Latin Lesson #173: Translating Latin passive verbs

The focus for today's lesson is that special way the Latin passive verbs translate to active verbs in English, depending on context. All the sayings today feature Latin passive verbs which are best translated with active English verbs. Here is the first set of English examples I shared to explain how that works, so I'll share those here again:

• movet: The wind moves the windmill.
  movetur: The windmill moves.
  movetur: The windmill is moved by the wind.

• frangit: Romeo's death breaks Juliet's heart.
  frangitur: Juliet's heart breaks.
  frangitur: Juliet's heart is broken by Romeo's death.

As you can see, it's all about context: the same passive Latin verb form can be translated with an English active or passive verb based on the meaning of the sentence.

 
And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Fortunae rota volvitur.
Fortune's wheel turns.
for-TU-nae rota VOL-vitur.

You know all the words in this saying!

The verb volvitur is the passive form of volvit, and is best translated with an active English verb here: "turns."

The word fortunae is the genitive form of fortuna, or Fortuna if you want to think of her as a goddess. Here she is at Wikipedia: Fortuna.

As Fortune's wheel spins, it goes up and down... just as the fortunes, and misfortunes, of life keep on coming and going.


2. Stultus ut luna mutatur.
(A) fool changes like (the) moon.
stultus ut luna mu-TA-tur.

You know all the words in this saying too!
The verb mutatur is the passive form of mutat, and is best translated with an active English verb here: "changes."

3. Tempus fugit, nec revertitur.
Time flies and-doesn't return.
tempus fugit, nec re-VER-titur.

The verb revertitur is the passive form of revertit, and is best translated with an active English verb here: "returns." From this Latin word we get English "revert" and also "reverse."

And remember the special conjunction nec which means "and not" in English. It can also be rendered as et non so that this saying could also be: Tempus fugit et non revertitur.

You saw Tempus fugit way back in Lesson 57, and this completes the idea!

4. Omne nimium vertitur in vitium.
Every excess turns into vice.
omne NI-mium VER-titur in VI-tium.

The verb vertitur is the passive form of vertit, and is best translated with an active English verb here: "turns." This is the uncompounded form of the verb revertitur from the previous saying.
The word vitium gives us English "vice."  It is a neuter noun, so it has the same form in both the nominative and accusative. In this sentence, vitium is in the accusative, and the preposition in, when it takes the accusative, means "into."

You've been warned about nimium before: Omne nimium non bonum and Nemini nimium bene est.


5. Graculus graculo, pica picae sociatur.
Jackdaw joins to-jackdaw, magpie to-magpie.
GRA-culus GRA-culo, pica picae soci-A-tur.

There are two new words here, both names of birds. The word graculus is "jackdaw," which gives us "grackle." The word pica is "magpie," and apparently this is the likely origin of the use of "pica" in typography!

You see both of these nouns in the dative form here: graculo and picae. That's a good reminder that -o is the dative ending for 2nd-declension nouns, while -ae is the dative ending for 1st-declension nouns.

The verb sociatur is the passive form of sociat, and is best translated with an active English verb here: "joins, associates with." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen a related adjective: socius.

Compare the English saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."

Here's a recap:

• Fortunae rota volvitur.
• Stultus ut luna mutatur.
• Tempus fugit, nec revertitur.
• Omne nimium vertitur in vitium.
• Graculus graculo, pica picae sociatur.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 51 Vocabulary Review

This week the quiz-slideshow today covers a whole range of nouns in all the different cases that you have learned: nominative, genitive, accusative, accusative, and dative, while the crossword focuses on passive verbs. 

Using the quiz-slideshow, you can check yourself by looking at the cat slide that follows the slide with the missing word(s). You can also begin at the end and work backwards, giving yourself a different kind of quiz: seeing the slide without English and trying to supply the English, checking your answer on the next slide, reviewing with the cat slide, and then seeing if you can fill in the blank.

And remember: on the slides that contain the English translation, the English is linked to the original blog post if you want some help in understanding the grammar of the saying.

Here is a link to the full-size quiz-show, and the show is embedded in the blog post here too: 

If you want to do even more reviewing (you cannot review too much!), here are the vocabulary review slideshows from previous weeks.

And here is the Week 51 Crossword for you to download and print; like last time, the emphasis is on the passive verb forms that you have been practicing. Screenshots:

And... here's a random cat (with a new cat when you reload the page):

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Latin Lesson #172: More mixed verbs

The focus for today's lesson is more sentences with a mix of verbs: different conjugations, both active and passive. 

You will also see several adverbs in these sayings, and it's worth noting that there are several different ways that adverbs are formed in Latin. Sometimes adverbs are just words of their own, existing only as adverbs; some examples of that today are: semper ("always"), diu ("for a long time"), and vix ("barely, hardly"). Sometimes the accusative form of a neuter adjective is used adverbially; an example today is difficile ("with difficulty," a 3rd-declension neuter adjective). You can also see the ablative of a neuter adjective used adverbially; examples today are raro ("rarely," from rarum, a 2nd-declension neuter adjective) and cito ("quickly," from citum, another 2nd-declension neuter adjective).

To begin, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before (lots of familiar words today!):

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Non semper homo talis est, qualis dicitur.
(A) person is not always such as (he) is-said (to be).
non semper homo talis est, qualis DI-citur.

You already know all the words in this saying!

The verb dicitur is the passive form of dicit.

You've seen quite a few of these qualis...talis... sayings before; for example: Qualis pater, talis filius and Qualis avis, talis nidus.


2. Res agitur tua, paries cum proximus ardet.
Your business is-happening when (the) next-door wall is-burning.
res A-gitur tua, PA-ries cum PROX-imus ardet.

The verb agitur is the passive form of agit, and in this context it has an active (intransitive) meaning in English. Notice how the subject of the verb, res...tua, wraps around the verb.

The verb ardet, "burns, is burning" gives us English "ardent."

The noun, paries, "wall," can be seen in English "parietal." Because this is a masculine noun, it takes a masculine adjective: proximus. In this clause, the noun phrase paries...proximus wraps around the conjunction, cum.

This is literally true in the case of a building on fire (fires spread!), and the saying has taken on new meaning in a world of global warning: we are ultimately all neighbors on this planet, and no one will be safe when part of the planet is burning.


3. Frangitur ira gravis, cum fit responsio suavis.
Strong anger is-broken when there-is (a) sweet response.
FRAN-gitur ira gravis, cum fit re-SPON-sio suavis.

The verb frangitur is the passive form of frangit. The subject is ira, which is a feminine noun, so it takes a feminine adjective: gravis. You haven't seen this feminine form of the adjective before, but you have seen the neuter form: grave. 

The subject of the verb fit is responsio, "response." This is also a feminine noun, so it also takes a feminine adjective: suavis, "sweet, gentle, pleasant," as in English "suave."

Notice that the saying has internal rhyme: gravis-suavis, which marks it as a medieval Latin saying, a modified version of the Biblical saying, Responsio mollis frangit iram, "A soft answer turneth away wrath," as the King James version puts it.

4. Amicus raro acquiritur, cito amittitur.
(A) friend is-acquired rarely, quickly is-lost.
a-MI-cus raro ac-QUIR-itur, cito a-MIT-titur.

The verb acquiritur, "is acquired," is the passive form of acquirit. You haven't seen this compound verb before, but you have seen the root verb: quaerit (and you'll see it again in the next saying!).

The verb amittitur, "is sent away, is parted with, lost," is the passive form of amittit. You haven't seen this compound either, but you have seen the root verb: mittit. 

As noted above raro, "rarely," and cito, "quickly," are both functioning as adverbs in this sentence. You haven't seen raro before, but you have seen the adjective it comes from: rarum. 

The whole meaning of the saying hinges on these contrasting two adverbs: raro, cito.

On the rarity of true friendship, remember these sayings: Amicus res rara and Amicus verus rara avis.


5. Amicus diu quaeritur, vix invenitur, difficile servatur.
(A) friend is-sought long, is-found barely, is-kept not-easily.
a-MI-cus diu QUAE-ritur, vix inve-NI-tur, dif-FI-cile ser-VA-tur.

This is a long saying, but you already know all the words in this saying too!   

The verb quaeritur is the passive form of quaerit, invenitur is the passive form of invenit, and servatur is the passive form of servat.

Note the different stresses of the verbs: the 3rd-conjugation passive is stressed on the stem (QUAE-ritur), while the 1st- and 4th-conjugation verbs are stressed on the theme vowel in the ending (inven-I-tur and serv-A-tur).

Like the previous saying, this one puts a special emphasis on the contrasting adverbs, three of them this time: diu, vix, difficile.


Here's a recap:

• Non semper homo talis est, qualis dicitur.
• Res agitur tua, paries cum proximus ardet.
• Frangitur ira gravis, cum fit responsio suavis.
• Amicus raro acquiritur, cito amittitur.
• Amicus diu quaeritur, vix invenitur, difficile servatur.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #171: Mixed conjugations

Today's lesson contains some sayings that have verbs from different conjugations, some passive and some active. So, just as a review, here are the four conjugations:

1. -at active and -atur passive (long a: ātur)
2. -et active and -etur passive (long e: ētur)
3. -it active and -itur passive
4. -it active and -itur passive (long i: ītur)

Remember also that you will not always be using an English passive verb to translate a Latin passive verb: sometimes the Latin passive is really an intransitive verb, and you have to decide based on context. Here are some examples you've seen before:

• movetur: is moved ... or: moves
• rumpitur: is broken ... or: breaks
• submergitur: is submerged ... or: submerges

You'll see two more examples of intransitive passive verbs in the final saying today!

 
To get started, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Si non obstatur, permittitur.
If (something) isn't blocked, (it) is-permitted.
si non ob-STA-tur, per-MIT-titur.

The verb obstatur is the passive form of obstat.
The verb permittitur, "permitted," is the passive form of permittit. You haven't seen this compound verb before, but you have seen the uncompounded form: mittit.

Compare the English legal maxim, "Everything which is not forbidden is allowed," which has its own Wikipedia article.


2. Eripitur persona, manet res.
(The) mask is-pulled-off, (the) thing remains.
e-RI-pitur per-SO-na, manet res.

The verb eripitur, "is snatched away, is pulled off," is the passive form of eripit. You haven't seen this compound verb before, but you have seen the uncompounded form: rapit. The subject of the verb is persona. 

The words come from the Roman poet Lucretius. You can see the saying in context here. The idea is that in danger, you discover someone's true identity, as their social veneer, their public mask, is stripped away.

3. Alius peccat, alius plectitur.
One makes-a-mistake, another is-beaten.
A-lius peccat, A-lius PLEC-titur.

The verb plectitur, "is twisted, bent, beaten," is the passive form of plectit. 

Notice that in English we use two different words in the phrase "one... another..." but in Latin, just one word: "alius... alius....", "another... another..."

This saying is found in the emblems of Alciato: the illustration shows a man throwing a stone at a dog; the dog then attacks the stone instead of attacking the man that threw it.

4. Paulatim evellitur cauda equina.
(A) horse tail is-plucked-out little-by-little.
pau-LA-tim e-VEL-litur cauda e-QUI-na.

The verb evellitur, "is plucked out," is the passive form of evellit. The subject is cauda, a feminine noun, so the adjective is also feminine: equina. You haven't seen this adjective before, but you have seen the noun: equus.

If you try to pull out a horse's tail all at once, you will fail; it can't be done. Instead, you must pull it out one hair at a time. The saying thus applies to any big task you can only complete one little bit at a time.

5. Salix flectitur sed non frangitur.
(The) willow bends but doesn't break.
salix FLEC-titur sed non FRAN-gitur.

The verb flectitur, "is bent," is the passive form of flectit. You can see this Latin root in English words like "deflect" and "reflect."

The verb frangitur is the passive form of frangit.

Both of these verbs are intransitive: flectitur can mean "is bent" but here it means "bends," and frangitur can mean "is broken," but here it means "breaks."
The subject of both verbs is salix, "willow tree." You can see this root in the scientific name for aspirin: acetylsalicylic acid, from salicin, which is found in willow bark.

This is the motto of the Swiss House of Salis.

Here's a recap:

• Si non obstatur, permittitur.
• Eripitur persona, manet res.
• Alius peccat, alius plectitur.
• Paulatim evellitur cauda equina.
• Salix flectitur sed non frangitur.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 50 Catch-Up Day

Below is this week's catch-up post to help you review any lesson(s) you missed over the past two weeks of lessons and/or to work on whatever kind of practice is most useful to you. It's another two weeks of passive verbs, with lots of ablatives too, including the Independent ablatives:

• #167: Independent ablatives
• #168: More independent ablatives
• #169: More passive practice
• #170: More ablatives and passives

And this is the slideshow with all the sayings from the week. You can read out loud, first with the English to remind you of the vocabulary... and then read out loud again with the cat!

I also made a printable crossword PDF as usual; screenshots below. The answers are all passive verbs, to there is a lot of -tur going on!

And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #170: More ablatives and passives

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with passive verb forms along with nouns in the ablative case, including several verbal nouns that end in -endum. You've seen some of these before; here's a quick review. You've seen these nouns in the genitive:

• Timendi causa est nescire.
• Dux vivendi natura est.
• Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi.

And a couple of ablatives too:

• Docendo discitur.
• Nimium tendendo rumpitur funiculus.

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of all the vocabulary from today's sayings that you've seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Veritas vel mendacio corrumpitur vel silentio.
Truth is-corrupted either by-lying or by-silence.
VE-ritas vel men-DA-cio cor-RUM-pitur vel si-LEN-tio.

The verb corrumpitur, "is corrupted," is the passive form of corrumpit. Yo

You have not seen this compound verb before, con-rumpit, but you have seen the uncompounded form: rumpit. The subject of the verb is veritas.

The noun mendacio is the ablative form of mendacium, and silentio is the ablative form of silentium which gives us English "silence." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen a related verb: silent.

Notice that in English we say "either... or...", Latin just says "or... or...," vel... vel....

In other words: silence can have the same effect as a lie!


2. Nobilis equus umbra quoque virgae regitur.
(A) noble horse is-ruled even by-the-shadow of-a-switch.
NO-bilis equus umbra quoque virgae RE-gitur.

The verb regitur is the passive form of regit. The subject of the verb is equus, which is a masculine noun, so it has a masculine adjective, nobilis, which gives us English "noble."

The noun umbra (umbrā) is the ablative form of the noun umbra, while virgae is the genitive of virga, "small stick, switch, rod," in this case a switch used for whipping a horse. From this Latin root we get English "virgula" and "verge."

The saying can be seen in the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus; the idea is that you only have to show the excellent horse the switch without actually having to hit it.

3. Magis experiendo quam discendo cognoscitur.
More is-known from-experience than from-learning.
magis experi-EN-do quam dis-CEN-do cog-NOS-citur.

 
The verb cognoscitur is the passive form of cognoscit.  

The words magis and quam are used together: more... than...

The noun experiendo is the ablative form of experiendum, "experience," and discendo is from discendum, "learning." You haven't seen this verbal noun before, but you have seen the related verb: discit.
Compare the English saying, "Learning from experience." You can even read a Wikipedia article about what they now call "experiential learning."


4. Paulatim deambulando, longum conficitur iter.
By-walking a-little-at-a-time, the-long journey is-completed.
pau-LA-tim deambu-LAN-do, longum con-FI-citur iter.

The verb conficitur, "is completed, is finished," is the passive form of conficit. You have not seen this compound verb before, con-ficit, but you have seen the uncompounded form: facit. The subject is iter which is a neuter noun, so it takes a neuter adjective: longum. Notice how the noun phrase, longum...iter, wraps around the verb.

The noun deambulando is the ablative form of the verbal noun deambulandum, "strolling, walking." You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen the verb that it comes from: ambulat.

The word paulatim, "slowly, a little at a time," is new, but you have seen a related adjective: paulum.

After all, you can't take more than one step at a time!

5. Sedendo et quiescendo anima efficitur sapiens.
By-sitting and by-resting the-soul is-made wise.
se-DEN-do et quies-CEN-do A-nima ef-FI-citur SA-piens.

The verb efficitur, "is made, becomes," is the passive form of efficit. You have not seen this compound verb before, ex-ficit, but it is also a compound form of facit. The subject is anima, which is a feminine noun, so the predicative adjective is also feminine: sapiens.

The noun sedendo is from sedendum, "sitting," while quiescendo is from quiescendum, "resting, being quiet." You haven't seen sedendum before, but you have seen a related noun, seeds. The word quiescendum is new, but you have seen the related verb: quiescit.

Being a fan of sitting quietly, I am a fan of this saying.

Here's a recap:

• Veritas vel mendacio corrumpitur vel silentio.
• Nobilis equus umbra quoque virgae regitur.
• Magis experiendo quam discendo cognoscitur.
• Paulatim deambulando, longum conficitur iter.
• Sedendo et quiescendo anima efficitur sapiens.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #169: More Passive Practice

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with passive verbs, plus a set of three sayings to help you see how sayings appear in one variant after another; that's the nature of folklore! People adapt and change the existing proverbs to make new ones. You can do the same thing too if you want!

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Vetulus simius non capitur laqueo.
(An) old monkey isn't caught with-a-snare.
VE-tulus SI-mius non CA-pitur LA-queo.

The verb capitur is the passive form of capit. The subject is simius, "monkey." You haven't seen this masculine form before, but you have seen the feminine simia. 

The noun laqueo is the ablative of laqueus, "snare, trap." This is the origin of English "lace" and also "lasso."

The key word here is vetulus: the old monkey has seen all the tricks and has managed to survive them so far, so you are not going to catch that old monkey with the usual snare. A young monkey, perhaps, but not the old monkey!


2. Vetula vulpes laqueo non capitur.
(An) old fox isn't caught with-a-snare.
VE-tula vulpes LA-queo non CA-pitur.

Same verb but a new subject: vulpes. Because vulpes is a feminine noun, it takes a feminine adjective: vetula, "old." You haven't seen this feminine adjective before, but you have seen the masculine vetulus. 

As you can see, this is just a variation on the same idea: both the fox and the monkey are proverbially sly animals, and the same argument about the vetulus simius applies just as well to the vetula vulpes.


3. Vulpes non iterum capitur laqueo.
(A) fox isn't caught a-second-time with-a-snare.
vulpes non I-terum CA-pitur LA-queo.

You already know all the words in this saying! Here is the emphasis is on the idea that the fox can learn from her mistakes: you might be able to catch her once with a snare, but she is not going to fall for that again! So, be like the fox: if you are fooled once, just make sure you do not let yourself be snared again!


4. Saxum volutum non obducitur musco.
(A) rolled stone isn't covered with-moss.
saxum vo-LU-tum non ob-DU-citur musco.

The verb obducitur, "is covered," is the passive form of obducit. You haven't seen this compound verb before, but you have seen the root verb: ducit.

The subject is saxum, a neuter noun, so it takes a neuter adjective, volutum, "rolling."

The noun musco is the ablative form of muscus, "moss."

Compare the English saying, "A rolling stone gathers no moss." 

This is one of those sayings that allows for opposite interpretations. Being a "rolling stone" can be a good thing: you don't want to become overgrown with moss, so keep on moving, don't get stuck in a rut! But it's also possible for this to be a bad thing: the rolling stone who never settles down never has time to get comfortable, all nicely covered with moss, soft and comfortable. The saying has its own Wikipedia article, which includes this Latin version: A rolling stone.


5. Nimium tendendo rumpitur funiculus.
(A) rope breaks (by) too-much stretching.
NI-mium ten-DEN-do RUM-pitur fu-NI-culus.

The verb rumpitur is the passive form of rumpit. This is one of those passive verbs in Latin which can be translated with an intransitive active verb: "breaks."

The subject is funiculus, "rope." You haven't seen this diminutive form before, but you have seen the regular form of the noun funis. 

The noun tendendo is the ablative form of tendendum, "stretching." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen the verb that it comes from: tendit.

So, if you don't want to "snap," then take a break and relax!

You've seen a variation on this saying before: Arcus nimium tensus frangitur. The adjective tensus comes from the same root as the noun in this saying, tendendo.


Here's a recap:

1. Vetulus simius non capitur laqueo.
2. Vetula vulpes laqueo non capitur.
3. Vulpes non iterum capitur laqueo.
4. Saxum volutum non obducitur musco.
5. Nimium tendendo rumpitur funiculus.

And here is today's audio:



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