Lesson 4i - Summary of Prepositions

University of Santo Tomas Ecclesiastical Faculties

Institute of Latin

SUMMARY OF COMMONLY USED LATIN PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are words placed before nouns to create phrases that express adverbial meanings. They answer questions such as Where? Why? How? When? It may take the accusative case or the ablative case. Some may take both.

I.               COMMON PREPOSITIONS WITH THE ACCUSATIVE CASE

ad               -           to, towards                                           ad Asiam (toward Asia)

-                for[1], with a view of                              ad pacem (for peace)

-                at                                                         ad horam (at the hour)

adversus     -           opposite, against                                  adversus haereses (against the heretics)

ante           -           before (in time or space)                      ante bellum (before the war)

apud           -           at, near, beside                                     apud Rhenum (at the Rhine)

                  -           at the house of                                     apud Caesarem (at the house of Caesar)

circum        -           around                                                  circum mundum (around the world)

contra        -           against                                                 contra hostes (against the enemies

extra          -           outside, beyond                                                extra terram (outside the land)

inter           -           among                                                  inter nos (among us)

-                between                                                inter meam opinionem ac tuam

(between my opinion and yours)

intra           -           within, among, inside                           intra silvam (inside the forest)

juxta          -           near, along, next to                              iuxta imperatorem (next to the emperor)

-                according to                                         iuxta imperatorem (according to the emperor)

ob              -           on account of, because of                     ob metum (because of fear)

per             -           through                                                            per maria (through the seas)

post           -           behind                                                  post montes (behind the mountains)

-                after                                                     post mortem (after death)

praeter       -           beyond, past                                         praeter insulas (beyond the islands)

propter      -           on account of, because of                     propter amorem (on account of love)

secundum   -           according to                                         secundum reginas (according to the queens)

trans          -           across                                                   trans flumen (across the river)

ultra           -           beyond                                                 ultra mundum (beyond the world)

II.             COMMON PREPOSITIONS WITH THE ABLATIVE CASE

a (ab, abs)[2] -           from, away from                                  a Britannia (away from Britain)

                  -           by                                                        interfectus est a Caesare

(He was killed by Caesar)

coram        -           in the presence of                                coram rectore (in the presence of the rector)

cum            -           with                                                     cum amicis (with friends)

de               -           from, down from                                  de montibus (down from the mountains)

                  -           about, concerning                                 de anima (concerning the soul)

e (ex)[3]        -           out of                                                   ex amore (out of love)

pro             -           for, on behalf of                                               pro amico meo (for my friend)

sine                        -           without                                                            sine pugna et sine vulnere

(without a fight and without injury)

           

                                     

III.           PREPOSITIONS THAT TAKE BOTH ACCUSATIVE AND ABLATIVE CASES

IN + ACCUSATIVE

in (+acc)    -           into, onto                                            in Asiam (into Asia)

in (+acc)    -           against                                                 oratio in Caesarem (a speech against Caesar)

in (+acc)    -           for (the purpose of)                             in puellam (for the girl)

IN + ABLATIVE

in (+abl)     -           in, on                                                   in Asia (in Asia)

in (+abl)     -           among                                                  in hostibus (among the enemies)

in (+abl)     -           by means of, with                                 in gladio (by means of a sword)

SUB + ACCUSATIVE

sub (+acc)   -           under (implying motion)                      sub portam venient (They will come under the gate)

SUB + ABLATIVE

sub (+abl)   -           under (stationary)                                quidquid sub terra est (Whatever is under the earth)

SUPER + ACCUSATIVE

super (+acc)           above, upon; over                                super montem (above the mountain)

SUPER + ABLATIVE

super (+abl)                        about, concerning                                 super monte (concerning the mountain)                                              

Nota Bene: This note must be used only by the class of Fr. Coronel, OP.

---

[1] “For” in the sense of purpose (ie “I did it ‘for money.’” --- not in the sense of “a gift ‘for you.’”)

[2] a is used before all consonants; ab before vowels; abs only before t (if at all)

[3] e is used only before a consonant; ex may be used before either vowels or consonants (especially p)

Lesson 4h - Super

governed by both the ablative and accusative cases.

a. ABLATIVE

-meaning: about, concerning

super regina

de regina

both means = concerning the queen

b. ACCUSATIVE

- meaning: above, upon, over

- Example

super aram = over the altar

super caelum = above the sky

Deus est super angelis - God is above the angels

Lesson 4g - In

a. governed by the ablative

- first meaning = in, on

- second meaning = among

- third meaning = by means of, with

NOTE: Again, depending on the context.

Example:

1.in ara = on the the altar

2.2. in piratis = among the pirates

3. in sagittis = with the arrows / by means of the arrows

b. governed by the accusative

- first meaning = into, onto

- second meaning = against

- third meaning = for (the the purpose of)

NOTE: Again, depending on the context.

Example:

1. in silvam = into the forest

2. in reginam = against the queen

3. in eccleasiam = for the purpose of the church

So, for the purpose of the church can be tranlated either as:

1. ad ecclesiam

2 in ecclessiam

Lesson 4f - De

DE

FIRST MEANING: from, down from

SECOND MEANING: about, concerning

- governed by the ABLATIVE CASE only.

 

FIRST MEANING

De caelo = from the heaven/ down from heaven

De montibus  = from the mountains / down from the mountains

 

SECOND MEANING

De Vita Reginae = concerning the life of the queen/ about the life of the queen

Lesson 4e - E (Ex)

E (EX)

MEANING: from, out of

- governed by the ABLATIVE CASE only.

- it has two forms:

a.E - before a consonant

b. EX – can be used before a vowel or consonant

Examples

Ex Anglia = from England/ out of England

Ex Gallia = from Gaul/ out of Gaul

E Gallia = from Gaul/ out of Gaul

E Anglia =  INCORRECT

Lesson 4d - A (Ab, Abs)

A (AB, ABS)

MEANING: from, away from

- governed by the ABLATIVE CASE only.

- it has three forms:

a. A - use before all consonants

b. AB - use vowels and starting with letter H

c. ABS - use before letter T

Examples

a casa = away from the house / from the house

ab angelo = away from the angel / from the angel

abs terris - away from the lands/ from the lands

Lesson 4c: Ad

AD is governed by the ACCUSATIVE case only

-FIRST MEANING: to, toward

-Example

reginae (dative) = to the queen = it indicates relationship

ad silvam = to the forest = it indicates motion toward

____________________________________

- SECOND MEANING: for (the purpose of)

- You may use it depending on the context.

Example

ad gloriam ecclesiae = for the purpose of the glory of the church

____________________________________

- THIRD MEANING: AT

- of course, depending on the context.

Example:

ad horam = at the hour 

Lesson 4b: Coram and Pro

"Coram" and "Pro" are governed by the ABLATIVE case only

 ___________________________________

CORAM

MEANING: in the presence of

Example:

coram Deo = in the presence of God

____________________________________

PRO

FIRST MEANING: in front of

SECOND MEANING: in behalf of, for

THIRD MEANING: instead of, on behalf of

 

pro regina = in front of the queen ( you may substitute the other meaning depending on the context)

Lesson 4a - Cum and sine

CUM = with

SINE = without

Both are governed by the ablative case.

EXAMPLES

with the boy = cum puero

with the boys - cum pueris

with the arrow = cum sagitta

without the arrows - sine sagittis

without the kingdom = sine regno

Lesson 3 - First Declension Nouns

Nouns of the first declension have -ae as the genitive singular ending.

To decline a first declension noun, first isolate the base/stem by removing the ending from the genitive singular form; then to the base add the following endings:

                                  Singular                  Plural

Nominative               -a                            -ae

Genitive                    -ae                          -arum

Dative                       -ae                          -is

Accusative                -am                         -as

Ablative                    -ā                            -is

Vocative                   -a                            -ae

Our model is rosa, -ae (rose)

                        SINGULAR    TRANSLATIONS

N                     rosa                 the/a rose

G                     rosae                of the rose/ rose’s

D                     rosae                to/for the rose

Ac                    rosam              the rose (direct object)

Ab                   rosā                 by/in/with/from the rose

V                     rosa                 o, rose

                        PLURAL

N                     rosae                the roses

G                     rosarum           of the roses/ roses’

D                     rosis                to/for the roses

Ac                    rosas                the roses (direct object)

Ab                   rosis                by/in/with/from the roses

V                     rosae                o, roses

Note 4 - Most of the first declension nouns are feminine. It has few masculine nouns.


VOCABULARY
In addition to the vocabulary words listed in pp. 4-5 of the latin exercise book, study the following:


cena - f. supper, dinner
culpa - f. blame, fault
doctrina - f. teaching, doctrine
ecclesia - f. church, assembly
familia - f. family, household
gratia - f. grace, favor, credit; pl., thanks
hora - f. hour
missa - f. mass
papa - m. pope

Lesson 2 - Overview of Nouns

NUMBERS 
- singular or plural


GENDERS
- masculine, feminine, neuter or common


CASES

Various terminations assumed by nouns (adjectives and pronouns as well) according to their function in the sentence.

a. NOMINATIVE 

– denotes the subject of the verb 

– answers Who? What? 

b. GENITIVE 

– denotes possessive case 

– answers Who’s? Of what? 

- “of” or ‘s or s’ 

c. DATIVE 

- denotes indirect object 

- answers To whom? For whom? 

- to/for

d. ACCUSATIVE 

- denotes direct object 

- answers Whom? What? 

- Used with preposition 

e. ABLATIVE 

- Expresses means, instrument, manner, separation 

- answers Where? When? Whence? By or with what? 

- Used with preposition 

- By/in/with/from 

f. VOCATIVE 

- Denotes direct address or the person addressed. 

g. LOCATIVE 

- survives in certain restricted uses; it has largely been absorbed by the ablative case

DECLENSION

-To decline a word à to enumerate all its cases 

Example:

The boy loves the girl 

Puer ama puellam 

- Latin nouns are declined in 5 different ways. So there are 5 declensions which are distinguished from one another by the terminations of the genitive singular, as follows. 

I = -ae 

II = i 

III = is 

IV = us 

V = ei