Latin for Beginners · Lesson XLVII · Part 9: Third-declension adjectives, the fourth and fifth declensions
47. Place to, from and in; the locative; domus
Goal: Your child can say 'to Rome', 'from Rome' and 'at Rome' correctly, including with domus and rūs, and reads the start of the story of Daedalus.
You'll need
- The book: the lesson pages, plus the special vocabulary at the back of the book
- A notebook and pencil
- Index cards for new words
What's in the book
Rules for the place to which, from which and in which (§§ 262 to 265), the exception for towns, small islands, domus and rūs (§ 266), the locative case (§§ 267 and 268), and domus (§ 269). Then twelve Latin sentences, the reading Daedalus and Icarus, and seven English sentences. Vocabulary on page 293.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Ask: how do we say 'into the forest' and 'out of the forest' in Latin? (in silvam, ex silvā.) That is what this lesson builds on.
The new idea
Normally Latin uses a preposition: ad or in with the accusative for 'to', ā/ab or ē/ex with the ablative for 'from', in with the ablative for 'in' or 'at'. But names of towns and small islands, and the words domus (home) and rūs (country), drop the preposition.
For 'at' a town, Latin has a special case, the locative. For singular towns of the first and second declension it looks like the genitive:
Rōmae
Corinthī
domī
Otherwise it uses the plain ablative, as in Athēnīs, 'at Athens'.
Say the forms aloud
Make a three-column chart: to, from, at. Fill it in for Rōma (Rōmam, Rōmā, Rōmae), Athēnae (Athēnās, Athēnīs, Athēnīs), domus (domum, domō, domī) and rūs (rūs, rūre, rūrī). Say each row aloud.
Vocabulary
Page 293. Some of the words:
Athēnae, -ārum, f., plur., Athens
domus, -ūs, locative domī, f., house, home (dome). Cf. domicilium
propter, prep. with acc., on account of, because of
vulnus, vulneris, n., wound (vulnerable)
Look up the full declension of domus in § 468, as the book says.
Latin to English
Translate the twelve sentences. Two of them:
Caesar Genāvam exercitum magnīs itineribus dūxit.
Domī cōnsulis hominēs multī sedēbant.
For each place word, ask: to, from, or at?
Read and write
On a second day, read the start of Daedalus and Icarus: Daedalus lives on Crete under King Minos and longs to go home. Then do the seven English sentences.
Wrap-up
Quick quiz: 'to Athens', 'at home', 'from the country', 'at Rome'. Memorize the rules in §§ 263 to 268 and the new words.
Afterwards
Two days: rules and sentences the first day, the story and English sentences the second.
Tip
A simple test helps: is it a town, a small island, home or the country? If yes, no preposition.
Answers to the book's problems
Item 3 is a question and its answer. 1. At Corinth all the decorations of gold had been seized by the victorious leaders. 2. Caesar led the army to Geneva by forced marches. 3. What bridge had the enemy burned? The enemy had burned the bridge on the Rhine. 4. At Pompeii you will be able to see many houses of the Romans. 5. The consul hurried from Rome to the country on a swift horse. 6. At the consul's house many men were sitting. 7. The general had ordered the lieutenant to sail to Athens with many warships. 8. Before the walls of the city are rows of tall trees. 9. Because of the tall trees we could find neither the lake nor the harbor. 10. By frequent battles Caesar was training his legions which were in Gaul. 11. Every day he pitched his camp in a suitable place and fortified it.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.