In the second module of the Latin from Scratch course, we’ll study the second declension, which will also allow us to learn the first-class (2-1-2) adjectives and deal with them in our translations.
Classes on the second declension and adjectives
Practice: morphosyntactic analysis and translation (2)
We are already in the second module, so we start directly with the translations. Analyze and translate the following sentences, and the short text about the Germanic people, according to Roman historian Tacitus (fragment from the lectio XI in Ludus Latinus by Wilhelm Hartke):
Puer et puella aquam in fluvii ripa potant.
Medici puerorum puellarumque morbos herbis curant.
Lupi agnos in silvis vorant.
Nautae cum agricolis ferri gladiis pugnant.
Rosae pulchrae sunt.
Veri amici bona consilia dant.
Studio imperii Romani magna bella gerunt.
Divitiae multarum laetitiarum et multorum malorum causa est.
Tacitus, historicus clarus et doctus, multa de terra et vita Germanorum antiquorum narrat. Caelum Germaniae serenum non est, sed Germani naturam patriae amant. Silvae Germaniae magnae et densae sunt; campi, lati. Germani aedificia lignea aedificant. Sub aedificiis parvae cellae sunt. Capilli Germanorum flavi, oculi caerulei sunt. Fama feminarum Germanorum bona est; nam fidae sunt.
Here you have the statements of the words appearing in the translation for this module. It is important for you to learn the vocabulary. To compel you to do so, I won’t usually repeat words from previous modules.
For the sentences:
- puer, pueri — boy
- puella, puellae — girl
- aqua, aquae — water
- in — in
- fluvius, fluvii — river
- ripa, ripae — shore
- poto, potare, potavi, potatum — drink
- medicus, medici — medic, doctor
- morbus, morbi — disease
- herba, herbae — herb
- curo, curare, curavi, curatum — cure
- lupus, lupi — wolf
- agnus, agni — lamb
- silva, silvae — forest
- voro, vorare, voravi, voratum — devour
- nauta, nautae — sailor
- cum — with
- agricola, agricolae — farmer
- ferrum, ferri — iron
- gladius, gladii — sword
- pugno, pugnare, pugnavi, pugnatum — fight
- rosa, rosae — rose
- pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum — beautiful
- verus, vera, verum — true
- amicus, amici — friend
- bonus, bona, bonum — good
- consilium, consilii — advice
- do, dare, dedi, datum — give
- studium, studii — desire, ambition, eagerness
- imperium, imperii — power
- Romanus, Romana, Romanum — Roman
- magnus, magna, magnum — big
- bellum, belli — war
- gero, gerere, gessi, gestum — carry through
- divitia, divitiae — riches, wealth
- multus, multa, multum — much, a lot
- laetitia, laetitiae — joy
- malum, mali — evil, harm
- causa, causae — cause
For the text:
- Tacitus, Taciti — Tacitus (Roman historian)
- historicus, historici — historian
- clarus, clara, clarum — famous
- doctus, docta, doctum — learned, wise
- multus, multa, multum — much, a lot
- de — on, about (plus ablative)
- vita, vitae — life
- Germanus, Germana, Germanum — German(ic)
- antiquus, antiqua, antiquum — ancient
- narro, narrare, narravi, narratum — narrate, tell
- caelum, caeli — sky
- Germania, Germaniae — Germania
- serenus, serena, serenum — calm, serene
- non — no
- sed — but
- natura, naturae — nature
- patria, patriae — fatherland
- amo, amare, amavi, amatum — love
- silva, silvae — forest
- magnus, magna, magnum — big
- densus, densa, densum — dense, thick
- campus, campi — field
- latus, lata, latum — wide
- aedificium, aedificii — building
- ligneus, lignea, ligneum — wooden
- aedificio, aedificare, aedificavi, aedificatum — build
- sub — under, below (plus ablative)
- parvus, parva, parvum — little
- cella, cellae — barn, warehouse
- capillus, capilli — hair
- flavus, flava, flavum — blond
- oculus, oculi — eye
- caeruleus, caerulea, caeruleum — blue
- fama, famae — fame, reputation
- femina, feminae — woman
- bonus, bona, bonum — good
- nam — for
- fidus, fida, fidum — faithful, loyal
Review of the translations
Once you have finished with the analysis and translations, now it’s time to review them on the screen.
⚠️ Even if you think you’ve done everything correctly, it is very important for you to always check the review, since that’s where we actually practice and check what we have learned. You’ve already seen that the analysis-translation process is quite systematic and strict at first, precisely so we can absorb everything we’re doing.
In the following video () I analyze and translate the sentences:
And now the text ():
Yes, they are definitely harder than the sentences in the previous modules… but we need to keep moving forward!
In the next module we’ll learn two new tenses: the imperfect past and the imperfect future (both indicative active). Imperfect is especially important, since it’s a narration tense, thus quite frequent in historiography.