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Questions tagged [syntax]

Syntax are the rules for how sentences and phrases are constructed in a language, including word order and how words change based on their relations to other words (snl.no/syntaks).

6 votes
2 answers
477 views

Is "cum haruspex in templo cenaret" correct Latin in this sentence?

Cum haruspex in templo cenaret, rex ipse appropinquabat. My problem is with the part in bold, firstly the cenaret, an imperfect subunctive does not agree with haruspex. (Or does it? I could be wrong.)...
John Smith's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
572 views

How to use apposition with vocative?

I am uncertain when to use nominative and when vocative in an apposition related to direct address. This issue is easiest to describe with examples. I have understood that the following use is correct:...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
1k views

"Populus Romanus Quiritium" as vocative?

In Latin Prose Composition by John Arbuthnot Nairn (Cambridge UP, 1926; p. 5 of "Versions" section), I find the following as a translation of Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ...
TKR's user avatar
  • 31.5k
7 votes
3 answers
170 views

Does every word have a case?

Poēta puellae fābulam narrat. Does every word in here have a case (i.e. dative, accusative, nominative, etc)?
Carlos Carlsen's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

What word order resolves the ambiguity of two nominative nouns in a sentence?

This question is a beginner's confusion about sentences of the form: [subject_noun] [object_noun] est. E.g. Bob agricola est. From my understanding, both the subject and object are declined in ...
modulus0's user avatar
  • 253
4 votes
2 answers
251 views

Example sentences where different cases mean different things

Can you suggest example sentences where changing the case of one noun keeps the sentence grammatical but changes meaning? Preferably a noun in the same sentence could be used in all five main cases (...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
219 views

Ambiguitas casus genitivi?

The first sentence of the introduction to the Systema Naturæ by Linnaeus is: Homo mundi intraturus theatrum quæritur Quis sit. How do you tell what noun goes with mundi? Grammatically, two ...
Ben Kovitz's user avatar
  • 16.2k
8 votes
1 answer
861 views

What's the difference between *quisquis* and *quicumque*?

Quisquis and quicumque are both described as indefinite (or generic) relative pronouns, and are both defined in dictionaries as "whoever, everyone who...". Is there any difference at all between the ...
TKR's user avatar
  • 31.5k
8 votes
2 answers
465 views

Indefinite relative clauses in indirect discourse

What is the most idiomatic way of expressing in Latin a sentence containing an indirect statement, which itself contains an indefinite relative clause? To start with the direct version: consider a ...
TKR's user avatar
  • 31.5k

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