Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages

Lesson 31: Something has to be done

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Text
(The Greek had been trying to conquer Troy for 10 years 
already when Odysseus had an idea:)
"Exstruite mecum magnum equum ligneum! Quem cum 
aedificaverimus impleverimusque armis eisque viris, quorum
audacia summa est, ante muros Troiae statuemus; ipsi autem
nos in patriam redire simulabimus.
Troiani cum putaverint copias nostras abisse neque se diutius
vexari, ex oppido laeti exibunt, equum videbunt eumque sine
dubio simulacrum putabunt. Quod ipsum unus e nobis eis
persuadebit. Qui si existimaverint eum vera dicere, equum
certe summo (cum) studio in oppidum trahent.
Eo cum equus transportatus erit, victoria nostra erit: 
Exspectabimus, donec Troiani vino et somno superati erunt. 
Tum ex equo exibimus et viros vini plenos prosternemus, 
Troiam, oppidum tam diu oppugnatum, delebimus. Quis tum
vivus evadet?"
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Reading vocabulary you needn't learn:
ligneus, -a, -um: wooden


Vocabulary
existimare to estimate, judge, mean
oppugnare to storm, war with
L3: pugnare
simulare to pretend, sham
simulate
persuadêre to persuade, convince
persuade
exstruere to pile up, create
L29: struere
prosternere (prostravi, prostratum) to knock down, cast down, destroy, ruin
L27: sternere
statuere
to cause to stand, place, set up; decide, give a ruling
statue
audacia, -ae courage, temerity
audacious; L15: audêre
equus, -i horse
murus, -i wall
somnus, -i

sleep

studium, -i eagerness, zeal; (scientific) pass-time
L9: studêre
plenus, -a, -um full
L16: implêre
vivus, -a, -um living, during one's lifetime
L24: vivere
diutius  longer, too long, quite long
L5: diu
eo to that place
L19: quo?
donec as long as, until, while, up to the time when
Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.	

Grammar
This lesson introduces the future II (future perfect). That is a rather unusual tense, 
which should be used when something is going to be done in the future. For 
example, take the sentence "By the time you will have prepared the food, we will 
all be there.". The form "will have prepared" is future II (future perfect) and it indicates 
that the preparing of the food will occur before we arrive. 
Now, the same sentence in Latin: "Cum cenam paraveris, cuncti aderimus.". The new
form is "paraveris" (2nd person singular future II active of parare). In order to form the 
future II, take the perfect stem of a verb (in this case "parav-") and add a form of 
esse in the future I tense (ero, eris, erit,...) according to the personal ending you'd like.
Examples: fuero (I will have been), laudaveris (you will have praised), paraverit 
                (he will have prepared).
There is only one exception to this: the third person plural does not end in -erunt but
-erint.
These forms were all active. The passive isn't difficult to form either: Take the passive
perfect form of a verb (e. g. "paratus est") and replace the present form of esse (in this
case the "est") with the corresponding future form of esse (in this case "erit"). The result:
"paratus erit", "it will be prepared".
Some more examples: laudatus eris (you will have been praised), oppugnatus erit (it 
will have been stormed).

One addition to the use of qui, quae, quod now: it can also be used as "relative 
connection". That is, the form of qui, quae, quod stands at the beginning of a sentence
and refers to somebody or something mentioned in the last sentence. For example:
"Ulixes vir callidus erat. Qui, postquam Troia expugnata est, diu per undas erravit."
In this case, the qui refers to Ulixes (the subject of the last sentence), without the added
complexity of a relative clause.


Exercise
Find all forms of Future II in this lesson's text! Be sure not to confuse them with simple
future forms.
	

Information on Troy
Information on Odysseus
Information on the Trojan War





Exercise answers:
aedificaverimus, impleverimus, putaverint, existimaverint, transportatus erit, superati erunt.