Latin for Beginners · Lesson XV · Part 3: Possessives, pronouns and the ablative

15. The ablative meaning "with": cause, means, accompaniment, manner

Goal: Your child tells apart four uses of the ablative, and knows when to use cum and when not to.

⏱ About 40 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • The special vocabulary page for this lesson (near the back of the book; the lesson tells you the page)
  • A notebook for Latin, and a pencil
  • Index cards for new words (optional)

What's in the book

English "with" can mean four different things. The book gives an example of each in Latin and four rules, then a reading, "The Romans prepare for War", and six English sentences.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Say the possessives in the masculine nominative singular.

  2. Four kinds of "with"

    Read section 100. The book's four Latin examples:

    Mārcus est īnfirmus inopiā cibī

    (cause: weak because of lack of food)

    Diāna sagittīs suīs ferās necat

    (means: with her arrows)

    Iūlia est cum Sextō

    (accompaniment: in company with Sextus)

    and the fourth, manner: the men fight with great steadiness.

  3. The rules

    Cause and means: ablative with no preposition. Never use cum for them. Accompaniment: ablative with cum. Manner: ablative with cum, but cum may be left out if there is an adjective. Each rule answers a question: Because of what? By means of what? With whom? How?

  4. Practice in English

    Do section 106 together: find each "with" or "by" idea in the English passage and name its kind.

  5. Vocabulary

    From the special vocabulary for Lesson XV:

    carrus, cart, wagon

    inopia, want, lack

    studium, zeal, eagerness

    armātus, armed

    validus, strong, sturdy

    and the little word -que, "and", added to the second of two words.

  6. The reading

    Read and translate "The Romans prepare for War" (Exercise I). Stop at each ablative and ask which kind it is. Then do Exercise II.

  7. Wrap up

    Your child makes up one English sentence for each of the four kinds of "with".

Afterwards

This lesson is worth two days. Do the rules on day one and the reading on day two.

Answers to the book's problems

Exercise I, "The Romans prepare for War": The Romans, the famous people of Italy, are preparing for war. Out of their fields, villages and towns, sturdy men hurry to arms with great eagerness. Already the lieutenants with the legionary soldiers are hurrying from Italy to the Rhine, a deep and wide river of Germany, and slaves are carrying food and grain to the Roman camp with horses and carts. The Germans are weak because of a lack of good weapons, but the Romans, armed with helmets, coats of mail, shields, swords and spears, are strong.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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