okay, I've just started latin and i've got myself entirely turned around:
the english translations of the declined adjectives is what? for example, I know magnus is great, but if I have
magnus
magni
magno
magnum
magno
magni
magnorum
magnis
magnos
magnis
...what do each of those individually mean?
the same with numbers. how would you translate declined numbers, like
duo
duorum
duobud
duod
duobus
2007-05-30 19:40:53 · 3 answers · asked by VEG 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The problem is that you can't take Latin adjectives away from their nouns, or the context of the sentence, and then expect a translation that always fits. In English, adjectives stay the same, and there are no case endings for nouns either. That makes it hard to get one's mind around the alien concept, but you'll see that you'll get accustomed to it soon. There is hardly a translation that will fit every case the same way. Just imagine the case andings like prepositions that are tagged to the end, instead of standing in front.
magnus - the/a great ..., goes with the subject or "praedicativum"; Carolus Magnus erat imperator magnus. - Charlemagne/"Charles the great" was a great general/emperor.
magni - of the great... (genitive) Uxor Caroli Magni -the wife of
magno - to the great ...(dative) Dabat donum Carolo Magno - he gave a gift to the great Charles (Charlemagne)
magnum - the great... direct object, (accusative) Videt Carolum Magnum = He saw the great Charles
magno - by/for/ with the great... (ablative) pro Carolo Magno = for Charles the Great
The next forms are the plural forms, and are used the same way, only for more than one. They don't change either in English.
magni
magnorum
magnis
magnos
magnis
Numbers are never changed in English, and the use in Latin of the few conjugated ones is the same as with adjectives.
I hope things are the tiniest bit clearer to you now?
2007-05-31 02:20:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
English doesn't decline adjectives at all, so the translation for every one of the first list would be 'great'.
'vir magnus' 'the/a great man'
'viri magni' 'of the/a great man'
2007-05-30 20:01:40 · answer #2 · answered by Doc Occam 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
veni vidi vici lorum ipsum dipsum tipsum, pro probo quo et cetera va va voom annus horiblis
2016-05-17 10:29:03 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋