extra help teaching Latin translation!

[Terri S.]

My son just started LCII and is having HUGE problems translating in lesson 1. I'm trying to help him with it, but wanted to make sure I'm understanding it correctly before doing so. If I show/teach him the following, would it be correct?

Puellae amant donum discipulorum.


amant, -nt ending = 3rd person, present (they love)

puellae, -ae ending = genitive or dative singular, or nominative plural

donum, -um ending = nominative or accusative singular (gift as subject or direct object)

discipulorum, -orum ending = genitive plural (disciples' or of the disciples)

Based on this information we can easily translate: Puellae love donum of the disciples (or disciples').

Next you must decide which is the subject, and which is the direct object. In this sentence, the verb is plural, so the subject must also be plural. Puellae can be either singular or plural. Donum is only singular. So Puellae must be the subject (nominative case).

The girls love the gift of the disciples. Or as we would say, "The girls love the disciples' gift."

[jeremiah213]

Terri,

Yes, I agree with your translation of that sentence. I just have a couple of helpful hints. First, the "-nt" 3rd person plural ending on "amant" only decides that the verb should be translated "they" The tense IS present like you said but the "-nt" has nothing to do with that. "Amant" is present tense because of the lack of any other tense marker. For instance a -ba- as in "amabant" would make the verb imperfect... a "-bi-" as in "amabunt" (the bi changes to bu in the face of an 'n') would make the verb future etc... Second I would highly encourage the use of the translation "of the disciples", it keeps the English words in the same order that the Latin words are usually placed in. ie. (noun), (genitive modifier). I just think it aids students in translation. By the way your deduction that Puellae was the subject because it was the only plural option was excellent, in my class I have the students memorize the chant: "Singular subject? Singular Verb. Plural Subject? Plural Verb." Teach with confidence you're right on.

[Terri S.]

Thank you TONS! I had not thought about the -nt ending in bunt and bant! I thought of the -nt, bunt, and bant endings each as complete "units". It was more of a subconscious thought for me that the -nt in the present indicated present because of the lack of the -bi- or -ba-!

It's sometimes hard to remember how to think like a beginner in language translation! Ditto on the genitive!