Wheelock's FAQ chapter 9

Wheelock's FAQ chapter 9: Questions

Questions are listed at the top of the page and are divided into several categories. Click on the links at left and you will be taken to the question and corresponding answer below.

Category: Practice/Repetition sentences (PR's)
PR7	We have "Nulli magistri ... vera docere audebant." I make this out to be "They heard no teachers teaching truthful things," wherein "Nulli magistri" is the subject of the clause.
PR8	I'm confused by the phrase "sub isto vera."
PR11	How should I translate "and his wife"?
PR12	How should I translate "alone"
PR12	I see that the idiom "gratias agere" takes the dative. In PR 12, which should I make dative, "this man", or "brother"?
PR13	I've translated "[o]n account of that courage of yours" as "propter istam virtutem." I've avoided the genitive "istius virtutis," since "propter" means "because of" and I thought one "of" should be sufficient for anybody. :-) Am I right?"

Category: Practice/Repetition sentences (PR's)

PR7

We have "Nulli magistri ... vera docere audebant." I make this out to be "They heard no teachers teaching truthful things," wherein "Nulli magistri" is the subject of the clause.

PR8

I'm confused by the phrase "sub isto vera."

PR11

How should I translate "and his wife"?

PR12

How should I translate "alone"

PR12

I see that the idiom "gratias agere" takes the dative. In PR 12, which should I make dative, "this man", or "brother"?

PR13

I've translated "[o]n account of that courage of yours" as "propter istam virtutem." I've avoided the genitive "istius virtutis," since "propter" means "because of" and I thought one "of" should be sufficient for anybody. :-) Am I right?"

Category: Practice/Repetition sentences (PR's)
PR7:	We have "Nulli magistri ... vera docere audebant." I make this out to be "They heard no teachers teaching truthful things," wherein "Nulli magistri" is the subject of the clause.
A:	Tim Haas's answer: "Nulli magistri" is plural nominative with "audebant" -- which is not from "audio", but "audeo" -- and "vera" is accusative with "docere".
PR8:	I'm confused by the phrase "sub isto vera."
A:	With good reason, because it's not a phrase. :) The phrase is "sub isto". "vera" is the direct object. Both "isto" and "vera" are being used substantively. "isto" and "vera" couldn't agree anyway; one's singular and the other is plural.
PR11:	How should I translate "and his wife"?
A:	There are a lot of different ways to translate "and his wife", depending on what exactly you think the sentence means. "istius uxoris," "illius uxoris," and "huius uxoris" are all possibilities; so are a couple of forms you haven't learned yet, "eius uxoris" and "suae uxoris".
PR12:	How should I translate "alone"
A:	You need to decide whether "alone" modifies the state, the brother or the verb. If you think it's the state or the brother, use the adjective "solus, -a -um", in agreement with whichever one you choose. If you think it's the verb, use the adverb "solum" -- but be aware that this usually means "merely."
PR12:	I see that the idiom "gratias agere" takes the dative. In PR 12, which should I make dative, "this man", or "brother"?
A:	Nathan's answer: "gratias agEbat" literally means "was giving thanks (to)" (which is why it needs the dative). If you contort the sentence to fit that, is the state giving thanks to the man or to the brother? (Another clue: since "man's" is possessive, you should usually start by making it genitive, and working around that if possible.) Extra description words are superfluous. If they confuse you, take them out so you just have a subject, verb, and (maybe) an object. In this case you have: "State was thanking brother." (You could stick some "the"'s in there if it makes you more comfortable). Now you can play with adding back in some of the descriptive words and seeing if the sentence still means the same thing. i.e., "State was thanking this brother." Since this is still in English, you can tell that this is not the same intent... "this" was meant to go with "man's" not "brother" so you should decline it like "man's".
PR13:	I've translated "[o]n account of that courage of yours" as "propter istam virtutem." I've avoided the genitive "istius virtutis," since "propter" means "because of" and I thought one "of" should be sufficient for anybody. :-) Am I right?"
A:	You're right. One "of" should be sufficient for anybody. :) Seriously, this is a situation in which Latin puts things slightly differently. The "of yours" idea is included in the meaning of "iste".

Last updated Thu Nov 13 17:10:37 GMT 2003 FAQ ©2003 by its creator Gary Bisaga and Meredith Minter Dixon. Copyright to FAQ answers is retained by their authors.

Category: Practice/Repetition sentences (PR's)

PR7:

We have "Nulli magistri ... vera docere audebant." I make this out to be "They heard no teachers teaching truthful things," wherein "Nulli magistri" is the subject of the clause.

Tim Haas's answer:

"Nulli magistri" is plural nominative with "audebant" -- which is not from "audio", but "audeo" -- and "vera" is accusative with "docere".

PR8:

I'm confused by the phrase "sub isto vera."

With good reason, because it's not a phrase. :) The phrase is "sub isto". "vera" is the direct object. Both "isto" and "vera" are being used substantively. "isto" and "vera" couldn't agree anyway; one's singular and the other is plural.

PR11:

How should I translate "and his wife"?

There are a lot of different ways to translate "and his wife", depending on what exactly you think the sentence means. "istius uxoris," "illius uxoris," and "huius uxoris" are all possibilities; so are a couple of forms you haven't learned yet, "eius uxoris" and "suae uxoris".

PR12:

How should I translate "alone"

You need to decide whether "alone" modifies the state, the brother or the verb. If you think it's the state or the brother, use the adjective "solus, -a -um", in agreement with whichever one you choose. If you think it's the verb, use the adverb "solum" -- but be aware that this usually means "merely."

PR12:

I see that the idiom "gratias agere" takes the dative. In PR 12, which should I make dative, "this man", or "brother"?

Nathan's answer:

"gratias agEbat" literally means "was giving thanks (to)" (which is why it needs the dative). If you contort the sentence to fit that, is the state giving thanks to the man or to the brother?

(Another clue: since "man's" is possessive, you should usually start by making it genitive, and working around that if possible.)

Extra description words are superfluous. If they confuse you, take them out so you just have a subject, verb, and (maybe) an object. In this case you have: "State was thanking brother." (You could stick some "the"'s in there if it makes you more comfortable). Now you can play with adding back in some of the descriptive words and seeing if the sentence still means the same thing.

i.e., "State was thanking this brother." Since this is still in English, you can tell that this is not the same intent... "this" was meant to go with "man's" not "brother" so you should decline it like "man's".

PR13:

You're right. One "of" should be sufficient for anybody. :) Seriously, this is a situation in which Latin puts things slightly differently. The "of yours" idea is included in the meaning of "iste".

Last updated Thu Nov 13 17:10:37 GMT 2003

FAQ ©2003 by its creator Gary Bisaga and Meredith Minter Dixon. Copyright to FAQ answers is retained by their authors.

Wheelock's FAQ chapter 9

Wheelock's FAQ chapter 9: Questions

Wheelock's FAQ chapter 9: Answers