LESSON XXIV

EXPRESSIONS OF PLACE FROM WHICH: PREPOSITIONS
WITH THE ABLATIVE

PLACE FROM WHICH WITH A OR AB

146. The preposition à or ab which has been used thus far with the meaning by is also used to mean from in expressions which denote the place from which someone or something comes or goes. In the sentence I walked from the forest to the town the phrase from the forest will be translated ā silvā.

PLACE FROM WHICH WITH Ē OR EX

There is another preposition, ē or ex, which also means from. When the sense of the sentence shows that from really means from within or from the inside of, ē or ex is used. Thus, They set out from the town means that they were in the town when they started. Hence, è or ex must be used. When from means from near or does not indicate that the starting point was inside the place named, ā or ab is used. Thus, We walked from the river to the hill. In this sentence from means from near or from the side of, and hence ā or ab will be used.

The object of the preposition ē or ex is in the ablative case. The form ex is always used before words beginning with a vowel or h, and sometimes before words beginning with a consonant. The form ē is used only before words beginning with a consonant.

ADDITIONAL PREPOSITIONS WITH THE ABLATIVE

147. In addition to the prepositions ab, ex, cum, and in which have been given, there are a few others which also govern the ablative. Two of these are sine, without, and prō, in front of. Sometimes prō is also used to mean for in the sense of on behalf of or for the sake of. Thus, Prō patriā pugnās, you fight for your country.

149. 1. Aquila ex magnā silva volat. 2. Sunt multi parvi vīcī in his campis. 3. Puer a templō cum amico ambulat. 4. Hi viri laudantur quod prō patria pugnant. 5. Magna aquila a templō volat. 6. In campō prō oppidō saepe ambulāmus. 7. Hic puer sine amīcīs miser est. 8. Hic poēta nōn sine causā ā multis virīs et fēminīs laudātur. 9. Illud oppidum in magnō periculō est. 10. Pueri ex oppido properant.

150. 1. The boys hasten from the street. 2. This slave always works, but he is not often praised. 3. The man is standing in front of the temple. 4. We often walk in the forest without danger. 5. We fight for our country because we love our country.

SUGGESTED DRILL

1. Name all the Latin prepositions used thus far with the ablative. 2. What are two different meanings of ab? 3. Decline together the words for that eagle; for this plain. 4. Explain the difference between the use of a (ab) and of ẽ (ex) in expressions of place from which. 5. Give the genitive singular of illud oppidum. 6. What is the meaning of volatile?

LESSON XXV

THE SECOND CONJUGATION

THE PRESENT INFINITIVE OF THE SECOND CONJUGATION 151. The termination of the present active infinitive in the second conjugation is -ēre, and the characteristic vowel is ē. Verbs of this conjugation form the present tense like moneō, warn, of which the present active infinitive is monere and the present stem is monē-.

a. The use of the personal endings is the same as in the first conjugation, but the characteristic vowel ē (becoming short) is retained before -ō and -or in the first person singular, while the characteristic a of the first conjugation disappears before these endings. The characteristic vowel becomes short before -t, -nt, and -ntur, as in the first conjugation. Before these personal endings, and also before the personal endings -ō and -or, the vowel is short in all verbs.

a.

The nouns arma and castra are used only in the plural. They are declined like the plural of templum. When castra is used as subject, it has a plural verb, even though the English translation is in the singular. When it is modified by an adjective, the adjective is in the plural.

Castra nostra ex oppido videntur, our camp is seen from the town.

154. 1. Agricola saepe hōs pueros monet. 2. Pueri saepe ab illō agricola monentur. 3. Magnam aquilam in silvā vidēmus. 4. Castra in aequo campo sunt. 5. Periculum oppidi magnum est, sed oppidānī arma bona habent. 6. Filius agricolae in castris cum amicō est. 7. Illī virī sine armis prō castrīs stant. 8. Patria nostra multos campos et multa oppida habet. 9. Haec insula ā nautīs saepe vidētur.

155. 1. I am often warned by my friends. 2. The beautiful forest is seen by the poet. 3. The boy is hurrying from the camp. 4. That girl has many books. 5. The camp of the barbarians is in the large plain.

SUGGESTED DRILL

1. Give the endings of the present active infinitive in the first and second conjugations. 2. Decline the words for a large camp. 3. What letter represents the Latin diphthong ae in English derivatives from Latin? 4. Give the personal endings of the passive voice. 5. Give the case of oppidi and oppidānī in sentence 5, section 154. 6. What two Latin words can you trace in provide?

1The diphthong ae regularly becomes e in English derivatives, as in equal, equable, etc.