Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #105: Prepositions with the accusative

The focus for today's lesson is something new: prepositions that take the accusative case instead of the ablative. So far, all the prepositions you have looked at use ablative case, but there are a few prepositions that take the accusative case, often with the idea of motion towards. These are the prepositions you will see in today's sayings:

ad + accusative: to, towards
extra + accusative: beyond, outside
super + accusative: upon, on

You've actually seen the word extra before — Est avis in dextra melior quam quattuor extra. — because it can be used as an adverb as well as being used as a preposition.

You've also see ad before, used to create compound verbs; for example: ad-spicit, "looks at, looks towards." You'll actually see lots of prepositions doing double-duty like that, being used as adverbs and also to form compound words.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Asinus ad lyram.
(A) donkey towards (a) lyre.
A-sinus ad lyram.

The word lyram is the accusative form of the noun lyra, which gives us "lyre" in English. (The word is originally Greek — the letter y is the clue, because y is not a letter in the Roman alphabet, but it is the Greek letter upsilon.)

This saying is used to make fun of someone who is doing something inappropriate, like a donkey who's headed towards a lyre, as if a donkey could play the lyre! There are a lot of Latin sayings that make fun of donkeys who pretend to be smart and sophisticated, but who are really just donkeys. You've seen one of these mocking proverbs before: Illiteratus rex est asinus coronatus. A donkey gets on a throne, a donkey grabs a lyre: either way, he's still just a donkey.

2. Ardua ad gloriam via.

(The) road to glory (is) steep.
AR-dua ad GLO-riam via.

You know all the words in this saying already!
The word gloriam is the accusative form of the noun gloria.

The idea is that the path to glory is difficult, and even dangerous — a steep, uphill climb — but that is the way to win glory.

3. Ut piscis extra aquam.
Like (a) fish out-of water.
ut piscis extra aquam.

You also know all the words in this saying.

The word aquam is the accusative form of the noun aqua.

We use this same saying in English: "Like a fish out of water." In English "out of water" is ambiguous (it can mean lacking water, having run out of water), but the Latin is more clear: like a fish outside of water.

4. Nihil novum super terram.
(There is) nothing new upon (the) earth.
nihil novum super terram.

You haven't seen the neuter adjective novum before, but you have seen the masculine novus and the feminine nova.

The word terram is the accusative form of the noun terra.

Compare the English saying, "There's nothing new under the sun," which actually comes from a different Latin saying found in the Book of Ecclesiastes: Nihil sub sole novum.

5. Vade ad formicam, o piger!
Go to (the) ant, O lazy (person)!
vade ad for-MI-cam, o piger!

The word formicam is the accusative form of the noun formica, "ant." This gives us "formic acid" in English because it is an acid that occurs naturally in ants who spray this acid to defend their nests. This is also the -form that you see in "chloroform."

The word o is used to address somone in Latin, just like "O" in English; this form of address is called the "vocative," which you will learn more about later. (In English, this vocative use of "O" is usually capitalized, unlike "oh," which is an interjection.)

This is from the Biblical Book of Proverbs; the idea is that the ant is hard-working, so someone who is lazy should look to the ant and imitate what the ant does instead. Here is the complete Bible verse: Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias eius, et disce sapientiam, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."

Here's a recap: