Latin for Beginners · Lesson XLVIII · Part 9: Third-declension adjectives, the fourth and fifth declensions
48. The fifth declension; the ablative of time
Goal: Your child declines diēs and rēs and uses the ablative without a preposition to say when something happens.
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
The gender of fifth-declension nouns (§ 272), the paradigms of diēs and rēs (§ 273), the ablative of time with its rule (§§ 274 and 275), the reading Galba the Farmer, seven English sentences, and more of Daedalus and Icarus (§ 277). Vocabulary on page 294.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Quick quiz from the last lesson: 'at Rome', 'to Athens', 'at home'.
The new idea
The fifth declension is the last one. Its nouns end in -ēs and are feminine, except diēs (day) and merīdiēs (midday).
diēs, diēī, diēī, diem, diē
rēs, reī, reī, rem, rē
Only diēs and rēs have a full plural: diēs, diērum, diēbus, diēs, diēbus.
When things happen
Latin says 'at night', 'in winter', 'on the first day' with the plain ablative, no preposition.
The time when or within which anything happens is expressed by the ablative without a preposition.
Examples to say aloud: nocte (at night), hieme (in winter), prīmā lūce (at daybreak).
Vocabulary
Page 294. Some of the words:
diēs, diēī, m., day (diary)
hōra, -ae, f., hour
nox, noctis (-ium), f., night (nocturnal)
spēs, speī, f., hope
prīmus, -a, -um, first (prime)
Also the phrase rēs gestae, deeds.
Latin to English
Read Galba the Farmer, a short story about a farmer's day and year. Two of its sentences:
Galba agricola rūrī vīvit.
Hieme agricola eōs in lūdum mittit.
Each time a word answers 'when?', point to its ablative ending.
English to Latin
Write the seven English sentences. Every one has a time phrase: put it in the ablative with no preposition.
Wrap-up
Your child declines rēs from memory. Memorize diēs, rēs, the rule and the new words. Read the next part of Daedalus and Icarus (§ 277) together if time allows.
Afterwards
If you read the Daedalus passage, give it a day of its own.
Tip
In rēs and diēs, the e is long except in -eī after a consonant and before final -m. The book points this out; say the forms carefully.
Answers to the book's problems
Galba the Farmer (sentences not numbered in the book): Galba the farmer lives in the country. Every day he begins to work at daybreak, and he does not stop in his work before night. At midday Julia, his daughter, calls him to dinner. At night he turns his tired feet homeward. In summer the farmer's sons give help to their father. In winter the farmer sends them to school. There the teacher tells the boys many stories about the deeds of Caesar. In summer the farmer's sons are trained by constant labors, and the heavy work of the field is not troublesome to them. Galba lives without any care and does not fear hard times.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.