Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #167: Independent ablatives

The focus for today's lesson is more passive verbs along with a new take on the ablative case: instead of using the ablative with a preposition, you will see the ablative being used on its own, a.k.a. the independent ablative. When the ablative is used on its own, it can mean something like "by" in English (in the sense of "by means of," not in the sense of "next to"), and it can also mean something like "in" or "at" or "from," depending on context. As you see more and more examples of the independent ablative, you'll see more and more ways it can be translated into English.

Also, something you need to remember for today's sayings is the way that a passive verb without an expressed subject can be translated as an impersonal statement with English "it" or with English "one" (in the sense of one person, somebody), or with English "you" (again, in the impersonal sense of someone, anyone). Here's an example from today's sayings:

Docendo discitur.
"It is learned by teaching."
"One learns by teaching."
"You learn by teaching."

Any of those English translations can work! And now to get started, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Docendo discitur.
One-learns by-teaching.
do-CEN-do DIS-citur.

The verb discitur is the passive form of discit. It's an impersonal passive verb without an expressed subject.
The word docendo is the ablative form of docendum, "teaching." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen the related verb: docet.

I can personally attest to the truth of this saying. I learn new things with every one of these blog posts that I write!

2. Errando discitur.
One-learns by-making-mistakes.
er-RAN-do DIS-citur.

The word errando is the ablative form of errandum, "making mistakes." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen the related verb: errat.

This is another impersonal passive verb without an expressed subject.

I am also a believer in this saying, and it is why I am against the use of grading in school. Instead of punishing people for making mistakes, we should give them the feedback they need to learn from those mistakes. (More about my thoughts un-grading.)

3. Ire docetur eundo.
One-is-taught to-go by-going.
ire do-CE-tur e-UN-do.

The verb docetur is the passive form of docet. This is another impersonal verb. It takes an infinitive complement: ire docetur, "one is taught to go," i.e. "one learns to go."
The word eundo is the ablative form of eundum, "going." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen the related verb: it.

In Latin, as in many languages, the verb "go" is irregular. Sometimes it has an "e" as you see in eundum, but sometimes just an "i" as in it and ire.

The word docetur is another way to say "one learns." The active verb docet means "(someone) teaches," and the passive docetur means "(someone) is taught," i.e. they learn!

4. Vespere laudatur dies.
The-day is-praised at-evening.
VES-pere lau-DA-tur dies.

The verb laudatur is the passive form of laudat. The subject of the verb is dies.
The word vespere is the ablative form of vesper, "evening," which gives us English "vespers."
The idea is that you should not say it's a good day until you've reached the end of the day! Until you see how the day has turned out, you cannot be sure that it really is going to be a good day from start to finish.

5. Lapis molli cavatur aqua.
(A) stone is-hollowed-out by-soft water.
lapis molli ca-VA-tur aqua.

The verb cavatur, "is hollowed out, is carved out" is the passive form of cavat. From this Latin root we get English "excavate." The subject of the verb is lapis.

The phrase molli aqua is in the ablative case, "by (means of) soft water." Notice how the phrase wraps around the verb: molli cavatur aqua.

Remember how the ablative ending of the 1st-declenion nouns is the long -a? It is sometimes written as -ā like this: aquā.

The word molli is the ablative form of mollis, "soft" as in English "mollify." This is the first time (I think) that you have seen the -i ablative ending for the 3rd declension. Usually the ablative ending for the 3rd declension is -e, as you saw in the previous saying with vespere. But there is a subclass of 3rd-declension nouns and adjectives that are called "i-stem" nouns and adjectives, and they have -i as the ablative ending. The adjective mollis is one of those adjectives: molli. You can read more about i-stem forms here.

This saying is literally true because water really does wear away stone, but it is also a great paradox: even though water is soft, it can still wear away stone, which is hard. That's why the word "soft" is included in the saying, just to make sure you notice the paradox.

Here's a recap: