Latin I, Stage 14, part 2

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A preposition is a part of speech that describes one noun’s relationship with another.
In short, they are “anywhere a cat can go:”
 In
 On
 Over
 Under
 Near
 Around
 Into
 Onto
 In front of
 Behind
 Towards
 Away from
 Down from
 About

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in- in/on; into/onto
sub-under
de -down from, about
sine -without
cum -with
prope -near
post -after, behind
pro -in front of
a/ab -away from, by
e/ex -out of
There are more, but here are the ones we will see most often in our stories.

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We all know that in Latin, a noun will be in different cases depending on how it is used in a sentence.
Prepositions work the same way.
In a sentence like:
Metella cum Melissā ambulat
How do we know that it is “with Melissa” and not “with Metella”?
Because Metella and Melissā are in different cases!

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Notice that long line over the –a in Melissā.
Many prepositions take the accusative case, but there is a subset, like cum, that use a new case…
The ABLATIVE!
This is an extremely common case.

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Sub
In
De
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Sine
Pro a/ab
Cum e/ex
Latin uses a silly mnemonic device to help you remember these.

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S ub
I n
D e
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S ine
P ro
A
/ab
C um
E
/ex

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Anything you are
 With
 In/on
 Under
 Down from/concerning
 Without
 In front of
 Away from
 Out of
Will be in the ABLATIVE case.

case
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
ABLATIVE
1 st declension a ae ae am ā
2 nd declension ī us/er ō um ō
3 rd declension
-------is ī em e
Plurals
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative ae ī es xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx īs ās īs ōs ibus es
ABLATIVE īs īs ibus

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Metella est in atriō.
What is the prepositional phrase?
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 In atrio
In which case is atrio?
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 ablative
Why is it in this case?
 “In” takes the ablative case.
Now try some on your own:

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Translation:
______________________________________
What is the prepositional phrase?
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 _________________
In which case is forum?
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 _________________
Why is it in this case?
 ___________________

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Translation:
______________________________________
Prepositional phrase?
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 __________________
Case of mercatoribus?
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 ____________________
Reason?
 ____________________

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Translation:
______________________________________
Prepositional phrase?
___________________
Case of vias?
______________
Reason?
______________

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What’s Latin class without SOMETHING a bit tricky, right?
The preposition IN has four different meanings:
 in,on; into, onto
 WHEN in is used with an ablative noun, it means “in” or
“on.”
 NOTE: there is no motion or movement taking place, you are IN a room , or something is ON a table , etc.
 When in is used with an accusative noun, it means “into” or
“onto.”
 NOTE: there IS motion taking place; you are actively walking
INTO a room or placing something ONTO a table , etc.

 Quintus in triclinio bibit.
 __in___________
 Grumio in culinam ambulat.
 _______________
 Mercatores in forum contenderunt .
 ________________
 Gladiatores in arenā pugnabant.
 _______________
 Servus in horto laboravit.
 _______________
 Cerberus in hortum festinavit.
 _______________

 Log onto www.engrade.com
to complete a lesson on prepositional phrases AND take a quiz to test yourself.