Second Form Latin, Lesson 11, Worksheet 5

[janahigh]

My question is about word order when translating from English to Latin. How flexible should I be in grading my son's sentences? I get especially unsure with complements (DO, PN, PA) and phrases. Could you give me some general rules/patterns?

Thanks so much,
Jana

[pschaeffer]

The beauty of an inflected language like Latin is that the words can be in virtually any order and the same meaning is communicated. There are general principles such as:
-The verb is generally last.
-The subject generally comes first.
-The indirect and direct objects generally precede the verb.
-Adjectives of quantity generally precede the noun the modify and adjectives of quality generally follow the noun they modify.
-For predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives, generally they go between the subject and the verb: for example, Maria puella est.

There are rare situations where placing an adjective between two words can cause confusion, but normally placement does not matter.

Paul

[janahigh]

Thank you so much - that's exactly what I needed.