Latin for Beginners · Lesson XXXVIII · Part 7: Possum, relatives and the third declension
38. The relative pronoun quī; interrogative pronouns
Goal: Your child declines quī, quae, quod, makes a relative agree with its antecedent, and tells quis (who?) from quī (which, what?).
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook for Latin, and a pencil
What's in the book
Simple, compound and complex sentences; the relative pronoun quī, quae, quod and its agreement; the interrogative pronoun quis, quid and adjective quī, quae, quod. Ten Latin question-and-answer pairs, English sentences, and the end of "The Faithless Tarpeia".
The lesson, step by step
Kinds of sentences
Section 219: a simple sentence has one statement; a compound sentence has two equal statements; a complex sentence has a main clause and a clause that depends on it. Make up an example of each in English.
The relative pronoun
In "The Romans killed the men who were taken", who connects the two clauses. Section 221 declines the Latin relative. Singular:
quī, quae, quod
cuius, cuius, cuius
cui, cui, cui
quem, quam, quod
quō, quā, quō
The plural begins quī, quae, quae; quōrum, quārum, quōrum. The book points out how much it looks like is, ea, id.
Agreement
Section 224: the relative agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, but its case depends on its job in its own clause.
Rōmānī interfēcērunt virōs quī captī sunt
virōs is accusative, but quī is nominative, the subject of "were taken".
Questions
quis? quid? are pronouns ("who?", "what?"); quī? quae? quod? is the adjective ("what man?"). The book's examples:
Quis est vir? Who is the man?
Quī vir eōs dūcit? What man is leading them?
Exercises
Section 228, Exercise I is questions and answers. Read each pair, you asking and your child answering. Then Exercise II.
Finish Tarpeia
Read "The Faithless Tarpeia (Concluded)" in section 229. The book asks you to explain the tenses.
Afterwards
Two days: the relative and its agreement on day one, questions, exercises and story on day two.
Answers to the book's problems
Exercise I: 1. Who is sick? The slave whom I love is sick. 2. Whose shield do you have? I have the shield which the lieutenant sent to the redoubt. 3. To whom will the lieutenant give his shield? He will give the shield to my son. 4. Where did the ancient Germans live? The Germans lived in the land which is nearest to the Rhine. 5. With whom were the Germans waging war? The Germans were waging war with the Romans, who were eager to conquer them. 6. What men are pitching camp? They are the men by whose arms the Germans were conquered. 7. What weapons did our forces lack? Our forces lacked swords and spears. 8. By whom was the left gate held? The left gate was held by the allies. 9. What provinces were seized by the Romans? Many provinces were seized by the Romans. 10. What men will the gods favor? The gods will favor good men.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.