9 Word Order

“Let’s explain the final step (the >>> part) of translation, how we go from ‘They (subj.) us (obj.) love’ to ‘They love us.’ In English the regular order of words is Subject, Verb, Object (SVO). IN LATIN SENTENCES, WORD ORDER IS FLEXIBLE.(F) When you translate into English, you must change the order to SVO. There can be other words in between, but the Subject should come before the Verb, and the Verb before the Object. Study these examples.”

• Eī (subj.) mē (obj.) amant (3rd pl. pres.).
• They (subj.) me (obj.) love. >>> They love me.

• Nōs (subj.) nōn tē (obj.) servābimus (1st pl. fut.).
• We (subj.) not you (obj.) will preserve. >>> We will not preserve you.

Id cōgitābam. Nōs parās. Eam amābitis. Sed ea mē nōn amābit. (14)

Tū quoque nōs servābās. (15) Ego ea nōn parābō. (16) Eum et eam amābāmus. (17) Mē nōn rogābis. (18)

“Here are some examples with Object-Subject-Verb order – another possibility in Latin:”

Tē ego nōn amō.I do not love you. (Note that English uses ‘do’ with a negated verb.) Eum quoque nōs vocābāmus. (19)

Vōs eae mūtābunt, sī rogābitis. (20)