HOW TO TRANSLATE FROM
LATIN INTO ENGLISH!!!
HINTS FOR TRANSLATING THE ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF
LATINA!!!
STEPS TO TRANSLATING LATIN!!
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The basic, English sentence structure is: SUBJECT – VERB – DIRECT OBJ. – INDIRECT OBJECT. NOTA BENE!
This does NOT mean these are the 1st 3 words in the sentence but this is the order they come in a
sentence in RELATION to each OTHER!
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1st – find the VERB in your Latin sentence. Look at the ending…what tense is it? What/whom does the
ending identify as a potential subject? i.e. –batis = imperfect tense, 2nd person plural – Y’ALL!!!
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2nd – find, if necessary, the NOMINATIVE CASE NOUN i.e. your subject! Is it singular or plural?
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3rd – find, if necessary, the ACCUSATIVE CASE NOUN i.e. your direct object! NOTA BENE! Not EVERY
sentence has 1!
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4th – find, if necessary, the DATIVE CASE NOUN i.e. your indirect object! NOTA BENE! Not EVERY
sentence has 1 and if the sentence had NO direct object, there will be NO indirect object!
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Identify prepositional phrases; put (parenthesis) around them. They will translate best after you
translate the words that surround them OR wherever you think they sound GOOD!
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TRANSLATE in the following ORDER: Nominative – Verb – Accusative – Dative