THE: Lesson - Latin Composition - Simple Sentences

Latin Composition - Simple Sentences

For our next composition exercise, let's attempt to construct some simple sentences: subject, object, verb. At this point, you should be fairly comfortable with noun and verb endings. Even so, before you begin these exercises, you might want to review the following documents which include charts and formation rules:

• Verb Review:
  • Indicative Formation Links to an external site.
  • Subjunctive Formation Links to an external site.
• Noun Review
  • Noun Formation and Endings Chart Links to an external site.
  • Noun Case Review Links to an external site.

Working with Verbs

Arguably the most important part of any clause, the verb is an essential component of composition and is the part of speech where Latin and English differ the most. Verbs in English are only minimally inflected (we add -ing or -ed, but that's about it), while Latin verbs are inflected to account for person, number, tense, voice, and mood. This means that changing a verb ending changes the entire meaning of the clause!

Your first exercise will focus on creating the correct verb form for a given English usage. It is important to remind you here: tense in English does not always look like tense in Latin! The examples in the exercise will attempt to make clear what tense you should be using, but pay attention to any that you miss to see some of the nuance (for instance: for a past tense verb, should you use imperfect or perfect tense? Imperfect is used for continuous action, while perfect is used for completed action - can you tell the difference in English?).

Working with Simple Sentences

Now that we've practiced some verb forms, let's add a subject and object, so you are composing a complete simple sentence! All we are introducing is the use of the nominative and accusative cases here, so be sure to stick to using just those two cases. A word bank is included beneath the exercise to help you with vocabulary. Also, remember what we learned in the previous lesson: Latin word order is Subject, Direct Object, Verb! Some sentences (passive or subjunctive) may only be Subject + Verb.

Word Bank

Verbs	Nouns
To bring, bear – fero, ferre, tuli, latus To defend – defendo, defendere, defendi, defensus To fortify – munio, munire, munivi, munitus To kill – neco, necare, necavi, necatus To love – amo, amare, amavi, amatus To rule – regno, regnare, regnavi, regnatus To stay – maneo, manere, mansi, mansus To watch – specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatus	Book – liber, libri, m. Camp – castra, castrorum, n. pl. Citizen – civis, civis, m./f. City – urbs, urbis, f. Friend – amicus, amici, m. Gauls – Galli, Gallorum, m. Girl – puella, puellae, f. Gladiator – gladiator, gladiatoris, m. King – rex, regis, m. Land, country, homeland – patria, patriae, f. Queen – regina, reginae, f. Soldier – miles, militis, m. Women – femina, feminae, f.

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