The Latin Alphabet
The letters J and W don’t exist
I, U can be consonants OR vowels
when I is a consonant, it sounds like Y
when U is a consonant, it sounds like W
the letter V also ALWAYS sounds like W, never like an English V
Examples: iam (now), pronounced: “yom,” rhymes with Tom
uita/vita (life), pronounced “wee-tah”
C, G, and SC always make hard sounds
Examples: dicit (says), pronounced “DEEK-it”
legit (reads), pronounced “LEG-it”
descendit (climbs down), pronounced “des-KEN-dit”
Vowels (pronounced like the following English words):
a- lawn
e- leg
e- café
i- limb
i- liter
o- low
u- push
u- lure
Diphthongs:
AE- sounds like “eye”
AU- sounds like “Ow!”
EI- sounds like neighbor
EU- sounds like a British person saying “Oh!”
OE- sounds like “Oy!”
UI- sounds like “Wee!”
Attempt to pronounce the following words:
Nomen (name)
Mihi (my, for me, to me)
Est (is)
Placet (pleases, is pleasing)
Tibi (to you)
Natus/Nata sum (I was born)
In (in)
English Phrases / Latin Phrases /English Greetings / Latin Greetings:
Hi! / Heus!
Good morning! / Salvē!
Good evening! / Salvē!
Welcome! (to greet someone) / Salvē!
How are you? / Quid agis?
I'm fine, thanks! / Valeō!
And you? / Et tū?
Good/ So-So. / Bene / admodum bene.
Thank you (very much)! / Grātias (multas)
You're welcome! (for "thank you") / Salūtātiō!
Hey! Friend! / Heus! Amīcus (male) / Amīca (female)
I missed you so much! / Tē dēsīderāvī tantum!
What's new? / Quid novī?
Nothing much / Nullum multum.
Good night! / Valē!
See you later! / Valē!
Good bye! / Valē!
Asking for Help and Directions
I'm lost / Intereō.
Can I help you? / Te adiuvāre possum?
Can you help me? / Me adiuvāre potes?
Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)? / Ubī sunt lātrīnae? / Ubī est taberna medicāmentāriī?
Ubī sunt lātrīnae? / Ubī est pharmacopīlium?
Go straight! then turn left/ right! / Vāde rēctā. Tunc verte ā sinistrā / dextrā!
I'm looking for . / Iōannem quaerō.
One moment please! / Parumper exspectā!
Hold on please! (phone) / (no telephones in Ancient Rome)
Parumper exspectā!
How much is this? / Quantī cōnstāt?
Excuse me ...! (to ask for something) / Ignōsce!
Excuse me! ( to pass by) / Excusā!
Come with me! / Mēcum venī!
Read more: http://www.linguanaut.com/english_latin.htm#ixzz3AmaUREZ9
PARTS of Speech
Latin has 8 parts of speech (categories that words can be divided into). English has the exact same 8 parts of speech. Keep this table readily available in your binder in case you forget what a certain part of speech is or what it does.
part of speech / function or "job" / example words / example sentencesVerb (V) / action or state / (to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must / Latin is a language. I like languages.
Noun (N) / thing or person / pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John, / This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.
Adjective (AJ) / describes a noun / a/an, the, 2, some, good, big, red, well, interesting / I have two dogs. My dogs are big. I like big dogs.
Adverb (AV) / describes a verb, adjective or adverb / quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really / My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun (PN) / replaces a noun / I, you, he, she, some / Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Preposition (PP) / links a noun to another word / to, at, after, on, but / We went to school on Monday.
Conjunction (C) / joins clauses or sentences or words / and, but, when, if / I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjection (I) / short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence / oh!, ouch!, hi!, well / Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.
In the following sentence, find one of each part of speech:
The excited scholar quickly jumped out of bed and loudly remarked, “Hurray! It
is time to start the school year!”
The latin cases
Case: The way a word is used in a sentence
Inflection: Changing a word when it’s used differently in a
sentence. (ex: changing “I” to “me” in English)
The Nominative Case Subject, Complement
< nomine – by name
This case is so-called because it is the most important noun in the sentence. It is almost always the first noun and is doing the sentence’s action.
The Genitive Case “of”
< genitus – created
There is no Latin word for “of,” and so Latin expresses this idea by changing the ending of a word to make it Genitive.
The Dative Case “to/for”
< datus - given
There is no Latin word meaning “to” or “for” in the English sense, and so Latin expresses this idea by changing the ending of a word to make it Dative.
The Accusative Case Direct Object, Object of Preposition
< accusatus – accused
This case is so-called because the action of the sentence is directed at it, just like when you accuse a person. Sometimes it will be on its own (like with the English word “him”), and sometimes, it will have a preposition in front of it (like with the English words “to him,” “near him,” or “through him”).
The Ablative Case Object of Preposition
< ablatus – carried away
This case is so-called because the action of the sentence is usually used with a preposition meaning “away.” However, it can also be used with the prepositions “from/with/in/on/by/at/under” and others.
Masculine Nouns
Latin English
Nominative Cornelius Cornelius (he)
Genitive Cornelii of Cornelius
Dative Cornelio to/for Cornelius
Accusative Cornelium Cornelius (him)
Ablative cum Cornelio with Cornelius
Feminine Nouns
Latin English
Nominative Cornelia Cornelia (she)
Genitive Corneliae of Cornelia
Dative Corneliae to/for Cornelia
Accusative Corneliam Cornelia (her)
Ablative cum Corneliā with Cornelia
1. Note how, in your English translation, a person’s name never changes its ending. This is because, when use Latin words in an English sentence, we follow English grammar and keep the nouns’ endings the same.
2. For some cases, it might not be clear what case the noun is.
(Ex: Cornelio can be Dative or Ablative.)
So you have to look at the whole sentence to figure it out!
3. If your Latin name ends in “us,” it follows the same pattern of endings as Cornelius, and if it ends in “a,” it follows the same pattern of endings as Cornelia.
“Cases” of Pronouns
Case: The way a word is used in a sentence
Inflection: Changing a word when it’s used differently in a
sentence. (ex: changing “I” to “me” in English)
English Latin
I Ego
Of me Mei
To me Mihi
1st Person
For me Mihi
Me Me
With me Mecum
English Latin
You Tu
Of you Tui
To you Tibi
2nd Person
For you Tibi
You Te
With you Tecum
Hey, you! Tu!
“Cases” of Plural Pronouns
Case: The way a word is used in a sentence
Inflection: Changing a word when it’s used differently in a
sentence. (ex: changing “We” to “us” in English)
English Latin
We Nos
Of us Nostri
To us Nobis
1st Person
For us Nobis
Us Nos
With us Cum Nobis
English Latin
You all Vos
Of you all Vestri
To you all Vobis
2nd Person
For you all Vobis
You all Vos
With you all Cum Vobis
Hey, you all! Vos!
Subject & DIRECT OBJECT
Almost every sentence has an action, known as the verb.
-Ariel sings.
-Belle reads.
-Cinderella works.
In the sentences above, the verb is the second word, and the first word is known as the subject.
However, most sentences have more than 2 words. Some have a noun after the verb:
-Anna & Elsa build a snowman.
-Rapunzel braids her hair.
-Mulan honors her father.
In the sentences above, the last word is known as the direct object.
Label the sentences below with V for verb, S for subject, and DO for direct object. Some sentences may have more than one of each, but not every word will be labeled.
1. Magister teaches Latin. (label 3 words)
2. Scholars learn many subjects. (label 3 words)
3. I always bring cheese and crackers. (label 4 words)
4. Tourists watch lions in the zoo. (label 3 words)
5. Magister’s scholars at JAA give him great memories. (label 3 words)
Linking verb & Complement
Some verbs have no action but instead help describe a noun. These verbs are called linking verbs. Verbs like “is, are, am, was & be” are all examples of linking verbs:
-Ariel is a mermaid.
-Anna & Elsa are princesses.
-I am a Beast.
In the sentences above, the last word is known as the complement.
It helps to think of a linking verb as an equals sign between subject and complement.
Rewrite these “word equations” as complete sentences by replacing them with linking verbs (is, was, am, are, were, be).
1. I = a scholar.
2. You = Italian-American.
3. Ronald Reagan = the 40th U.S. President.
4. We = American citizens.
5. Hillary & Bill Clinton = Democrats.
“To be” verbs
Conjugate a verb:
to list the different forms of a verb in order to show how the verb’s form changes when used with different subjects
How to conjugate the verb “to be”
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st Person I am We are
2nd Person You are You all are
3rd Person He/she/it is They are
In Latin, the presentation is usually in two columns, left column for singular (one subject), right column for plural (two subjects), and different rows depending on who the subject of the sentence is.
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st (Ego) sum (Nos) sumus
2nd (Tu) es (Vos) estis
3rd (Is/Ea/Id) est (Ei) sunt
In Latin, we do not have to use pronouns when we conjugate a verb. We only have to list the forms of the word.
UNIT 1 ASSESSMENT
I. List the appropriate forms of “puella”
LATIN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Nominative: ______
Genitive: ______
Dative: ______
Accusative: ______
Ablative: ______
II. List the appropriate forms of “tu”
LATIN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Nominative: ______
Genitive: ______
Dative: ______
Accusative: ______
Ablative: ______
III. List the appropriate forms of “habito”
SING PLURAL
1st Sing: (ego) habit______(nos) habita______
2nd Sing: (tu) habita______(vos) habita______
3rd Sing: (is/ea/id) habita______(ei) habita______
IV. Label the following sentences as follows: verb (V), subject (S), complement (C):
1. Cornelia est Romana.
2. Flavia sedet.
3. Tu es puella.
V. Translate into English:
Ego sum laeta quod Cornelia in villā vicinā mecum habitat.
______