Latin for Beginners · Lesson LIII · Part 11: Comparing adjectives and adverbs
53. Comparison of adjectives
Goal: Your child forms and declines comparatives (-ior) and superlatives (-issimus, -rimus) and translates them, including 'quite', 'too' and 'very'.
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
Degrees of comparison (§ 300), comparison with endings (§ 301) and with magis and maximē (§ 302), the declension of the comparative (§ 303), adjectives in -er (§ 304), and how to translate them (§ 305). Then twelve Latin and eight English sentences. Vocabulary on page 296. From here on, the book's reading selections are at the back of the book.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
In English: big, bigger, biggest; beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful. Latin does the same two ways.
The new idea
Add -ior (masculine and feminine) and -ius (neuter) to the base for the comparative, and -issimus to the base for the superlative:
The comparative is formed from the base of the positive by adding -ior masc. and fem., and -ius neut.
So clārus, clārior, clārissimus (famous, more famous, most famous). Adjectives in -er add -rimus to the masculine instead: ācer, ācrior, ācerrimus.
Some adjectives use magis and maximē instead: idōneus, magis idōneus, maximē idōneus.
Say the forms aloud
Read the § 303 table. The comparative uses third-declension consonant endings: clārior, clāriōris, clāriōrī, clāriōrem, clāriōre. Then compare brevis, vēlōx, pulcher and līber from the book aloud.
How to translate
A comparative can mean 'quite, too, rather', and a superlative 'very'. quam means 'than'. With a superlative, quam means 'as … as possible': quam celerrimē, as quickly as possible.
Vocabulary
Page 296. Some of the words:
aquila, -ae, f., eagle (aquiline)
ingēns, gen. ingentis, adj., huge, vast
quaerō, quaerere, quaesīvī, quaesītus, ask, inquire, seek (question). Cf. petō
Latin to English
Translate the twelve sentences. Two of them:
Mēns hominum est celerior quam corpus.
Aestāte diēs sunt longiōrēs quam hieme.
English to Latin and wrap-up
Write the eight sentences. A footnote reminds you that the noun after quam is in the same case as the one before it. Memorize the patterns in §§ 301 to 304 and the new words.
Afterwards
Two days is fine. Have your child compare five adjectives they know each day: positive, comparative, superlative.
Answers to the book's problems
1. What were the scouts seeking? The scouts were seeking the most favorable time for the march. 2. In the middle of the forest we made as many fires as possible, because we had never before seen such bold wild beasts. 3. In ancient times the Germans were braver than the Gauls. 4. Caesar was more famous than the enemies who killed him. 5. Each one carried a huge shield and a rather long javelin. 6. Among the barbarians the Germans were the boldest and bravest. 7. The mind of men is swifter than the body. 8. The men of some lands are very wretched. 9. The bodies of the Germans were huger than those of the Romans. 10. The fiercest chiefs of the Gauls without any delay led their very swift horses across a certain river. 11. In summer the days are longer than in winter. 12. A certain general inquired of the scouts about the recent arrival of the warships.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.