48 Substantives

 

“Optimē, excellent. When a neuter adjective appears all by itself, without modifying another noun, it is often functioning as a noun. To translate it, add a word like ‘thing’ or ‘things’. This is the Substantive use of an Adjective: when an Adjective acts like a Noun:”

Neuter Adjectives as Substantives, Examples (C)

malum, mal-īn.evil; evil (thing)

bonum, bon-īn.good; good (thing) “The plural often means property.” meum, me-īn.my (thing)

“The same principle holds for masculine adjectives without a noun in agreement; add ‘man’ (singular) or ‘men’ (plural), and treat the adjective as a noun (Substantive):”

Masculine Adjectives as Substantives, Examples (D)

malus, mal-īm.evil (man)

bonus, bon-īm.good (man)

meus, me-īm.my (man)

 

“It works for feminine adjectives, too. Add ‘woman’ or ‘women’, and treat the adjective as a noun (Substantive):”

Feminine Adjectives as Substantives, Examples (E)

mala, mal-aef.evil (woman) bona, bon-aef.good (woman) mea, me-aef.my (woman)

“Substantives are much more common in Latin than in English.” Nōn meum fuit fīdem cum malīs servāre. (8)

Dē dīvīnīs cōgitābāmus. (9)

Nam quisquis glōriam parat bona populī habet. (10)

To whom was my (man or woman) teaching (how) to love? (11)

Reason will give a limit to the evils of life. (12)

 

• The Adjective alius, alia, aliud

“The Latin adjective that means ‘other’, alius, alia, aliud, has US-A-UM endings, but five of its singular forms are irregular: the neuter singular nominative and accusative ending ud, and the ending ī in the dative singular of all genders:”

alius, alia, aliud, Declined (F)

SingularPlural

Masc. Fem.Neut.Masc.Fem.Neut.

Nom. aliusaliaaliudaliīaliaealia Gen.aliōrumaliārumaliōrum Dat.aliīaliīaliīaliīsaliīsaliīs Acc.alium aliam aliudaliōsaliāsalia Abl.aliōaliāaliōaliīsaliīsaliīs

How come it has no genitive singular?

 

“When Latin wants to say, ‘of another’, it uses alterīus. This is the genitive singular of alter, an adjective we will study in a few days that means ‘the other of two’.”

Syrus will teach you to love other virtues. Syrus tē amāre aliās virtūtēs docēbit. I was giving something to another. (13)

Eane tēcum aliā nocte erat? (14)

 

“When a form of alius is used twice in the same sentence in the same case, the first will be translated as ‘one’, if it is singular, and the second as ‘another’. If it is plural, it will be translated as ‘some’ and ‘others’. Often these forms will be substantives:”

Aliae spērābant, aliae dē malīs cōgitābant.

Some (women) were hoping, others were thinking about bad things.

 

Some (men) plan, others have nothing in mind. (15)

Homō semper aliud, Fortūna aliud cōgitat. (16)“This is another of Syrus’ sayings.” “When a sentence has two forms of alius in different cases, translate both as ‘different’:” Aliī alia amant.Different (men) love different (things).

Aliī ducēs aliās artēs habent. (17)

 

As soon as I finished that sentence there was a little drama on the stage. Four slaves were carrying a litter on which sat a handsome man with purple robes and grapes hanging from a crown around his head. In his arms there lay a woman who was wearing a beautiful diadem and a black dress with a colorful labyrinth pattern on it. They were surrounded by a wild mix of dancers: children dressed as cupidinēs or cupids holding little bows and arrows, women beating drums and tambourines and holding fake snakes, and a fat, bald old man riding on a donkey and holding a massive cup of wine. The crowd went wild at the sight.

“That’s Mark Antony,” Latinitas informed me, “one of Caesar’s generals. He’s dressed up as Bacchus. His mistress Cytheris, a famous mime actress, is dressed up as Ariadne of Crete, one of Bacchus’ lovers. The madwomen are Bacchants, and the old man on the donkey is supposed to be Bacchus’ follower Silenus. Just a little extra entertainment for the people.”

“See if you can write down this vocabulary before the next play starts:” E-Verbs (2nd Conjugation)

teneō, ten-ēreto have, hold

retineō, retinēreto retain

 

1st Declension Nouns

fōrma, fōrm-aef.beauty, looks

littera, litter-aef.letter (of alphabet); plural: literature; a letter (mail)

 

3rd Declension Nouns

dīgnitās, dīgnitāt-isf.dignity

laus, laud-isf.praise

ordō, ordin-ism.rank, order

 

Conjunctions

minus quamless than

plus quammore than

 

US-A-UM Adjectives

alius, ali-a, aliudother, another; one… other; some… others; different… different