Text
(While Marcus talks with his friends, he sees Davus, the slave of one of
his friends, passing by the inn. Since that one likes to roam in the city,
Marcus calls him:)
M: Heus tu, quo is?
D: Eo, ehem, immo vero ibam, nam nunc tu me tenes et rogas...
M: Quo ibas, furcifer?
D: Ibamus, Marce, nam Gallus mecum it...
M: Si Gallus tecum ibit, tutus ibis. Constat enim cunctos Gallos viros
firmos esse.
D: Sed meus Gallus vir firmus non est. Ecce, ante templum stat neque
in templum ire audet propter te; timidus enim est.
M: Apparet nonnullos Gallos timidos esse. Sed satis de Gallis!
Quo nunc ibitis?
D: (tacet)
M: Respondebo pro te: "Per cunctas vias ibimus, cuncta templa
preateribimus, postremo ad circum adibimus, quo cuncti otiosi eunt."
D: (ridet)
M: Quid rides? Vos non in circum ibitis, sed statim ad dominos vestros
redibitis neque per cunctas vias errabitis.
Quid exspectatis? I, Dave! Abi, Galle! Properate! Abite!
---------------------------
Reading vocabulary you needn't learn:
heus: hey, hallo!
ehem: hmm, ahem...
furcifer: rascal
otiosus: do-nothing, idler
Vocabulary
| ire | to go | EO: iri |
| abire | to go away | D: Abitur |
| adire | to approach; attack | |
| praeterire | to pass (by), omit | |
| redire | to go back, return | |
| circus, -i | circus, circle | circus |
firmus, -a, -um |
strong, firm, solid |
firm |
| timidus, -a, -um | fearful, timid | timid |
| tutus, -a, -um | safe | tutor |
| postremo | finally | |
| quo? | where? Whither? To which place? | quo vadis |
| satis | enough | satisfaction |
| statim | immediately | |
| ad (+ Acc.) | to | |
| ante (+ Acc.) | in front of | |
| in | into, toward; against | |
| per | through; throughout; because of | |
| propter | near, on account of, because of |
Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it. Grammar Do you remember what I said about irregular verbs like esse in lesson 2? There aren't a lot of them and every combination of the verb and a preposition uses the same forms as the verb from which it is derived. That is also the case for "ire" and its varieties "abire", "adire", "praeterire" and "redire". The forms of ire in the present tense are: eo, is, it, imus, itis, eunt. The imperative is i in the singular and ite in the plural. The future and past tenses are formed regularly by adding -ba- or -bi- after the word stem i. Accordingly, the forms of abire in the present tense are: abeo, abis, abit, abimus, abitis, abeunt. The forms of redire in the present tense are: redeo, redis, redit, redimus, reditis, redeunt. I think you now know what the forms of praeterire would be? A peculiarity in Latin is that the direction of a movement is always put into the Accusative case, although it should normally be Ablative. However, this allows the distinction between "in the Colosseum"(within it) -> "in Colosseo" and "into the Colosseum"(moving into it) -> "in Colosseum". It's similar in Esperanto, because although Esperanto doesn't have an Ablative case, the noun showing the direction of a movement adds an -n (the Accusative sign). Exercise Fill in the blanks with fitting forms of ire, adire, abire or redire: 1. Amici e Colosseo ____. 2. Diu per vias Romae ____. 3. Tum ad villam Claudii ____ iuvat. 4. Cras(tomorrow) quoque Colosseum ____. 5. Claudius amicos vocat: "____ mecum, amici!" Information: The shortest letter This is a small anecdote that might help you to memorise the peculiarity of ire: Two Romans were discussing who of them could write the shortest letter and they made it a bet. The first Roman wrote: "Villam eo.". The second Roman replied: "I".
Exercise answers: 1. eunt 2. redeunt 3. ire 4. adibunt 5. ite