everything as clear and simple as possible, it will be easier to learn – and you will have to learn them!

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References

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

Barker, P. (1993) Latin in our Language, Bristol, Bristol Classical Press. Blakemore, C. (1988) The Mind Machine, London, BBC Books.

Dryden, J. (1970 edn) ‘Absalom and Achitophel’ in The Poems and Fables of John Dryden, ed. by J. Kinsley, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

The Holy Bible (1952 edn) Revised Standard Version, New York, Glasgow and Toronto, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd for SPCK.

Johnson, S. (1981 edn) Johnson's London, and The Vanity of Human Wishes, ed. by N. Rudd, Bristol, Bristol Classical Press.

Marlowe, C. (1995 edn) Doctor Faustus, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Milton, J. (1969 edn) Lycidas and Paradise Lost in Milton: Poetical Works, ed. by D. Bush, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Pope, A. (1998 edn) The Rape of the Lock, Basingstoke, Macmillan. Potter, B. (1902) The Tale of Peter Rabbit, London, Frederick Warne.

Sewell, A. ([1877] 1986 edn) Black Beauty, London, Cathay Books Ltd/Octopus Books Ltd.

Shakespeare, W. (1997 edn) The Norton Shakespeare, ed. by S. Greenblatt et al., London, W.W. Norton & Company.

Sidney Allen, W. (1965) VoxLatina, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Acknowledgements

The Open University — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:29:06 GMT

This unit was written by Dr Inga Mantle

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:

Unit Image

annie br: flickr.com

All other materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University.

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