Review of Latin I Grammar

Prepositions

A preposition is a word which shows the relationship betwween a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. Prepositions may indicate possession, position, direction, time, manner, means or agent.

Exempli Gratia:
possession - of the merchant
position - in the river.
direction - to the store
time - for many years, in ten days
manner - with joy
means - with a sword
agent- by the senator, by the storm
indirect object - to or for whom or what something is given or done

In Latin most of the above phrases are expressed with a Latin preposition followed by a noun in the accusative or ablative case.

The following do not use a preposition in Latin:

• Possession uses the genitive case: mater puerorum
• Direction when discussing cities (locative case), towns or small islands: Venit Romam - He came to Rome
• Time is not expressed with a preposition.
  - To show duration of time use the accusative case: multos annos - for many years
  - To show time when use the ablative case: duobus diebus - in two days

• Ablative of manner: Audite curâ BUT Audite magnâ cum curâ. Listen with care, listen with great care. Note that cum is used when there is an adjective but no cum when the noun is used.
• Means/instrument uses the ablative case: Perseus Medusam gladio interfecit. Perseus killed Medusa by means of (with) a sword
• Agent used with the ablative case with no preposition when it is a thing that is doing the action, but uses a or ab when a person is doing the action: Portatum est plaustro - It was carried by a cart; Portatum est a servô - It was carried by a slave.
• Indirect Object is used when the action of the verb is done for or to someone or something. The phrase answers the questions to what, to whom, for what or for whom? It is usually used with verbs of giving such as do, dare, dedi, datus

Prepositions in Latin

When one uses a Latin preposition the noun which follows MUST be in either the ablative or accusative case. An easy way to remember was devised by Sally Davis of Virginia. If a preposition falls into the category of SID SPACE, it is followed by the ablative case. ALL other prepositions will take the accusative case.

Practice Exercise

Write in the correct Latin form for English prepositional phrases. You may use a dictionary to verify the spelling, declension, etc. of the noun.

• Prepositional Phrases
• Year
• Block
• KVHS

Prepositions by the Stream - A graphical activity to help you understand accusative vs. ablative prepostions.

^ Grammatica