Ch 10 · Lesson 12Latin · Chapter 10 · Lesson 12 · Grammar primer
Translating the ablative absolute
is not the city having been captured: Latin gives no conjunction, so you choose one. When, after, because, although, if, or a noun.
The short version
Never leave having been in your English
, .
Why?Hide
is literally the city having been captured, which is grammatical and dreadful. Latin gives no conjunction, so pick one: after, when, because, although, if. Or turn it into a noun: after the capture of the city. The context decides which.
Translating it into English a human would write
Word for word, is the city having been captured: grammatical English, and dreadful. Latin gives no conjunction, so choose one deliberately.
| Sense | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| time | , . | After the city was taken, the soldiers returned. |
| cause | , . | The army fled because its leader was dead. |
| concession | , . | Although the enemy were beaten, the people were still afraid. |
| condition | , . | If peace is made, everyone will come back. |
| sequence | , Caesar . | Caesar learned this and set out. |
Three techniques worth having:
- Turn it active. The doer is usually in the main clause: after the soldiers had taken the city, they returned.
- Turn it into a noun. After the capture of the city, the soldiers returned. Often the cleanest, and it keeps the compression.
- Make it a main clause and join with and. The soldiers took the city and returned. In narrative this is often how the Latin feels.
Spotting one while reading
Look for a noun in the ablative with no preposition in front of it, often near the start of the sentence, with a participle agreeing with it close by.
| Step | Look for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a bare ablative noun | |
| 2 | a participle agreeing with it | |
| 3 | no job for the pair in the clause | |
Watch the connecting relative, a form of opening a sentence where English says this: , when he/she had learned these things. Caesar's commentarii use it constantly to pick up the last sentence and move on.
Going further: The shape and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
7-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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