Latin/Imperatives Lesson 3
Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. Here you can peruse a new lesson in Latin, in a simple format. If you would like to catch up, you can find a directory of lessons, a classified vocabulary list, and Memrise courses at the links on the right.
In today’s lesson, we’ll continue with the imperative mood, used to give commands. Please note that this is not the only way of giving a command or request; later on we’ll need to understand the subjunctive mood, which is used for commands and many other functions in Latin. Also we introduce an interjection, ecce which was used for a great many purposes, including in an imperative sense for “look” or behold”.
Often taught alongside the imperative mood is the “vocative” case. This is the case (of nouns) used for direct address. It is identical to the nominative for all plural nouns, and for most singular nouns as well. The only time we need to use a different ending is for nouns (and adjectives) of the 2nd conjugation ending in –us. Then, the –us ending becomes –e, except if the noun ends in –ius normally, and then it becomes –ī. So for example, amīcus becomes amīce; fīlius becomes fīlī; puer stays the same. There are some other exceptions, but it isn’t that difficult. The vocative usually does not stand first in the sentence.
New Vocabulary
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ecce (interjection) | behold!, look!, here is, there is | ||
| surgō, surgere, surrēxī, surrēctus, 3 | stand up, get up |
New Sentences
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ecce pāpiliō! | Look at the butterfly! | |
| Ecce! Gāius venit! | Behold/look! Gaius is coming! | |
| Ecce domus mea. | Here is my house. | |
| Ecce Paula. | There is Paula. | |
| Estō fortis. / Estōte fortēs. | Be brave/ strong. | |
| Estō benignus (benigna). / Estōte benignī (benignae). | Be kind. | |
| Stā / Stāte cum līberīs. | Stand with the children. | |
| Surge! / Surgite! | Stand up! | |
| Sedē. / Sedēte. | Sit down. | |
| Salvē, Mārce! | Greetings, Marcus! | |
| Salvē, amīce! | Greetings, friend! | |
| Currē, Gāī! | Run, Gaius! | |
| Currē, puer! | Run, boy! | |
| Festīnā, fīlī mi! | Hurry, my son! | |
| Festīnāte, līberī! | Hurry, children! | |
| Dīc mihi, frāter! | Tell me, brother! | |
| Pōne, Mārce, pānem in mēnsam! | Marcus, put the bread on the table! | |
| Eāmus! | Let’s go! | This is a teaser for the present subjunctive, used in a hortatory sense that can carry the weight of a command. It comes from the irregular verb eō, and you will note that there is an unexpected vowel used to connect the stem with the ending; this will be characteristic of the subjunctive, when get there. |
Practice
[edit | edit source]| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
We hope you continue to enjoy these lessons. Next we to begin introducing the imperfect tense of verbs. Valēte!