Latin for Beginners · Lesson LV · Part 11: Comparing adjectives and adverbs
55. Irregular comparison: good, better, best
Goal: Your child knows the irregular comparisons of bonus, magnus, malus, multus and parvus, and the declension of plūs.
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
Irregular comparisons (§ 311), four adjectives with two superlatives (§ 312), the declension of plūs (§ 313), and ten Latin and six English sentences (§ 314, on the next page). Vocabulary on page 296.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
In English, 'good, better, best' is irregular. So is Latin's.
The new idea
Learn these five as a chant:
bonus, -a, -um, good
melior, optimus
magnus, maior, maximus
malus, peior, pessimus
multus, plūs, plūrimus
parvus, minor, minimus
The book also lists four adjectives with two superlatives, such as superus, superior, summus (§ 312).
plūs
plūs (more) is a neuter noun in the singular: plūs frūmentī, more grain. In the plural it is an adjective, plūrēs, plūra: more, many, several. Read its table in § 313 aloud.
Vocabulary
Page 296. Some of the words:
mors, mortis (-ium), f., death (mortal)
scelus, sceleris, n., crime
servitūs, -ūtis, f., slavery (servitude)
trādō, trādere, trādidī, trāditus, give over, surrender, deliver (traitor)
Also sē recipere, to withdraw, retreat.
Latin to English
Translate the ten sentences. Two of them:
Plūrimī captīvī ab equitibus ad Caesarem ductī sunt.
Fāma illōrum mīlitum optima nōn erat.
English to Latin
Write the six sentences. Two of them, 'Slavery is worse than death', can go either way: with quam or with the ablative.
Wrap-up
Your child says the five irregular comparisons from memory. Memorize them and the new words.
Tip
English words help: optimist (optimus), pessimist (pessimus), major (maior), minor, plural (plūs).
Answers to the book's problems
1. The rest of the enemy, who had joined battle on the right wing, fled from the higher ground and withdrew into a very large forest. 2. At the edge of the forest the camp of the enemy had been pitched. 3. Very many captives were led to Caesar by the horsemen. 4. Caesar, however, ordered them to be handed over into slavery. 5. On the next day a great multitude of women was found by the Romans at the bottom of the valley. 6. These women, greatly terrified by the arrival of Caesar, were eager to kill themselves. 7. They also had heard many stories about the crimes of the Roman army. 8. The reputation of those soldiers was not the best. 9. In the buildings of the barbarians a greater supply of grain was found. 10. No one can fight in frequent battles without some danger.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.