Lesson 36 · Review

Principal Parts & Yes-or-No Questions — a stocktaking, and three ways to ask

IVocabulary

Ten new words. Note that gerō and stō carry idioms — bellum gerere, to wage war — and that teneō has no fourth principal part.

dexter, dextra, dextrumright (dextrous)
sinister, sinistra, sinistrumleft
frūstrāadv. in vain (frustrate)
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestusbear, carry on; wear; bellum gerere, wage war
occupō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusseize, take possession of (occupy)
postulō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusdemand (ex-postulate)
recūsō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusrefuse
stō, stāre, stetī, statusstand
temptō, -āre, -āvī, -ātustry, test, attempt (tempt)
teneō, tenēre, tenuī, ——keep, hold (tenacious)

IIThe Relative Conjunction ubi

You have used ubi to ask where? But it has two further uses that are just as common — and in neither of them is a question being asked.

UseLatinEnglish
InterrogativeUbi Galba habitat?where does Galba live?
Relative — timeUbi mōnstrum audīvērunt, fūgērunt.when they heard the monster, they fled
Relative — placeVideō oppidum ubi Galba habitat.I see the town where Galba lives
Rule 1 — ubi = when, where

Ubi is called a relative conjunction because it stands in for a relative pronoun: it joins a clause to a word already in the sentence. Of time it is equivalent to at the time at which; of place, to the place in which. Ask yourself whether the sentence is a question. If it is not, ubi means when or where, and the clause it opens is subordinate.

Ubi oppidum occupātum est, oppidānī fūgērunt. — when the town was seized, the townspeople fled.

IIIPrincipal Parts in Review

Nothing here is new but the fourth part. A dash means the verb simply has no forms built on that stem; a few verbs show a future active participle in -ūrus where the perfect passive participle would stand.

Conj.PresentInfinitivePerfectPerf. pass. part.Meaning
irreg.sumessefuīfutūrusbe
irreg.darededīdatusgive
Iportōportāreportāvīportātuscarry
IIiubeōiubēreiussīiussusorder
IIpāreōpārērepāruī——obey
IInoceōnocērenocuīnocitūrusinjure
IIIagōagereēgīāctusdrive
IIIfaciōfacerefēcīfactusmake
IIIresistōresistererestitī——resist
IVveniōvenīrevēnīventuscome
Rule 2 — A dash is information

Learn the fourth part with the verb, and learn its absence too. Teneō, tenēre, tenuī, —— has no perfect passive participle, so it has no passive perfect tenses at all; faveō and noceō give fautūrus and nocitūrus instead — future active participles, not passive ones.

egeō, egēre, eguī, ——  ·  studeō, studēre, studuī, ——  ·  fugiō, fugere, fūgī, fugitūrus

IVPrepositions and Their Cases

Only two cases ever follow a preposition. Which one follows is not arbitrary: a preposition that expresses an ablative relation — separation, means, accompaniment — governs the ablative; everything else governs the accusative.

With the ablativeMeaningWith the accusativeMeaning
ā, abfrom, byadto
cumwithapudamong
down from, concerningperthrough
ē, exout from, out of
prōbefore, in behalf of
sinewithout
Rule 3 — in takes either case, and the case is the meaning

In is the one preposition you must decline for. Meaning in or on — rest in a place — it governs the ablative. Meaning into, to, or against — motion, a relation foreign to the ablative — it governs the accusative. The case does the work the English preposition does.

in oppidō — in the town  ·  in oppidum — into the town

VYes-or-No Questions

A question that expects yes or no is asked in one of three ways in Latin — and the word chosen tells the listener, before he answers, which answer is expected.

LatinEnglishSignAnswer expected
Venitne?is he coming?enclitic -nenone implied
Nōnne venit?is he not coming?nōnneyes
Num venit?he isn't coming, is he?numno
Rule 4 — -ne, nōnne, num

-ne is the question sign; it is not a separate word but is attached to the end of the verb, which then stands first in the sentence. Nōnne (from nōn + -ne) leans toward yes; num leans toward no.

Nōnne Sextus frūmentum postulāvit? — didn't Sextus demand the grain? (Yes, he did.)

Rule 5 — Latin has no word for "yes"

A yes-or-no question is normally answered by repeating the verb, with or without a negative — Habēbat?Habēbat. "Did she have it?" "She did." Otherwise ita, vērō, certē serve for yes, and nōn or the emphatic minimē ("by no means") for no.

Num fugam temptāvērunt? Minimē. — they didn't attempt flight, did they? By no means.

VISelf-check

Six out of six before you start the exercises.

Question 1

In Ubi mōnstrum audīvērunt, fūgērunt, how is ubi being used?

Right. The sentence is a statement, not a question, so ubi is relative. Here it denotes time — "at the time at which they heard the monster" — hence when. Ubi is never a preposition.

Not quite — is this sentence asking anything? Look at what ubi connects: an event and the flight that followed it.

Question 2

Which of these prepositions governs the accusative?

Right. Per expresses no ablative relation, so like ad and apud it takes the accusative. Sine (separation) and (down from) are ablative relations and govern the ablative.

Not quite — two of these express relations the ablative already covers (separation, source). Which one does not?

Question 3

"The Gauls hurled weapons into the town." Which is correct?

Right. Into is motion, a relation foreign to the ablative, so in here governs the accusative: in oppidum. In oppidō (ablative) would mean "in the town," and in never takes the genitive.

Not quite — in takes whichever case matches its meaning. Is "into the town" rest in a place, or motion toward one?

Question 4

Which question expects the answer no?

Right. Num leans toward no — "he didn't refuse to give the grain, did he?" The enclitic -ne implies nothing about the answer, and nōnne leans toward yes.

Not quite — three signs, three expectations. Which of -ne, nōnne, num is the doubting one?

Question 5

Turn Sextus scūtum gerēbat into a plain yes-or-no question ("was Sextus wearing a shield?").

Right. -ne is an enclitic — never a free-standing word — and it attaches to the verb, which then moves to the front: Gerēbatne Sextus scūtum? Leaving the verb at the end (c) or writing ne separately (a) is not Latin.

Not quite — -ne is attached to a word, and that word takes first position. Which word carries the question sign?

Question 6

The principal parts of "keep, hold" are teneō, tenēre, tenuī, ——. What does the dash tell you?

Right. A dash means the verb simply has no forms built on that stem. Since the passive perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect are all built on the perfect passive participle, teneō has none of them. Compare egeō, egēre, eguī, ——.

Not quite — the fourth part is the perfect passive participle, and everything built on the participial stem depends on it. What follows if it does not exist?

Answered correctly: 0 / 6