Prescribed Text: Translation and Comprehension
Reading the set text for meaning
Translation marks in the HSC Latin Continuers paper are earned by showing that you understand how the Latin sentence is built, not by producing elegant English. Begin every sentence by locating the main verb, then its subject, then the object or complement. Latin word order is a guide, not a rule: the verb often sits last, adjectives may be separated from their nouns, and prepositional phrases can interrupt the main clause. Work in units - clause by clause - rather than word by word, so that a subordinate clause is translated as a whole before you move on.
Concepts you must control
You need confident handling of case functions (nominative subject and complement, accusative object and extent, genitive possession and partitive, dative indirect object and agent with passive verbs, ablative of means, manner, time and comparison), of tense and mood in context, and of the ways Latin signals subordination: cum clauses, indirect statement with accusative and infinitive, purpose and result clauses, and indirect questions. Recognise particles and connectives (autem, enim, tamen, igitur, nam) because they carry the argument forward even though they have no direct English equivalent.
Common traps
Typical question traps include: a verb whose subject must be inferred from the ending; a passive form that looks active; an ablative absolute mistaken for a main clause; a genitive that depends on a noun far from it; and pronouns, especially is, ille, hic and se/suus, which must be tied to the right referent. In comprehension questions, candidates lose marks by quoting Latin without translating it, or by giving a paraphrase that misses the specific detail the question asks for.
Rule of thumb
Before writing a translation, mark every finite verb and bracket each subordinate clause. If a sentence resists you, find the verb first; everything else hangs from it. In comprehension answers, cite the Latin phrase and render it, then state the point it proves.
Worked example
Cum hostes appropinquavissent, dux milites hortatus est ut fortiter pugnarent. Identify the cum clause as causal or temporal (here temporal, 'when the enemy had approached'), the main verb hortatus est (deponent, 'urged'), the indirect command ut... pugnarent ('to fight bravely'). Translation: 'When the enemy had approached, the commander urged the soldiers to fight bravely.'