Table Of ContentLatin
M a d e imple
Rhoda A. Hendricks, M.A.
Usa Padol, M.A.
Revised by
Edited and prepared for publication by The Stonesong Press, Inc.
Wit8f,
BOO K S
A MADE SIMPLE BOOK
DOUBLEDAY
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND
Edited and prepared for publication by The Stonesong Press, Inc.
Executive Editor: Sheree Bykofsky
Series Editor: Sarah Gold
Editor: Peter F. Skinner
Editorial Consultant: Rob Schleifer
Production Consultant: RECAP: Publications, Inc.
A MADE SIMPLE BOOK
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
MADE SIMPLE and DOUBLEDAY are trademarks of Doubleday,
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Copyright © 1992 by Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
August 1992
First Edition in the United States of America
10 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hendricks, Rhoda.
Latin made simple/Rhoda Hendricks; revised by Lisa Padol.
p. cm.
A MADE SIMPLE BOOK
1. Latin language - Grammar - 1976- I. Padol, Lisa II. Title.
PA2087.5.H46 1992
1st ed.
478.2'421 - dc20 91-36614
ISBN 0-385-41339-4 CIP
CONTENTS
Preface About This Book 5
Chapter 1: Introduction to a Living Language 7
First Declension Nouns and First Conjugation Verbs 11
Introduction to Adjectives 17
Noun Cases 20
Noun Cases Concluded 25
Chapter 2: Making Latin Sentences 31
Second Declension Nouns 34
First and Second Declension Adjectives 38
Second Conjugation Verbs 42
Chapter 3: Verbs and Tenses: Possum and Eo 49
Using the Imperfect Tense 52
Using the Future Tense 57
The Imperative Mood 61
Chapter 4: Passives; Prepositions; Principal Parts 67
Third Declension Nouns 71
The Preposition in; -que; Gender 75
The Principal Parts of the Verb 78
Chapter 5: . Past Time; Volition; Pronouns 85
Perfect Passive Tenses 89
Vola, Nolo, Malo 93
Pronouns; Third Conjugation Verbs 99
4 LATIN MADE SIMPLE
Chapter 6: Irregular Verbs; Pronouns; Infinitives 107
Pronouns and Adjectives 112
Third Declension Adjectives 118
Present Passive Infinitive; Interrogatives 122
Chapter 7: More Verbs, Nouns, and Pronouns 129
Relative and Interrogative Pronouns; Deponent Verbs 133
Fourth and Fifth Declension Nouns 138
Personal and Reflexive Pronouns 142
Chapter 8: Numbers and Comparisons 151
Comparison of Adjectives 155
Comparison of Irregular Adjectives 159
Comparison of Adverbs 163
Chapter 9: Infinitives and Participles 169
Forming and Using Participles 175
Participial Clauses 179
Chapter 10: The Subjunctive Mood 187
The Tussive Subjunctive 192
Subjunctive in Noun Clauses 199
Optative Subjunctive 204
Conditional Sentences 209
Indirect Speech 213
Answers 221
Latin-English Vocabulary 263
Appendix: Helpful Charts 271
Bibliography 285
PREFACE
About This Book
Although a "classical" language, Latin is vital and living - a pillar of our language, our
culture, and our civilization. Latin is a thread that connects us with our own history; if it
were to snap, we would lose our relationship to that past.
Fortunately, more and more people are discovering the importance and rewards of learning
Latin. We are witnessing a major revival - one which seems likely to continue. As Latin is
no longer a spoken language, today's students are primarily interested in being able to read
Latin, for pleasure and profit, with reasonable facility and comprehension. Latin Made Simple
was conceived, organized, and written to help others achieve this objective.
The book presents Latin grammar with economy and clarity - and this alone makes it
valuable to the reader and student. Of even greater value is the book's focus on the practical
reading requirements of the non-specialist. We have tried to anticipate your questions, divine
your needs, and respond to your most likely interests and concerns.
Latin Made Simple is for the readers and students who want to read the rich treasury of
Latin literature, history, law, and religion in the original - since all translations have their
failings. The rewards are many and include understanding of innumerable ways in which
Latin has nourished and enriched English and become woven into contemporary life. Our
coins and bills, the legend on school diplomas, the language of medical prescriptions, and
the scores of words and phrases we unconsciously use every day all reflect the continuing
vitality of Latin. Latin Made Simple is intended for the lively minded and curious, in school
or no longer in school, who want to know more about a language and a culture that have
done much to shape our own.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction to a Living language
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LATIN
Latin was one of the many languages spoken in Italy before 200 B.C. Over the next century, it be
came the common dialect of the peninsula, and developed into a literary language as well as being
a spoken one. This we call Classical Latin.
As the Roman Empire expanded, dialects of Latin developed, some giving rise to the Romance
languages - Romanian, Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
One dialect, known as Medieval Latin, was used in the Middle Ages both as a spoken trade lan
guage and as a written language. Though extremely similar to Classical Latin, Medieval Latin dis
pensed with some of the more complex constructions of the latter. Thus, if you learn Classical Latin,
you can read Medieval Latin as well.
Until quite recently, the Catholic liturgy used spoken Latin, and today, many churches are at
tempting to revive its use.
Written Latin never died. Renaissance scholars used it, and today scientists draw new words
from it - many of the chemical elements have Latin names. Lawyers and doctors also draw on
Latin, and in this book you will learn some of the phrases that they have borrowed.
Latin and English
English is not derived from Latin in the same way as the Romance languages named above, but comes from
Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic language.
Nevertheless, Latin has greatly influenced English. When the Normans invaded Britain in A.D. 1066, they
brought with them the French language, derived from a Latin dialect. French had an indirect influence on
the development of English during the Middle Ages, the period when Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales
and other works.
The Normans also brought Latin to Britain. Latin was Europe's trade language and was also used in church
and in official documents. Needed new words were often taken from Latin. Thus, Latin directly influenced
the development of English; as borrowing still occurs, Latin continues to influence the development of
English.
The Parts of Speech
Latin has the same parts of speech as English, and a clear understanding of them will make it much easier to
learn Latin. However, Latin has no articles (the, a, an), and we must supply them when translating into English.
Noun - the name of a person, place, or thing, e.g., Caesar, Rome, town, book.
Pronoun - a word used instead of a noun, e.g., he, it. In the sentence Caesar wrote a book about
the victories he lvon, the word he is used instead of repeating the word Caesar; he replaces Caesar.
8 LATIN MADE SIMPLE
Adjective - a word that describes a noun or a pronoun, e.g.,good. In the sentence Tread agood
book, the word good describes, or modifies, the noun book. An article is a kind of adjective. As
mentioned above, Latin does not have articles. A strictly literal translation of Habeo librum is I
have book. For grammatically correct English, you would translate Habeo lib rum as I have a book,
or as I have the book, depending on the context.
Verb - a word that shows action or state of being, e.g., run, is.
Adverb - a word that modifies, or describes, a verb, adjective, or adverb, e.g., quickly, very. In
the sentence I ran quickly, the word quickly modifies the verb ran. In the sentence The book is very
good, the word very modifies the adjective good. In the sentence I ran very quickly, the word very
modifies the adverb quickly.
Preposition - a word that shows relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word
or words, e.g., in, by, with. In the sentence The shirt is in the closet, the word in shows the
relationship between the words shirt and closet.
Conjunction - a word that joins words, phrases, clauses, or sentences, e.g., and. In the
sentence He bought milk and bread, the word and joins the words milk and bread.
Interjection - an exclamation showing emotion, e.g., oh!
Inflection
In English, the order of the words in a sentence indicates the meaning of the sentence; in Latin, the spelling
of the words (not their order) indicates the meaning . .
The man bites the dog. (subject -verb -object)
The dog bites the man. (subject -verb -object)
In both sentences, the word order makes it clear who is doing the biting (the subject) and who is being
bitten (the object). However, in Latin, the use of a word as subject or object is indicated by its spelling.
Homo canem mordet. Mordet canem homo. Canem mordet homo.
Canem homo mordet. Mordet homo cane m. Homo mordet canem.
All of these sentences mean: The man bites the dog.
Hominem canis mordet. Mordet canis hominem Canis mordet hominem.
Canis hominem mordet. Mordet hominem canis. Hominem mordet canis.
All of these sentences mean: The dog bites the man.
Homo and hominem both mean man. Canis and canem both mean dog. The difference in spelling
indicates the use of the word as subject or object. Thus:
Homo is used if man is the subject of the sentence; hominem if man is the object; similarly canis is used
if dog is the subject and canem if dog is the object of the sentence.
The terms subject and objectdefme nouns in relation to verbs. The verb in this sentence is mordet, meaning
bites. Clearly, the subject is the person or animal doing the biting, and the object is the person or animal being
bitten.
In English, the subject usually comes before the verb, and the object usually comes after it. The word order
The man bites the dog indicates that man is the subject and dog is the object. The man is doing the biting; the
dog is being bitten.
However, in Latin, the word order The man bites the dog could mean either that the man is biting the
dog or that the dog is biting the man. The spelling (inflection) confirms the meaning. If the sentence
reads: Homo mordet canem, then the man is biting the dog; ifit reads: Hominem mordet canis, then
the dog is biting the man.
Chapter One 9
Furthermore, Latin can use word orders not allowed in English. In English, you would never write: The
man the dog bites or Bites the dog the man as these sentences are meaningless; they give no clear indication of
who is biting whom. In Latin, this is not a problem. You could write: Bites the dog the man with one of two
different spellings:
Mordet canis hominem. This means: The dog bites the man.
Mordet canem homo. This means: The man bites the dog.
The change in the spelling of canis to can em changes the dog from subject to object, and changing
hominem to homo changes man from object to subject, changing the meaning of the sentences. This process
of change is called inflection. Inflection occurs in English as well as in Latin:
singular: boy subject: I present: does
plural: boys object: me past: did
You will notice that the Latin spelling change can take place anywhere within the word, and that verbs can
be inflected as well as nouns. In the English verb, the change in spelling from does to did indicates a change
in when the action takes place.
In Latin, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs are inflected. This change in the form or ending of a noun,
pronoun, or adjective is called a declension and shows case, number, and gender.
Case indicates whether a word is used as a subject (homo, canis), object (hominem, canem), or in a
different way. The cases have names; e.g., if a noun is used as the subject, it is said to be in the nominative
case. Case names will be explained later, in greater detail.
Number shows whether a word is singular (man) or plural (men). Homo and canem are both singular.
Gender can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. In Latin, gender can be natural (male or female) or
grammatical (based not on sex, but on classification of the word or the spelling of the nominative case). Homo
is masculine; femina, a feminine noun, means woman; canis may be either masculine or feminine, depending
on the sex of the dog.
The change in a verb is called conjugation and shows tense, mood, person, voice, and number. Tense refers
to time (past, present, or future); mood to the manner in which a sentence is expressed (statement, question,
command); person to the subject (I, you, he, etc.); voice to whether the subject is acting or being acted upon
(active or passive); and number to one or more than one (singular or plural).
In Homo canem mordet, The man bites the dog, the verb is mordet or bites. It is in the present tense,
because the man is biting the dog now. The sentence is a statement, not a command or a question, so is in
the indicative mood. The subject is in the third person; therefore, the verb is also in the third person. The
man is acting (doing the biting), so the verb is in the active voice. If the sentence was: The man is bitten by the
dog, man would still be the subject, but the verb, is bitten, would be in the passive voice. Finally, since there
is only one man, the verb must be singular. Mordet is a verb in the third person singular present active
indicative. Later, all of these terms will be more fully described and explained.
Latin is a highly inflected language, so the ending of a word is of primary importance and must be
considered as carefully as the base of the word, which shows only the basic vocabulary meaning. Inflection
will be clearly explained throughout this book and ample practice will be given.
The Alphabet
The Latin and English alphabets are identical, except for lack of j and w in Latin. Latin uses i for both i and
j, and v for both v and w. The letter k is used, but rarely and only at the beginning of a word, and y and z
were introduced later, appearing almost exclusively in words taken from Greek.
