Line drawing of sane
Coloured illustration of sane
#430 of 1,000Core 1000

Translation

certainly, indeed; truly

Know this word? Create a free account to track it.

Examples

difficilis .

The matter is certainly difficult.

.

The war was indeed a serious one.

, .

Quite so, just as you say.

.

Very many indeed believe this.

.

I do not really understand.

Sane is the adverb of sanus, "sound, healthy", so its oldest meaning is "soundly, sensibly" and everything else grows out of that. In practice it does three things: it affirms a statement, "certainly, to be sure"; it intensifies an adjective or an adverb, where the best English is often just "very"; and in dialogue it stands alone as agreement, "quite so", frequently as sane quidem.

Two details. With a negative it usually weakens rather than reverses, so non sane is "not really, hardly" rather than "certainly not". And it heads concessions - sane sit ita, "granted that it is so" - where the speaker gives ground before taking it back. English sane, sanity and sanitary come from the adjective, not the adverb.

Where this fits

Used in

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Chapters 1 and 2 free

Meet this word in a story

Every course has graded stories written only with words you have been taught, plus grammar drills, a games arcade and printable worksheets. Chapters 1 and 2 are free.

Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.

Start learning free

Latin · Free printables

sane: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "sane" (certainly, indeed; truly): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is taught in chapter 5, lesson 3: sane, umbra, quicumque and 7 more words.