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
- The second declension (09m 56s)
- 2-1-2 adjectives (10m 08s)
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):
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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:
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For the text:
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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 (⏳ 22m 28s ⌛) I analyze and translate the sentences:
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And now the text (⏳ 20m 40s ⌛):
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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.
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In the sentence “Tacitus, historicus clarus et doctus, multa de terra et vita Germanorum antiquorum narrat”, I’m having a hard time grasping why “Germanorum antiquorum” takes the form of the direct object “multa”, i.e. genitive plural neuter, instead of taking the form of the adverbial “de terra et vita”, which would be genitive plural feminine. Since aren’t the “land and life” the things that are possessed by the “ancient Germans”?
Could I remove the adverbial so that the last part would become “multa Germanorum antiquorum narrat”, and would that translate to something like “tells a lot of ancient Germans”?
There, multa isn’t genitive plural, but accusative plural (I’m guessing you just had a slip there). It says literally “narrates *many things*”, and later the adverbial specifies “about what”, so “narrates many things about the land and the life of the ancient Germans”.
That said, you could have what you say with that meaning, “many things of the ancient Germans” (more generic than “about the land and the life”).
Yes, I meant accusative plural neuter, my bad. Now looking at this with your comments and fresh eyes it makes more sense. I think I had a brainfart and thought of “Germanorum antiquorum” as an adjective instead of a genitive complement of the noun.
Thanks for your reply!