Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #61: Reviewing the Verbs

Today and tomorrow there will be some more practice with verbs... and then next week you will learn about the accusative case which is used for the objects of verbs. You will then b able to read all kinds of sentences in Latin. For now, just remember that you now know three different verb endings:

-at: 1st-conjugation verbs
-et: 2nd-conjugation verbs
-it: 3rd-conjugation AND 4th-conjugation verbs

And here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before to review some words you will see again today:

And now, here are today's proverbs:

1. Delectat varietas.
Variety delights.
De-LEC-tat va-RI-etas.

From the Latin noun varietas we get English "variety." You've also seen some related Latin adjectives already: varius and variabilis.

Notice that the the subject comes after the verb, a word order that English cannot imitate. I think that the variety of word order in Latin is one of Latin's many delights!

2. Docet umbra.
(The) shadow teaches.
Docet umbra.

The verb docet, "teaches," is the root of English "docent" and also "doctor." You've already seen some Latin nouns from this same root: doctrina and documentum.

This is a saying that you can often find on sundials, where the sun's shadow teaches you the time. You can see an example here.

This is another example of the subject coming after the verb.

3. Aqua haeret.
(The) water is-stuck.
Aqua haeret.

You can see the Latin noun aqua, "water," in English "aquatic" and "aquarium."

The verb haeret, "sticks, is stuck," is the root of English "adhere" and "adhesive."

This is a Latin idiom used when anything gets stuck and cannot proceed as planned. Since water naturally flows and does not stop flowing, when the water is stuck, aqua haeret, that means things are definitely not going as planned. The Roman politician Cicero was in the habit of using this phrase in his letters, and he indicates that it was a popular saying by adding the words ut aiunt, "as they say."

4. Amicus dum olla fervet.
(A) friend while the pot boils.
A-MI-cus dum olla fervet.

The noun olla means "pot," in the sense of a cooking pot.

The verb fervet, "boils, seethes, is hot," and gives us English "fervent" and "fervid."

The idea here is that when you can feed your friends, your friends will be plentiful, but when there is no more food, your friends will disappear. The same is true metaphorically for whatever you might share with your friends: when those good times are over, the friendship will be over too.

5. Crescit fama.
Rumor grows.
Crescit fama.

You know all the words in this saying already, and this is one more example of the subject coming after the verb. The noun fama can mean "fame" in the sense of a good reputation, but it can also mean "rumor" in the sense of a report that goes around, perhaps true, but probably false. This saying emphasizing that as a rumor is told to one person and then to another and to another, the rumor "grows," i.e. it becomes more and more exaggerated. Compare a saying you saw earlier: Mendax fama.

Here's a recap: