Awesome Ablatives Ablative of Means Ablative of Place Where Lesson 8 Jan. 21-Feb. 2, 2014

Ablative Endings: -ā, -o, -is Case Singular Plural Nominative (subject) -a -ae Genitive (“of”) -ae -arum Dative (“to”/ “for”) -ae -is Accusative (direct obj.) -am -as Ablative -ā -is Case Sg. Pl. Nom. (subject) -us -i Gen. (“of”) -i -orum Dat. (“to”/ “for”) -o -is Acc. (direct obj.) -um -os Abl. -o -is

Remember Our Narrative Chain? Lots of ABS! The ABLATIVE case has many uses. There are as many as 15 uses for the ablative! This week we’ll learn 2: ablative of place where and ablative of means.

Ablative of Place Where A very long name for a very easy concept! It simply means that when you use the preposition “in” in Latin, the object of “in” has to be in the ablative case. Remember that the Latin word“in” can mean “in” or “on” depending on the context

Aqua becomes ablative: aqua, aquae (f.) Aqua becomes ablative: aquā Where is the boat? in aquā

Casa becomes ablative: casa, casae (f.) Casa becomes ablative: casā Where is the girl? in casā

Unda becomes ablative pl.: unda, undae (f.) Unda becomes ablative pl.: undis in undis Where are the surfers?

Equus becomes ablative: Remember that “in” in Latin can also mean “on” equus, equi (m.) Equus becomes ablative: equo Where is the man? in equo Remember that “in” in Latin can also mean “on”

Carrus becomes ablative: carrus, carri (m.) Carrus becomes ablative: carro Where is the girl? in carro

Ablative of Means An ablative word can be used to express the instrument or means by which a person does something. This is called the ablative of means. In English, we have to say “by…” or “with…” to express the same thing.

Ablative of Means How does a cook stir the soup? with a spoon

Ablative of Means with a bat How does the baseball player hit the ball? with a bat

Ablative of Means How does the child color the picture? with crayons

Ablative of Means The phrases with a spoon, with a bat, with crayons would be ablatives of means in Latin. The ablative of means does NOT use a Latin word for “with” or “by.” You have to add it in the English. Remember that we had to add “of” when translating genitives, and “to” when translating datives. Same idea here!

Examples! Cibum carro portamus. We carry the food with a cart.

Examples! Romani Siciliam pugnis occupant. The Romans seize Sicily by battles.

Examples! Puella vitam equi cibo servat. The girl saves the life of the horse with food.

Dative vs. Ablative…How Can I Tell? You’ll notice some endings are the same for dative and ablative. Remember: an ablative of means is usually a THING, not a person or animal. Use “by” or “with” for these. If there’s a light bulb verb in the sentence (giving, showing, telling), then it may be a dative like we learned earlier. Use “to” with these.

Dative vs. Ablative Agricola equo cibum donat. The farmer gives food to the horse. We carry food with a cart. Cibum carro portamus. Not “we carry food to/toward the cart”---that would be “Cibum ad carrum portamus.”

Things to Take Away from This Lesson Ablatives use the endings –ā, -o, and –is. Ablatives can show place where after the word in. Puella est in casā. The girl is in the house. Ablatives can show “by means of” without using a word for “with” or “by.” Puella vitam equi cibo servat. The girl saves the life of the horse with food.