Latin Lesson #239: Sayings re: res

The focus for today's lesson is one of the most common 5th-declension nouns: res, which means "thing, matter, affair, business," etc. You get the idea: it has a lot of meanings!

You probably have used this Latin word without knowing it, because every time you type "re:" in a memo, you are saying re, the ablative form of res: "in the matter of." Many people think the "re" is short for "regarding," but it really is the ablative form of res.

In today's sayings, you will see res in the nominative form as the subject of a verb, also the ablative form, re, and the accusative form: rem. 

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. In verbo suavis, in re gravis.
Gentle in speech, serious in action.
In verbo suavis, in re gravis.

This saying features re, the ablative form of res, with the preposition in. 

Likewise verbo, which is the ablative form of verbum.

There are many sayings that mark the contrast between words and actions, and between speaking and doing. Here the contrast is between speaking gently and sweetly, but acting in a stern and serious way.
The rhyme suavis - gravis marks this as a medieval Latin saying.


2. Rem factam etiam stultus intellegit.
Even a-fool understands a-thing (after it's been) done.
Rem factam etiam stultus in-TEL-legit.

Here you have rem, the accusative form of res, as the object of the verb. The adjective factam is also feminine accusative, agreeing with rem. You haven't seen this form before, but you know the neuter form: factum.

The idea is that a wise person can foresee things in advance, but even a fool, etiam stultus, can understand something after it has already happened. Compare the English saying "20/20 hindsight."


3. Mortua res Venus sine Baccho et Cerere.
Venus (is) a dead business without Bacchus and Ceres.
MOR-tua res Venus sine Baccho et CE-rere.

This saying features res, as the nominative subject of the verb. Because res is a feminine noun, it takes a feminine adjective: mortua. You haven't seen this feminine form of the adjective before, but you know the masculine form: mortuus. 

Here the gods stand for their domains: Venus is love, Bacchus is wine, and Ceres is bread.

The saying is adapted from the Roman playwright Terence; you can find out more at Wikipedia. This particular version comes from Erasmus's Adagia. 


4. Res est admodum fragilis humanum corpus.
The-human body is (a) very fragile thing.
Res est AD-modum FRA-gilis hu-MA-num corpus.

Here you have res once again in the nominative as the subject of verb, and it is modified by the adjective fragilis, "fragile, delicate, liable to break," which is also feminine (although harder to recognize right away as feminine because it is a 3rd-declension adjective, unlike mortua in the previous saying). From Latin fragilis we get both "fragile" and "frail."

The word admodum is an adverb, meaning "very, completely."


5. Res bene parta manet; res male parta perit.
A-thing well begotten lasts; a-thing badly begotten perishes.
Res bene parta manet; res male parta perit.

The nominative res appears twice here, as the subject of two contrasting verbs: manet and perit. 

Just as the verbs are opposite in meaning, so are the adjectival phrases: bene parta, "well begotten" and male parta "badly begotten."

The adjective parta is a participle from a verb you have seen before: parit, "give birth." So, it literally refers to things that are "born," but also in general to things as they are "begotten, created, made," etc.


Here's a recap:

• In verbo suavis, in re gravis.
• Rem factam etiam stultus intellegit.
• Mortua res Venus sine Baccho et Cerere.
• Res est admodum fragilis humanum corpus.
• Res bene parta manet; res male parta perit.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 84 Catch-Up Day

Here is the new catch-up day post for the past two weeks of sayings using 5th-declension nouns, focusing on spes and dies. As usual, there is a cat-show of those sayings, plus a link to the downloadable crossword and the self-quiz.

Meanwhile, the admittedly wacky Vergil project carries on; we're now on Lesson 40: A New Beginner's Latin: THE AENEID. Take a look if you are curious! 

And now here are the past two weeks of lessons here:

• #235: The Fifth Declension
• #236: More spes, more hope!
• Week 83 Vocabulary Review
• #237: Sayings about the day
• #238: One more day of "dies" sayings

So, let's start with the slideshow with all the sayings. 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, and the same prompts for the crossword are used in the quiz questions below. Enjoy!

Sufficit ______ malitia sua.
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diei

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Vive in ______.
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diem

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Dies diem ______.
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docet

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Dies ______ minuit.
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dolorem

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Ver non una dies, non una reducit ______.
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hirundo

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Spe ______ levis.
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labor

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Lucernam in ______ accendis.
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meridie

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Inter spem et ______.
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metum

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Spes una hominem nec ______ relinquit.
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morte

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Diem nox premit, dies ______.
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noctem

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Urget diem ______, et dies noctem.
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nox

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Ubi spes, ibi ______.
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pax

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Cum spes frustratur, non spes, sed ______ vocatur.
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poena

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Non uno est condita ______ die.
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Roma

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Una dies ______ non perficit.
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sapientem

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______ melioris amittitur bonum.
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spe

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______ Fortuna alit.
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spem

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Non deest ______.
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spes

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Spe non saginatur ______.
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venter

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In spe et labore transigo ______.
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vitam

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And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #238: One more day of "dies" sayings

The focus for today's lesson is more sayings with dies. One thing you might notice is that dies is sometimes masculine — unus dies, "one day" — and sometimes feminine, una dies, "one day." There is not a hard-and-fast rule about that, although in general the masculine dies is more likely to refer to a 24-hour period or to a date on the calendar, especially a holiday, dies festus. Of course, this is not a substantial difference of meaning, so the main thing is just to be prepared for masculine or feminine dies; you'll see them both today.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Dies diem docet.
(One) day teaches (another) day.
dies diem docet.

You know all the words in this saying! You have both nominative dies, subject of the verb, and accusative diem, object of the verb.

The idea is that you learn today from the mistakes of yesterday. Or, at least you should try to do so: let yesterday be your teacher!


2. Urget diem nox, et dies noctem.
Night pushes day, and day (pushes) night.
urget diem nox, et dies noctem.

The new verb here is urget, "pushes, impels, drives," as in English "urgent" and "urgency."

You have both dies and diem again, and also nox, nominative, subject of the verb, and accusative noctem, object of the verb.

This is similar to the saying you saw last time: Diem nox premit, dies noctem.


3. Sufficit diei malitia sua.
Its-own trouble is-sufficient for-the-day.
SUF-ficit di-E-i ma-LI-tia sua.

Now you have diei, the dative form of dies. In the 5th declension, just as in the 3rd and 4th declensions, the final -i is the sign of the dative. The dative is an indirect object with the verb: sufficit diei, "it is sufficient for the day."

The feminine noun malitia, "badness, trouble, ill-will," is the origin of English "malice." It is nominative, the subject of the verb, and the adjective sua is also nominative feminine, agreeing with malitia. You haven't seen this word before, but you know the adjective it comes from: mala / malus / malum.

This is from the Gospel of Matthew; here is the complete verse: Nolite ergo solliciti esse in crastinum. Crastinus enim dies sollicitus erit sibi ipsi: sufficit diei malitia sua, "Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof."


4. Non uno est condita Roma die.
Roma was not founded in-one day.
non uno est CON-dita Roma die.

The new word here is condita, "built." The meaning of that word is pretty easy to guess since this is as famous saying also in English: "Rome wasn't built, non est condita, in one day." The form is feminine because it agrees with the subject, Roma.

In this saying, you can see that dies must be masculine because it has a masculine adjective, uno: "in (just) one day, in a single day," uno die.

The phrase ab urbe condita, abbreviated AUC, was how the Romans numbered the years of their history. You can find out more at Wikipedia: ab urbe condita.

5. Ver non una dies, non una reducit hirundo.
One day isn't spring, nor (does) one swallow bring-it-back.
ver non una dies, non una re-DU-cit hi-RUN-do.

The new verb here is reducit, "lead back, conduct, bring back." You haven't seen this verb before, but it is a compound form of a verb that you know: re-ducit, "back-leads, leads back."
This time dies is feminine, una dies, and it is the subject of the implied verb reducit, while ver is the object: "One day doesn't (bring back) spring." (The word ver is sneaky: it's a neuter 3rd-declension noun, so the accusative is the same as the nominative: ver.)

The word ver is also the implied object of reducit: "one swallow does not bring back spring." The swallow, hirundo, is a feminine noun, as dies is here, so it also takes a feminine adjective: una hirundo.

Compare a saying you've seen before: Una hirundo non facit aestatem.


Here's a recap:

• Dies diem docet.
• Urget diem nox, et dies noctem.
• Sufficit diei malitia sua.
• Non uno est condita Roma die.
• Ver non una dies, non una reducit hirundo.

And here is today's audio:



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Latin Lesson #237: Sayings about the day

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with 5th-declension nouns, using the word dies, "day," one of the most commonly used 5th-declension nouns. 

Latin dies is the root of English "diurnal" (as opposed to "nocturnal") and "diary." It also gives us English "journal," "journey" and "adjourn." You can see Latin dies in English "dismal," which comes from dies mali, "evil days." The root dies also shows up in English "quotidian" and "circadian." We even use the Latin phrase "per diem" in English.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Dies dolorem minuit.
The-day diminishes grief.
dies do-LO-rem MI-nuit.

The word dies is the nominative subject of the verb minuit, "lessens, diminishes." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen a related adverb: minus.

The word dolorem is the accusative form of dolor, the subject of the verb.

The "day" here stands for "time," the idea being that day by day, grief diminishes.


2. Lucernam in meridie accendis.
You're-burning a-lamp at mid-day.
lu-CER-nam in me-RI-die ac-CEN-dis.

You know all the words in this saying, and in fact you've seen a variation on this saying before: Lucernam adhibes in meridie.

The word lucernam is the accusative form of lucerna, object of the verb accendis, the 2nd-person form of the verb accendit. 

The word meridie is the ablative form of meridies with the preposition in. The word is a compound: meri-dies, "mid-day." This is the M in AM, ante meridiem, "before noon," and PM: post meridiem, "after noon." Latin meridies is also the source of English "meridian."

Compare the phrase, "Burning daylight." The idea is that it is foolish to light a lamp or lantern when you have the light of the sun in the sky at high noon.

3. Vive in diem.
Live for the-day.
vive in diem.

You also know all the words in this saying.

The word diem is the accusative form of dies, used with the preposition in, which has the sense of "into" or "for" when used with the accusative.

The verb vive is the imperative form: "live!"

Compare the even more famous Latin saying: Carpe diem.


4. Diem nox premit, dies noctem.
Night presses-on the-day, the-day on-night.
diem nox premit, dies noctem.

Here you see the nominative and accusative forms of dies, along with the nominative and accusative forms of nox.

In the first part of the saying, nox is the subject of the verb premit, "presses, presses on, pursues," with diem as the object, and then in the second part of the saying, dies is the subject and noctem is the object, with the verb premit implied.

The saying elegantly expresses that endless, recurring cycle of night and day: day chases night away, but then night comes back, chasing the day.


5. Una dies sapientem non perficit.
One day doesn't perfect (a person) wise.
una dies sapi-EN-tem non PER-ficit.

Another one where you know all the words already!

The subject is una dies, and the verb is perficit. The word sapientem is the accusative form of sapiens, the object of the verb.

Compare the saying "Rome was not built in a day." So too the wise person!


Here's a recap:

• Dies dolorem minuit.
• Lucernam in meridie accendis.
• Vive in diem.
• Diem nox premit, dies noctem.
• Una dies sapientem non perficit.

And here is today's audio:



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Week 83 Vocabulary Review

For the vocabulary practice this week, I picked sayings that either have SOV (subject-object-verb) word order or OV (object-verb), where the subject is not expressed directly. Latin has free word order, but this is the most common sentence pattern in Latin, and it's not a pattern you find in English, so it's good to practice!

For each saying in the slideshow, you will try to supply the missing word. 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. 

Plus don't forget: 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.

I also made a printable crossword PDF as usual, and the same prompts for the crossword and slieshow are used in the quiz questions below. Enjoy!

Cribro _______ hauris.
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aquam

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_______ Pegaso comparas.
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testudinem

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Ranae _______ infundis.
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vinum

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_______, non faciem geris.
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personam

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_______ extorques Herculi.
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clavama

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Echinus _______ differt.
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partum

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_______ elephanti confert.
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culicem

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_______ vellis.
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calvum

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Morsus _______ ducit.
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morsum

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Nemo feli _______ annectere vult.
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tintinnabulum

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_______ habes.
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mustelam

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Mari _______ addis.
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aquam

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_______ secas.
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hydram

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_______ noctuae comparas.
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aquilam

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Ex arena _______ nectis.
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funiculum

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_______ camino addis.
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oleum

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Iniquissimam _______ iustissimo bello antefero.
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pacem

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_______ e pumice postulas.
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aquam

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_______ in lingua fert.
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bovem

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Ego _______ ob stultitiam fero.
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pretium

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And here's a random cat:

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Latin Lesson #236: More spes, more hope!

The focus for today's lesson is more about spes, hope! The word spes is the nominative form, spem is accusative, and spe is ablative. You will see examples of those three forms in today's sayings.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Non deest spes.
Hope is-not lacking.
Non deest spes.

The new word in this saying is deest, de+est, which is a compound of est. It means to "be without," and thus "lack." So, hope is not lacking, or, in other words: There is still hope.


2. Spem Fortuna alit.
Luck nourishes hope.
Spem For-TU-na alit.

You know all the words in this saying! The idea is that when you can enjoy a little luck, some good fortune, it's easier to feel hopeful. 

The word spem is the accusative form of spes, the object of the verb.

You can see it here in the Gardiner family coat of arms:

3. Spe melioris amittitur bonum.
With-the-hope of-something-better, a-good-thing is-lost.
Spe meli-O-ris a-MIT-titur bonum.

You know all the words in this saying too. 

The word amittur, "is lost," is the passive form of amittit, "loses."

The word spe is the ablative form of spes, answering the question "how?" 

So, how is a good thing lost? It is lost with the hope of something better. The word melioris is the genitive form of the neuter adjective melius, being used here as a noun. It is also the comparative form of bonum which is the point of the saying: don't give up the good, bonum, for something melius, "better."

Compare the English saying, "The better is the enemy of the good."

4. In spe et labore transigo vitam.
In hope and labor, I-pass (my) life.
In spe et la-BA-re TRAN-sigo vitam.

The new word in this saying is the verb transigo, "I pass, I pass through." It's a compound of trans+ago, and the phrase ago vitam means "I conduct my life, I live my life."
The word spe is the ablative of spes and the word labore is the ablative of labor, both being used with the preposition in.

The idea is that you should keep on hoping, but you need to keep on working too!


5. Cum spes frustratur, non spes, sed poena vocatur.
When hope disappoints, it-is-not called hope, but suffering.
Cum spes frus-TRA-tur, non spes, sed poena vo-CA-tur.

The new word here is the verb frustratur, "disappoints." This is a deponent verb: it has no active forms, only passive forms. You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen a related adverb, frustra, "in vain."

The verb vocatur is truly passive: vocat means "calls," while vocatur means "is called."

Notice the internal rhyme, marking this as a medieval saying: frustratur ... vocatur.

For the idea that hope can frustrate or deceive you, consider a saying you saw previously: Spes alit et fallit.


Here's a recap:

• Non deest spes.
• Spem Fortuna alit.
• Spe melioris amittitur bonum.
• In spe et labore transigo vitam.
• Cum spes frustratur, non spes, sed poena vocatur.

And here is today's audio:



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