Aeneid Book 1.1-7: I Sing of Arms and the Man latintutorial 2015-09-07 | The first seven lines of Vergil’s Aeneid, arguably one of the greatest works of Latin literature, declares itself to be a tale of a refugee from the famous city of Troy who brought his old gods to Italy and eventually founded the race of people who would lead to the Romans of Augustus’ time. This video covers the Latin and major themes from these first seven lines.N.B., the comments in this video are my own, but heavily researched and based on ideas by people much smarter than me.
Solstices: Summer and Winter Etymologies latintutorial 2022-12-21 | Latin has different words for the summer and winter solstice, solstitium and bruma. Each of these words has interesting origins, and this video goes through the etymology of each word, and why solstice isn't necessarily the best word to describe December 21. At least for those of us in the northern hemisphere!
Rule 91: Clauses Depending on Subjunctive Clauses latintutorial 2022-12-12 | The last of our 91 rules discusses the subjunctive of attraction. In short, when a subordinate clause depends on another subjunctive clause, the verb in that clause will likely be in the subjunctive as well. That said, this isn't a hard and fast rule, and you can easily find examples in Latin that don't follow this rule.
Rule 90: Subordinate Clauses with the Subjunctive latintutorial 2022-11-07 | When does a subordinate use the subjunctive mood? This video looks at some examples that rely on the authority of the information presented. When the speaker or writer is the source, we use the indicative. But when someone else is the source of our information, well, that's when we use the subjunctive mood.
Rule 89: Commands in Indirect Speech latintutorial 2022-10-17 | As we work through indirect speech, this video will focus on commands, both standard indirect commands and commands in extended indirect dialogue. The good news is that commands will always use the subjunctive when relayed indirectly. This video moves through several different examples of commands in indirect speech.
Ucalegon: From Minor Character to Modern English Word latintutorial 2022-09-26 | Ucalegon is a small character in Vergil's Aeneid. He shows up once during the sack of Troy, simply because his house is on fire. And then that's it. Except that over the course of the last two thousand years, his name has become associated with his appearance in the Aeneid, and the term "Ucalegon" has come to mean someone who suffers the same fate: a neighbor whose house is on fire.
Rule 88: Questions in Indirect Speech latintutorial 2022-09-12 | The last few rules have been discussing indirect statements, and this video covers how questions are relayed in indirect speech. Unlike indirect statements which use an infinitive, indirect questions use a verb in the subjunctive mood, even when operating in extended indirect speech. But if the question is rhetorical and no real answer is expected? Then we use the standard accusative plus infinitive construction.
The Urine Tax: Vespasians Great Legacy latintutorial 2022-09-05 | Urine was a very precious commodity for the ancient Romans. So precious, in fact, that several emperors, including Nero and Vespasian, placed a tax on urine. In this video, you will learn about the legacy of one of these emperors, who gave his name to public urinals in some parts of the modern world.
Deponent Verbs latintutorial 2022-08-29 | Verbs in Latin come in two different voices, the active and the passive. But then there's this other set of verbs that don't seem to fit nicely into these categories. Deponent verbs are those that have passive forms, but we assign them active meanings in English: the look passive but are translated actively. This video discusses the concept of deponents with examples, and posits a possible explanation for the age old question: why do deponents even exist?
Rule 87: Tenses in Indirect Statement latintutorial 2022-08-22 | As we continue exploring indirect speech in Latin, it's important to think about the tense of the verb / infinitive in an indirect statement. Infinitives have only three tenses, and we need to think about these tenses as reflecting relative rather than absolute time. So a present infinitive shows an action happening at the same time as the head verb, a perfect infinitive an action has is already complete with the head verb occurs, and a future infinitive an action that has yet to happen.
Rule 86: Indirect Statement latintutorial 2022-08-15 | If you want to read ancient works of Latin, you need to understand the concept of indirect statement - when the author reports speech in an indirect way. Latin will put the subject of the indirect speech into the accusative case, and the action will be an infinitive. Any subordinate clause in indirect speech puts its verb in the subjunctive mood. This video explores this idea in a very basic way, and the videos that follow in the 91 Rules series will go more in depth with indirect discourse (oratio obliqua).
Rule 85: Causal and Concessive cum Clauses latintutorial 2022-02-14 | Rounding out our discussion of cum clauses are the causal and concessive (or adversative). While cum often means "when", a cum clause can also show the cause of the main clause, and in this case we would translate cum as "since". And sometimes the cum clause operates in opposition to the main clause, often with a tamen, "still" in the main clause. In this case, we translate cum as "although". This video will discuss these two uses, and summarize all four types of cum clauses at the end.
Rule 84: Circumstantial cum Clauses latintutorial 2022-02-07 | The conjunction cum can introduce clauses that show the general circumstances surrounding an action. When it does so, we still can translate it as "when" (although "after" or "while" can sometimes work) and the verb in the clause is in the subjunctive mood, usually the imperfect or pluperfect. This video looks at the so-called circumstantial cum clause, and explores how this clause differs from a temporal cum clause, which takes its verb in the indicative mood.
Rule 83: Temporal cum Clauses latintutorial 2022-01-31 | The conjunction cum can introduce temporal clauses when the verb in the clause is in the indicative mood. In other words, cum means "when" and shows the precise time of the main clause when the verb is in the mood used for factual actions. This video explores this concept with examples from the ancient world.
Rule 82: Temporal Clauses latintutorial 2022-01-24 | Temporal clauses are those that relate to time, and in Latin these clauses exclusively have a verb in the indicative mood. This video will cover examples of such clauses, especially those introduced by postquam, ubi, ut, and simul atque, all of which mean "after" or "when".
Rule 81: Causal Clauses latintutorial 2022-01-17 | Causal clauses are those that tell the reason why the main clause happened or was done. In Latin, these are introduced by quod, quia, and quoniam (among others). This video discusses when the indicative mood is used in these clauses, and when the subjunctive verb. Hint: it all comes down to how much you can trust the information given in the clause!
Rule 80: Result Clauses latintutorial 2021-11-08 | The result clause is just one of many introduced by ut. As its name suggests, a result clause shows the result of the action in the main clause. In Latin, you will often look for an intensifying word in the main clause that will suggest that a result clause will come. This video also compares the result clause to the purpose clause, which shows the purpose of the action in the main clause.
The Kalends, Nones, and Ides: Three Etymologies latintutorial 2021-11-01 | The Roman calendar names its days based on three anchor dates: the kalends, the nones, and the ides. But what do these words actually mean and where did they come from? This video explores the etymologies of these words and the origins of our very own "calendar."Calendar by maria cordova from the Noun Project
Rule 79: Words of Worth with the Subjunctive latintutorial 2021-10-25 | The adjectives dignus, indignus, aptus, and idōneus can take a relative clause with the subjunctive - this is really an extension of the relative clause of characteristic, which we will explore in greater detail in this video. While poets might prefer to use an infinitive phrase, this specific type of relative clause is common in prose.
Rule 78: Relative Clauses of Characteristic latintutorial 2021-10-18 | The relative clause with a verb in the subjunctive can show a general characteristic, especially when the antecedent (that is, the word the qui, quae, quod is referring to) is general or unknown. This video explores this concept of general characteristic in relative clauses, including phrases like sunt qui, there are those who, and quis est qui, who is there who.
Rule 77: Purpose Clauses latintutorial 2021-10-11 | Latin expresses purpose in a multitude of ways, including using the gerund/gerundive and supine. But perhaps the most common way to show purpose is the purpose clause, a clause with a verb in the subjunctive mood introduced by ut, nē, the relative pronoun, or a relative adverb like ubi. These clauses give the reason why the main clause was done and answer the question "why?" This video explores the different types of purpose clauses, and shows how we can translate these into English properly.
Rule 76: Proviso Clauses latintutorial 2021-10-04 | A proviso is a type of condition that must be fulfilled for the event of the main clause to happen. Latin introduces a proviso clause with one of three conjunctions, dum, modo, or dummodo (a combination of the other two words), and the verb in the proviso clause must be in the subjunctive mood. We can translate each of these with the simple "provided that". This video will explore this clause in its different forms, including negative provisos, as well as the origin of this clause.
Rule 75: The Ablative Supine latintutorial 2021-09-27 | The supine is a fourth declension verbal noun that is almost entirely unique to Latin. We commonly see it as the fourth principal part of a verb, and it is found in only two cases, the accusative and ablative. This video discusses the ablative supine, also known as the supine in -ū, which is found after certain nouns and adjectives to show respect or specification. Is it actually ablative? Well, that's a topic for debate!
Rule 74: The Accusative Supine latintutorial 2021-09-20 | The supine is a fourth declension verbal noun that is almost entirely unique to Latin. We commonly see it as the fourth principal part of a verb, and it is found in only two cases, the accusative and ablative. This video discusses the accusative supine, also known as the supine in -um, which is found after verbs of motion to express purpose.
Abracadabra: the Magical Disappearing Act latintutorial 2021-09-13 | Where does the magical word ABRACADABRA come from? Well, 2nd century AD Latin, perhaps, if not from an earlier and more eastern source. The magic of this word comes from dispelling fevers, with a clever disappearing act of its own. Abracadabra, hocus pocus, make this fever get away from us!
Rule 73: Gerunds and Gerundives latintutorial 2021-09-06 | We continue learning about verbal nouns and adjectives by exploring the use of gerunds and gerundives in the genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative cases. The gerund is a noun and the gerundive is an adjective, and their translation (especially that of the gerundive) can be a bit more idiomatic than literal. This video will discuss the differences between these two forms, when Latin prefers to use each, and how we can show purpose with these words.
An Introduction to the Dative Case latintutorial 2021-08-30 | The dative case is often the third case you will learn when you begin studying Latin. While the nominative case is used for the verb's subject and the accusative case for the verb's direct object, the dative case is often used as the verb's indirect object. This video will explore this use of the dative, which is often translated into English with the preposition "to". In addition, we will also look at instances where the dative is translated with "for", the so called dative of reference.
Rule 72: The Relative Time of Participles latintutorial 2021-08-23 | Participles in Latin have three tenses: present, perfect, and future. But these terms can be misleading, because they don't refer to the absolute time of the participle, but how the participle time relates to the tense of the main verb. The present participle shows an action that is in progress when the main verb occurs (some call it "same time"). The perfect participle shows an action that is already completed when the main verb happens (some call this "time before"). The future participle shows an action that is yet to occur when the main verb happens (some call this "time after"). But while these tense names can be confusing, the more you work with participles, the easier they get to understand.
Haruspex: The Watcher of Guts latintutorial 2021-08-16 | The Romans had many different ways to find out the future. Perhaps the most disgusting involved looking at the entrails, or guts (like the liver), of a sacrificial animal. This was the job of the haruspex, and this practice came to the Romans via the Etruscans, even if the practice itself was widespread throughout the Mediterranean and Near East.
Rule 71: Sequence of Tenses latintutorial 2021-08-09 | There are four tenses of the subjunctive (present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect), but in any given sentence, you have just two to choose from. Welcome to the concept of sequence of tenses, which exposes the relativistic nature of the subjunctive mood, where the present and imperfect subjunctive show an action happening at the same time as the main verb, while the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive show an action that is already completed when the main verb takes place. This video will teach you how to know what each tense means, and how to parse and Latin sentence to understand this relationship between the main and subordinate clase.
Future Passive Participles (Gerundives) latintutorial 2021-08-03 | The future passive participle, also known as the gerundive, is used in the passive periphrastic in order to express obligation or necessity (often with a dative of agent), and also in gerundive phrases. This video explores how this participle is formed and how it is used with specific and detailed examples.
The Prepositional Phrase in Latin latintutorial 2021-03-15 | The Latin prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and a noun object in the correct case. This video covers the basics of prepositions and their phrases, including those prepositions that take the accusative, those that take the ablative, and those that take both. It’s a good idea to learn a lot of these prepositions - they are also used as prefixes on verbs, and you’ll be able to understand the meaning of many new verbs simply by breaking apart the preposition-prefix from the base verb.This video introduces you to prepositions that take the ablative, like ab, cum, dē, ex, prō, and sine, those that take the accusative, like ad, ante, apud, circum, inter, ob, per, post, prope, and trāns, and those that take both the ablative and accusative, like in and sub.
Rule 70: The Historical Infinitive latintutorial 2021-03-08 | The infinitive, which often has its subject in the accusative case, can take a nominative subject in place of an imperfect tense verb. This is known as the historical infinitive because it is often found in the writers of history to show a vivid reporting of actions. That said, the historical infinitive is found in works of all genres, from Vergil to Plautus to Sallust. Its origins are unclear, but we may understand the historical infinitive by thinking about it as a noun in apposition to another noun.
The Latin Relative Pronoun: qui, quae, quod latintutorial 2021-03-01 | The relative clause, which is introduced by the pronoun qui, quae, quod (who, which), is likely the most common subordinate clause in all of Latin. It even makes an appearance in the first line of Vergil's Aeneid, and in the first sentence of Caesar's Gallic War. This video gives a introduction to its declension and use in a basic Latin sentence.
Rule 69: The Infinitive in Indirect Statement latintutorial 2021-01-25 | Indirect discourse (or more specifically indirect statement) is a hugely important topic in Latin, and a complicated one at that. This video covers how the infinitive is used as the main action in an indirect statement, along with a head verb and subject accusative, and the basic idea that the infinitive tense is relative to the main verb. And in accordance with its importance, this topic is covered in several other videos throughout this rules series.
Rule 68: The Complementary Infinitive latintutorial 2021-01-18 | In Latin there are a set of verbs that aren't complete just by themselves. Claudia potest, "Claudia is able," needs something else to finish up the thought, and that is where the complementary infinitive comes in. We can think of this infinitive as required to describe the entire action as done by the subject: Claudia potest discere, "Claudia is able to learn."
Rule 67: The Infinitive as a Subject latintutorial 2020-12-07 | In Latin, the infinitive is used in several different ways. In this video, I will discuss how the infinitive can be used as the subject of a verb, in the neuter gender. This works primarily with the verb sum, esse, but there are several other verbs that regularly take an infinitive subject. And in addition, there are many instances where the infinitive doesn't appear to be a subject, as in Horace's famous quote, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, "it is sweet and proper to die for your country."
Rule 66: Negative Commands latintutorial 2020-11-30 | In the last rule, we looked at how we form the imperative mood in Latin. But what about prohibitions or negative commands? It's not as simple as adding a "not" in Latin. This video looks at the three most common ways Latin shows a prohibition.
Rule 65: Commands in Latin latintutorial 2020-11-12 | The imperative mood is used for issuing commands in Latin. This video covers the basic formation of the imperative, while also going into more detail about unusual forms and uses of this very important mood. Watch this video!
How Long Can the Name of a Roman Man Be? latintutorial 2020-11-02 | You might know that the full name of a male Roman citizen was typically three words long, the praenomen, nomen, and cognomen. Every so often, we might get a fourth, or even a fifth name added. But how long is the longest name of a Roman man ever recorded? The answer might surprise you.
Rule 64: The Potential Subjunctive latintutorial 2020-10-26 | We wrap up the final of four uses of the subjunctive in the main clause with the potential subjunctive. This is used when expressing a conceivable or potential action, and takes either the present or perfect subjunctive for future actions, and the imperfect subjunctive for past actions. You could perhaps learn a lot from these rules videos, and when you have watched them all, you might have spent your time wisely!
Rule 63: The Deliberative Subjunctive latintutorial 2020-10-19 | What should we learn next? The deliberative subjunctive is used in questions where the speaker expresses some doubt or even generally a bit of self-reflection. It likely arose from the jussive, another main clause subjunctive use, which is discussed in this video.
Verba Adiectīva Latīnē (Adjectives in Latin) latintutorial 2020-10-12 | Sunt trēs modī adiectīvōrum. In hōc, dēscrībō hōs adiectīvōs: alta, altior, et altissima. Spero te frui hoc!(There are three types of adjectives. In this, I describe these adjectives: alta, high, altior, higher, and altissima, highest. I hope you enjoy this!)Note: this video uses the classical pronunciation of Latin, as best as I can make it. Please refrain from criticisms about pronunciation in the comments section! Gratias maximas!Images used in this video:bird flying by Icons Producer from the Noun Projectriver by sarah from the Noun Projectgreek god by @w@n !cons from the Noun Project
Rule 62: The Optative Subjunctive latintutorial 2020-10-05 | This video continues our look at some of the independent uses of the subjunctive. The optative subjunctive is used when you wish to convey a wish. Look for the utinam as a clue for when this subjunctive is being used!
Rule 61: The Jussive Subjunctive latintutorial 2020-10-01 | The jussive subjunctive, also known as the hortatory, is commonly understood as an urging, or gentle command. Let us explore this concept in greater detail with this video!lettuce by Oliver Gomez from the Noun Project
Comparative Adjectives latintutorial 2020-09-28 | If you want to compare two objects, you will want to use an adjective in the comparative degree. This video discusses not only how comparatives in Latin are formed, but also how this degree is used, both in comparisons and in general. I hope this video is better than my average one!
Rule 60: Nouns that Take the Locative latintutorial 2020-09-24 | This video comes right on the heels of learning about relations of place with prepositions. Names of cities, towns, and small islands (along with a few special words like domus and rūs), show location with the old locative case. This video discusses not just how we form the locative case, but also how we treat location, motion to and from with these special nouns.
Imperium: The Root of Empire latintutorial 2020-09-21 | The emperor comes from imperator, which is a title of generals, magistrates, and others who wield imperium, the power to do their job. Imperium confers with it immunity from prosecution, but when it is taken away, like with Julius Caesar, disaster, or the Roman empire, can result.
Rule 59: Relations of Place with the Ablative and Accusative latintutorial 2020-09-17 | For the most part, Latin shows relations of place like location and motion with different prepositions. There is a pattern, though. Prepositions that show motion toward take the accusative case, while those that show location and motion from take the ablative case.
Superlative Adjectives latintutorial 2020-09-14 | Adjectives, like the nouns that they describe, have case, number, and gender. But in addition to this, they have something called degree, which denote the steps on the ladder of comparison, like deep, deeper, and deepest. This video covers how Latin adjectives form the superlative, the highest degree, and how the superlative is used. It's not just -issimus and -est!
Rule 58: Time with the Ablative and Accusative latintutorial 2020-09-10 | How did the Romans tell time? One way to answer this is with a sundial, but a different way is with the accusative and ablative cases. This video explores what each case illustrates with respect to time words. And you can think of time as a function of space, so the accusative shows movement through time, while the ablative shows a moment in time.
