Ch 6 · Lesson 15Latin · Chapter 6 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
The rest of the ablative: cause, respect and utor
, he did it out of love; , he uses a book. The last ablative jobs, the prepositions settled, and how to work any ablative out.
The short version
.
Why?Hide
Where English says he uses a sword, Latin says , with the sword in the ablative. Fruor (enjoy), fungor (perform), potior (take possession of) and vescor (feed on) do the same. The ablative also gives the cause, , out of love, and the respect, , king in name.
The extras that earn their keep
A handful more ablatives with no preposition. Two of them, comparison and degree of difference, have their own page: comparatives and superlatives.
| Use | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| cause | . | They fled out of fear. |
| respect | | king in name |
| description | | a man of great courage |
| price | emit. | He bought it at a high price. |
| comparison | | brighter than the sun |
| degree | | much bigger |
Caesar's first paragraph has an ablative of respect, three in a row:
, institutis, differunt.- These all differ from one another in language, customs and laws. (Caesar, Gallic War 1.1)
Five verbs take the ablative as their object. (I use) is the one you will meet, where English has a direct object:
.- He uses a sword.
Fruor (enjoy), fungor (perform), potior (take possession of) and vescor (feed on) do the same.
The prepositions, settled
Always ablative:
| Preposition | Meaning |
|---|---|
| from, away from; by (a person) |
| out of, from (also e) |
| down from; about, concerning |
| with |
| without |
| in front of; on behalf of |
| before, in front of |
| in the presence of |
Either case, and the case is the meaning:
| Preposition | + abl. (place) | + acc. (motion) |
|---|---|---|
| in, on | into, onto; against |
| under | to under; towards |
| about, concerning | over, above (usual) |
Everything else common takes the accusative:
| Preposition | Meaning |
|---|---|
| to, towards |
| through |
| between, among |
| after, behind |
| before |
| against |
| because of |
| at the house of |
| on account of |
How to work one out
- Is there a preposition? It has already chosen the case, and its meaning tells you the family.
- No preposition, and the noun is a thing? Almost certainly means.
- A time word? Time when, or time within which.
- A comparative nearby? Comparison.
- Still stuck? Try by, with and from in that order and keep the one that makes sense.
Going further: The forms, in one place and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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