LATIN I: PRONUNCIATION AND INTRODUCTION


The Latin alphabet is like ours except that it does not have j and w. The letters k, y
and z are rare. They mostly appear in words of foreign origin.
All letters are sounded. There are no silent letters.
Pronunciation is
completely regular according to these simple rules:
o Pronunciation – consonants. Most consonants are exactly like English. The
most important exceptions are:
 V is pronounced like w !!!!
 C is always hard, as in cat. G is always hard, as in goat.
 R is “trilled”.
 I before a vowel is usually a consonant & sounds like y.
o Pronunciation – vowels. There are long and short vowels.
 ā as in father.
a as in Dinah
 ē as in they (English “long a”)
e as in pet
 ī as in machine (English “long e”) i as in pin.
 ō as in clover.
o as in off
 ū as in rude.
u as in put.
o Pronunciation – diphthongs (vowel combinations).
 ae as in aisle (English “long i”)
 ei as in reign (English “long a”)
 au as in house

Practice and learn:
o Salvē (hello . . to one person) Salvēte (hello . . to more than one person)
o Valē (farewell. . to one person) Valēte (farewell . . to more than one person)
o Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī! (I came, I saw, I conquered)
o Cavē canem! (beware the dog.)
o Vestavia
Vomit
o Gaius Iulius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
o Iuppiter, Iūnō, Plūtō, Neptūnus, Minerva, Venus, Diāna, Apollō, Cerēs, Mercurius, Vesta,
Volcānus, Bacchus
LINKING VERB – “to be”


The linking verb does not show action. It links a subject to a predicate adjective or
predicate nominative. Example: My sister is pretty. My mother is a doctor.
Learn these Latin forms!!
Singular
Plural
Latin
English
Latin
English
st
1 Person
sum I am
sumus
We are
nd
2 Person es
You are
estis
You (plural-y’all) are
rd
3 Person est
He/she/it is
sunt
They are
(or any singular
(or any plural noun) are
noun) is
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
eram erās
erat
I was
You were
He/she/it was
(or any singular
noun was)
erāmus
erātis
erant
We were
You (plural-y’all) were
They were
(or any plural noun were
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
erō eris
erit
I will be
You will be
He/she/it will be
(or any singular
noun will be
erimus
eritis
erunt
We will be
You (plural-y’all) will be
They will be
(or any plural noun will be
In Latin, if the subject of a verb is a pronoun---I, you (singular), he, she it, we, you
(plural), they---it isn’t usually expressed. It is actually a part of the verb! However,
there are pronouns, and they can be used for emphasis.
o (I) Ego sum
(We) Nos sumus
o (You) Tū es
(Y’all) Vōs estis
o (He/she/it) Is/Ea/Id est
(They) Eī/Eae/Ea sunt.
o For example:
 Ego sum gladiator! I am a gladiator!
 Tu es senator! You are a senator!
Read these aloud & translate. You can figure out the meaning of these nouns from related
words in English and from the signs of the zodiac.
1. Es fungus.
2. Sunt gladiatorēs.
3. Sumus senatorēs
4. Est spectator.
5. Est virgō.
6. Estis geminī.
7. Sum capricorn.
8. Sunt leonēs.
9. Est peninsula.
10. Estis impostorēs
11. Es cancer.
12. Sum arēs.
13. Est dictator.
14. Sunt aquariī.
Practice this dialogue with a partner:
1. Salvē!
Puella=girl
2. Salvē! Quis es?
puer=boy
3. Sum puella/puer, nomine __________. Quis es?
Quis: who
4. Sum puella/puer, nomine _____________
nomine: named, by name
5. Valē!
6. Valē!
Practice this dialogue between two sets of two students.
1. Salvēte!
2. Salvēte! Quī estis?
3. Sumus puellae/puerī, nomine _________ et _________. Quī estis?
4. Sumus puellae/puerī, nomine _________ et _________
5. Valēte!
6. Valēte!



What do you think “Quī” means?
What do you think puellae means? What do you think puerī means?
English has “articles”, the little words “a” or “an”, and “the”. Latin does not have
articles. When you translate from Latin to English, you must supply articles, if one is
needed.
A little more about Latin VERBS:
Latin verbs have endings that tell us something about the subject of the verb.
Ending
Subject is
Ending
subject is
ō or m
I
mus
we
s
you
tis
y’all
t
he/she/it/singular noun
nt
they/plural noun
1. Amō means “I love”. What do the following mean?
(1)Amō=_________
Amāmus=_________
(2)Amās=________
Amātis=__________
(3)Amat=________
Amant=___________
*When we show the forms of a verb in this order,
we are “conjugating” the verb.
2. Videō means I see. What do the following mean?
(1)
Videō
vidēmus
(2)
Vidēs
vidētis
(3)
Videt
vident
3. Audiō means “I hear”. What do these mean? These are not in order.
Audīmus=___________________
Audiunt=___________________
Audīs=_____________________
Auditis=____________________
Audīs=_____________________
Audiō=_____________________