Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #214: -as verbs with datives

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with -as verbs, the 2nd-person “you” verbs, 1st conjugation... plus a review of the dative case too. Each of today’s sayings has at least one dative words. You will see feminine dative nouns ending in -ae (1st declension) and masculine dative nouns ending in -o (2nd declension).

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Cantas surdo.
(You) are-singing to-a-deaf (man).
cantas surdo.

You know all the words in this saying already!

The word cantas is the 2nd-person form of the verb cantat.

The word surdo is the dative form of the adjective surdus, being used here as a noun: "a deaf (man)."

In other words, you're wasting your time, talking to someone who cannot hear you.

Compare the English saying "talking to a post" or "talking to a brick wall."

2. Das assem elephanto.
(You) are-giving a-penny to-an-elephant.
das assem ele-PHAN-to.

The word das is the 2nd-person form of the verb dat.
The word assem is the accusative form of the word as, which is a very low-value Roman coin; hence the translation: penny.

The word elephanto is the dative form of the noun elephantus.

The elephant here is a trained circus elephant; after elephants had performed their tricks, they were trained to them wave their trunks at the audience, expecting the audience to pay the elephant for the performance by giving them coins.

This saying was famously associated with the Emperor Augustus who would use it whenever someone was hesitant in offering him a gift, trembling in fear like someone giving a penny to an elephant.

3. Ranae aquam ministras.
(You) are-giving water to-a-frog.
ranae aquam mi-NIS-tras.

The word ministras is the 2nd-person form of the verb ministrat, which means "wait upon, serve," and also "serve up," which is the sense here. You can see this root in English "minister" and "administer."

The word aquam is the accusative form of the noun aqua, while the word ranae is the dative form of the noun rana.

This saying can mean giving someone exactly what they want, because frogs like water. But it can also have the sense of giving someone something that they already have plenty of. It's all about the context in which the saying is used!

4. Aquilam noctuae comparas.
(You) are-comparing an-eagle to-an-owl.
A-quilam NOC-tuae COM-paras.

The word comparas is the 2nd-person form of the verb comparat, which gives us English "compare."

The word aquilam is the accusative form of the noun aquila, while the word noctuae is the dative form of the noun noctua, "owl," the "night-bird" from the word nox, "night."

The eagle was traditionally associated with the sun in both ancient Greek and Roman culture. For example, the eagle was supposedly the only bird that could look directly into the sun, which makes the eagle exactly the opposite of an owl, who avoids the sun and flies by night instead.

Compare the English saying about "apples and oranges."

5. Testudinem Pegaso comparas.
(You) are-comparing a-tortoise to-Pegasus.
tes-TU-dinem PE-gaso COM-paras.

This saying is like the previous one except that now the comparison is between something slow and something fast: testudinem, which is the accusative form of the noun testudo, and Pegaso, the dative form of Pegasus, the mythological flying horse.

You can read more about Pegasus at Wikipedia.

Here's a recap: