𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: posterō diē ("on the next day")

Here the endings of the words -ō and -ē ("posterō diē") indicate that the ablative case is being used. This is an example of the 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, a grammatical construction in Latin that specifies when something happens.

Mini lesson: commands

"Dēpōne" is the imperative singular of "dēpōnere" ("deposit").

When addressing one person, the Romans would say "dēpōne", and when addressing two or more people, they would use the plural form "dēpōnite."

Mini lesson: apud + accusative

The preposition "apud" indicates proximity or association with persons, objects, and places. It is equivalent to various words in English, e.g. "apud Mārcum sum" ("I am 𝐚𝐭 Marcus’s place") and "pecūniam apud Mārcum dēpōnō" ("I deposit the money 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 Marcus").

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐚, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐦 ("𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡" / "𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩")

The adjective "altus, alta, altum" (compare "altitude") means "high" but it also means "deep." "Altus" designates a vertical distance from a middle point, be it upwards ("tall, high") or downwards ("deep").

Mini lesson: Ain’ ("Is that so?")

Ain’ is a contracted form of ais-ne, literally meaning "do you say?" The -ne indicates that it is a question.

Ain’ is often used in Roman comedy when a character is incredulous, surprised, or upset about a statement by another character, i.e. "Is that so?"

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: pānis ("a loaf of bread")

"Pānis" can mean both an unspecified amount of bread, and "a loaf of bread." Note the ending -em; this ending, called the accusative, is used when it is the object of an action. Here the bread (pānis) is the object of the action of giving.

Mini lesson: inquit ("says he/she")

When indicating who is saying something in a dialogue, Latin commonly inserts a form of 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 ("says he/she") into the sentence of the speaker, usually after the first word or thought, e.g. "Salvē!" inquit Mārcus ("'Hello!' says Marcus").

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐄𝐜𝐜𝐞! ("𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤!")

𝐸𝑐𝑐𝑒 is used to call attention to a person or object ("look at this; here is," etc.). Compare it to the French voilà.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐏𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚

Pythia was the priestess of Apollo who pronounced the responses of the oracle. According to one tradition, she operated inside the temple by a sacred chasm beneath the site emitting vapors, which Pythia inhaled and gave cryptic responses.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: magna pecūnia ("much money")

Although "magnus, -a, -um" literally means "large, big," with the word for money ("pecūnia") it means "much," "a large sum of money."

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐞𝐬𝐭 = "𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬"

Forms of the word 𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒 ("to be"), such as 𝑒𝑠𝑡 or 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑡 placed towards the beginning of a phrase often have the meaning of "there is" or "there are."

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 "-𝐭𝐨𝐫"

Nouns ending in "-tor" usually indicate a person who does something habitually or as a job, e.g. "ōrātor" ("an orator, speaker"), "lector" ("a reader," "a slave who reads aloud").

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: ædēs (plural) = "house"

Note that the word "ædēs" is in the plural, but still refers to only one house. In the singular, it usually refers to a temple, the house, so to speak, of a god.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐬, -𝐚, -𝐮𝐦

The adjective "longus" can mean both "tall" and "long." Likewise, "brevis" can mean both "short" in stature and in length.

Fabula de Cornelio Lentulo: literal translation now available 🎉
 
The book "Fabula de Cornelio Lentulo" (by Benjamin D'Ooge) just got a literal English translation! 📖 The novella traces Lentulus's journey from childhood to adulthood, making it a valuable read for intermediate Latin learners.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐇𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐦 = "𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦"

In Latin, when describing travel to a city, the accusative case alone is used, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 a preposition. Thus we say "Rōmam eō" ("I am going to Rome") or "Hierosolymam eō" ("I am going to Jerusalem").

🌟"Evangelium secundum Lucam" (Vulgate) on Legentibus🌟
 
✅ Latin text synchronized with 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 (𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧; narrator: Abel Schutte)
✅ 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
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𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: vidētur

The passive "vidētur" often means “he/she/it seems” as well as “he/she/it is seen.”

Here is an example: "ea Polyphēmō vidētur pulchrior quam..." = "“she seems to Polyphemus more beautiful than…”

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

"mastīgia" (m.) = "a scoundrel, rascal, rogue"

This word is an insult used in Roman comedy, for example in the plays of Plautus.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: puerī

"Puerī" is the masculine plural form of the word "puer" ("boy"). In the plural, however, "puerī" can mean not only "boys," but, if it refers to both boys and girls, "children."

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥…?”

𝑄𝑢𝑖𝑑, 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑚, …? = “What the hell…?”

𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑚 (literally "bad thing") is regularly used in indignant or angry questions. In this sense, 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑚 only occurs in questions. It is not used as an exclamation.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: ancient Roman curse

"Ī in malam crucem!" This is an ancient Roman curse or insult, literally meaning "go to the evil cross" or "go hang yourself on an evil cross."

In modern equivalent terms, it would be similar to telling someone to "go to hell" or "drop dead."

🌟"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲" 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧🌟

✅ Latin text synchronized with audio (classical pronunciation)
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Read more about learning Latin on https://legentibus.com/

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 -𝐧𝐞

In Latin, when you want to ask a 𝐲𝐞𝐬-𝐨𝐫-𝐧𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, you can add -𝐧𝐞 to the emphatic word (very often the first word) of the sentence. This little -ne tells the listener or reader that a question is being asked.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫

In Roman comedy, laughter is rendered by a number of 𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚s followed by 𝐚𝐞.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬

Note that Latin does not have definite or indefinite articles. Therefore, in Latin, 𝑝𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 can mean either “𝐚 girl” or “𝐭𝐡𝐞 girl,” depending on the context.

Update on Legentibus and the Beginner Latin Novel YouTube video by Daniel Pettersson

Some updates from Daniel about the adventure novel (Auda) for beginners and the course: youtu.be/xeBqmjbERi4

📖 Literal translation for "Ora maritima" now on Legentibus!

✅ Latin text synchronized with audio (classical pronunciation)
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Read more about learning Latin by reading and listening on https://legentibus.com/

✨ 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞! ✨

Our popular reader, 𝑿𝑿𝑰 𝑭𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒆 𝑨𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒑𝒊 (read by David Amster)—a collection of 21 simple fables perfect for upper-beginners—now includes a complete 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 📖

Seneca's letters, book 3 now on Legentibus!
 
✅ Latin text synchronized with audio (classical pronunciation, narrator: Stefano Vittori)
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We hope you enjoy the book!