Lesson 1 · Review
Read through the vocabulary and the five rules, then test yourself below. Answer in your head before you click.
Say each word aloud as you read it — Latin is learned with the ear as much as the eye.
The subject is that person, place, or thing about which something is said — a noun, or a word serving as one.
Galba est agricola — Galba is the subject.
The predicate is that which is said about the subject: a verb, with or without modifiers.
Nauta pugnat — pugnat is the predicate.
The direct object is that to which something is done. A verb whose action passes over to an object is transitive; one that admits no object is intransitive.
Iūlia aquam portat — aquam receives the carrying.
The verb "to be" (est, sunt) asserts nothing and governs no object; it simply links the subject to the predicate — hence copula, the joiner.
Fīlia est Iūlia — est joins fīlia to Iūlia.
Latin has no articles ("a", "the"), and drops personal and possessive pronouns when the meaning is clear without them.
Rosam in comīs habet — "She has a rose in her hair," with no word for she or her.
Pick an answer; wrong picks turn red and you may try again. Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
In Nauta pugnat, which word is the subject?
Right. The sailor is the person about whom something is said (Rule 1); pugnat is what is said about him — the predicate (Rule 2).
Not quite — ask: who or what is something being said about?
Question 2
In Agricola fīliam amat, which word is the direct object?
Right. The daughter is that to which something is done — she receives the loving (Rule 3). Notice the form fīliam, the shape this word takes as an object.
Not quite — ask: to whom or what is the action done?
Question 3
Which sentence uses a copula?
Right. Est asserts no action; it merely links Galba to agricola (Rule 4). The other sentences have real verbs: portat acts on an object, pugnat acts without one.
Not quite — look for the verb that asserts nothing and only joins.
Question 4
How may agricola be translated?
Right. Latin has no articles at all (Rule 5); you supply "a" or "the" from context when you translate.
Not quite — does Latin have a word for "a" or "the"?
Question 5
Which of these verbs is intransitive?
Right. Fighting does not pass over to an object the way carrying (aquam portat) or having (rosam habet) does — "the sailor fights" is complete by itself.
Not quite — which action makes a complete statement without an object?
Question 6
In Rosam in comīs habet — "She has a rose in her hair" — where is the Latin word for "she"?
Right. Latin omits personal pronouns when the meaning is clear (Rule 5); the verb habet already tells you that he or she has. Rosam is the direct object.
Not quite — re-read Rule 5: what does Latin leave unexpressed?
Answered correctly: 0 / 6