Latin for Beginners · Lesson VI · Part 1: First principles

6. The ablative, prepositions and adjectives

Goal: Your child knows the ablative endings, uses five prepositions with the ablative, and makes an adjective agree with its noun.

⏱ About 40 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • The special vocabulary page for this lesson (near the back of the book; the lesson tells you the page)
  • A notebook for Latin, and a pencil
  • Index cards for new words (optional)

What's in the book

Explains the ablative (from, with, by, in), the prepositions ā or ab, dē, ē or ex, cum, and in, and how adjectives agree with their nouns. Ends with a dialogue between Julia and Galba about Diana.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Chant domina. Ask: which forms are dative?

  2. The ablative

    The ablative ends in -ā in the singular and -īs in the plural. The book points out that the ablative -ā is long, while the nominative -a is short. It covers ideas English says with "from", "with", "by", "in" or "at".

  3. Prepositions

    Section 53 lists the prepositions that take the ablative:

    ā or ab, from, away from

    dē, from, down from

    ē or ex, from, out of

    cum, with

    in, in, on

    Do the short list of phrases after it ("In the water, on the land, down from the forest..."), saying each in Latin.

  4. Adjectives agree

    An adjective describes a noun and takes the same number and case. So "a good girl" is puella bona, and "of good girls" is puellārum bonārum.

  5. Vocabulary

    From the special vocabulary for Lesson VI:

    bona, good

    magna, large, great

    mala, bad, wicked

    parva, small, little

    pulchra, beautiful, pretty

    cūr, why

    nōn, not

    The book also teaches -ne, the question sign added to the first word of a question.

  6. Read the dialogue

    Read the dialogue "Julia and Galba" in section 56 together, each taking a part. It begins:

    Quis, Galba, est Diāna?

    Diāna, Iūlia, est pulchra dea lūnae et silvārum.

    Translate it line by line.

  7. Wrap up

    Your child picks three adjectives and puts each with a noun in the nominative and the ablative.

Afterwards

This is a big lesson. It is fine to split it: grammar and phrases on day one, vocabulary and dialogue on day two.

Tip

Reading the dialogue in two voices is the best practice there is. Do it again tomorrow without looking at the English.

Answers to the book's problems

The dialogue, line by line: J. Who, Galba, is Diana? G. Diana, Julia, is the beautiful goddess of the moon and of the forests. J. Whose daughter, Galba, is Diana? G. Diana, Julia, is the daughter of Latona. J. What does Diana carry? G. Diana carries arrows. J. Why does Diana carry arrows? G. Diana carries arrows, Julia, because she kills the bad wild beasts of the great forest. J. Does Latona love her daughter? G. She does, and the daughter loves Latona. J. What is your little daughter carrying? G. My little daughter is carrying pretty wreaths. J. To whom does your daughter give the pretty wreaths? G. She gives wreaths to Diana. J. Who is with your daughter? Is she alone? G. She is not alone; my little daughter is with my maid.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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