Latin III/Ablative Absolute
Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. This lesson will introduce the ablative absolute construction, which makes extensive use of the participles we've learned in previous lessons. The ablative absolute is one of Latin's most distinctive and useful constructions, allowing writers to pack additional meaning into their sentences efficiently.
The Ablative Absolute
editThe ablative absolute is a grammatical construction consisting of a noun (or pronoun) and a participle, both in the ablative case, that functions as an adverbial phrase modifying the main clause of the sentence. Think of it as a "detached" phrase that provides additional context - circumstances, time, cause, or condition - for the main action. The most common format is:
Noun/pronoun in ablative + participle in ablative
For example:
- hostibus victīs = with the enemy having been conquered/once the enemy had been conquered
- sole oriente = with the sun rising/at sunrise
- rēge regnante = with the king reigning/while the king reigns/during the king's reign
The ablative absolute can use any of the participles we've learned:
Perfect passive participle (most common): hostibus victīs = the enemy having been defeated Present active participle: sole oriente = the sun rising Future active participle (rare): hoste ventūrō = the enemy being about to come
Sometimes the participle can even be omitted, especially forms of the verb "to be":
- Cicerōne consule = when Cicero was consul
- diīs volentibus = the gods willing
New Vocabulary
edit| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| colligō, colligere, collēgī, collectus, 3 | gather, collect | |
| dēfendō, dēfendere, dēfendī, dēfēnsus, 3 | defend, protect | |
| impetrō, impetrāre, impetrāvī, impetrātus, 1 | obtain, accomplish | |
| permittō, permittere, permīsī, permissus, 3 | permit, allow |
New Sentences
edit| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Urbe captā, hostēs thēsaurōs quaesīvērunt. | With the city having been captured (After the city was captured), the enemy searched for treasures. | Perfect passive participle in ablative absolute |
| Sōle oriente, gallī cantant. | When the sun rises (At sunrise), the roosters crow. | Present active participle in ablative absolute |
| Opere perfectō, servī domum redīvērunt. | With the work having been completed, the slaves returned home. | |
| Rēge occīsō, cīvēs novum ducem creāvērunt. | When the king had been killed, the citizens chose a new leader. | |
| Diīs faventibus, iter prosperity erit. | With the gods being favorable, the journey will be prosperous. | Present active participle from deponent verb |
| Hostibus appropinquantibus, mīlitēs sē parāvērunt. | As the enemy was approaching, the soldiers prepared themselves. | |
| Hīs rēbus cognitīs, Caesar in Italiam contendit. | These things having been learned, Caesar hurried to Italy. | From Julius Caesar's writings |
| Pace factā, templum clausum est. | Peace having been made, the temple was closed. | |
| Litterīs lectīs, Mārcus lacrīmāre coepit. | After the letter had been read, Marcus began to cry. | |
| Signō datō, exercitus prōgressus est. | When the signal was given, the army advanced. | Common military phrase |
| Omnibus dormientibus, fūr in vīllam intrāvit. | While everyone was sleeping, a thief entered the villa. | |
| Licentiā permissā, discipulī domum ierunt. | Permission having been granted, the students went home. | |
| Frūmentō collectō, agricolae festa celebrābant. | After the grain had been gathered, the farmers celebrated festivals. | |
| Nūllō resistente, hostēs urbem cēpērunt. | With no one resisting, the enemy took the city. | Example with pronoun instead of noun |
Practice
edit| 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) | |
In our next lesson, we will explore more complex uses of the ablative absolute and how it can be combined with other constructions to create sophisticated Latin prose. Valēte omnēs!