Latin for Beginners · Lesson LXXVI · Part 15: Gerunds, reported speech and special cases
76. Vocabulary review; the genitive and ablative of description
Goal: Your child translates phrases like 'a man of great courage' and 'a ditch of ten feet', and knows when Latin uses the genitive or the ablative for them.
You'll need
- The book (the lesson pages and the word lists in §§ 524 and 525)
- A notebook and pencil
- Index cards from earlier lessons
What's in the book
A vocabulary review (§ 440, word lists in §§ 524 and 525), the genitive and ablative of description (§§ 441 to 445), four set phrases, and ten Latin and six English sentences.
The lesson, step by step
Vocabulary review
Go through the word lists in §§ 524 and 525. Note the slow words.
The new idea
'A man of great courage' or 'a man with great courage': Latin can use the genitive or the ablative, always with an adjective. The book's rules:
Measures with numbers take the genitive:
Fossa duodecim pedum, a ditch of twelve feet.
Bodily features take the ablative:
Homō magnīs pedibus et parvō capite, a man with big feet and a small head.
Other qualities can take either case.
Set phrases
Learn the four phrases: Helvētiīs in animō est, the Helvetii intend; in mātrimōnium dare, to give in marriage; nihil posse, to have no power; fossam perdūcere, to construct a ditch.
Latin to English
Translate the sentences. Two of them:
Germānī et Gallī nōn erant eiusdem gentis.
Omnēs ferē Germānī erant magnīs corporum vīribus.
For each description, ask: genitive or ablative, and why?
English to Latin
Write the six sentences. A footnote reminds you that a length of a wall or ditch 'long' uses the accusative of extent (Lesson LIX).
Wrap-up
Your child describes a family member in Latin, such as 'a man of great courage'. Memorize §§ 443 to 445 and the phrases.
Answers to the book's problems
Sentence 7 is long and not included here. 1. The soldiers constructed a ditch of ten feet through their territory. 2. The chief of the Helvetii, a man of the greatest boldness, gave his sisters in marriage to the chiefs of the neighboring tribes. 3. He wanted to strengthen their friendship so that he might more easily make war upon the Romans. 4. The Germans and the Gauls were not of the same race. 5. Almost all the Germans had great bodily strength. 6. The Gauls who were bravely defending the town were throwing rocks of huge size from the wall. 8. Walls of twenty feet on the left side, and on the right side a river of great depth, defended the town. 9. When Caesar had arrived in Gaul, there was a rumor that the Helvetii intended to march through the Roman province. 10. Caesar, in order to keep them from Roman territory, made a fortification many miles long.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.