Henle I, Ex. 182 no. 16

[Ron]

Have you seen Rome?

The answer key gives the translation: Romamne vidisti? Shouldn't the particle -ne go with the verb. I translated the sentence as: Vidistine Romam?

[pobrien]

The particle -ne is not a neutral indicator of a question. A neutral question (a question without any particular point, or without the expectation of any particular response) is indicated simply by a rising tone at the end of the statement. In a question with -ne, the particle -ne attaches to the point of the question. This can be a noun, pronoun, verb, whatever. For example, Marcumne vidisti means 'have you seen Mark (or somebody else)?'. But, vidistine Marcum means 'have you seen, or have you not seen, Mark?' Paul OBrien.