Translation from Latin into English
What the translation domain tests
You must turn continuous Latin into clear English. Marks go for accuracy of construction, correct tense and voice, and natural English order - not for word-for-word glossing.
A reliable method
- Find the main verb: the finite verb not inside a subordinate clause.
- Find its subject; Latin often omits pronouns, so supply 'he, she, it, they'.
- Bracket subordinate clauses introduced by quod, ut, ne, cum, si, postquam, dum.
- Identify constructions: accusative + infinitive (indirect statement), ablative absolute, participles, gerundive of obligation.
- Translate clause by clause, then reorder into idiomatic English.
Constructions to recognize
- Ablative absolute: noun + participle in the ablative, grammatically detached: his rebus cognitis - 'when these things had been learned'.
- Indirect statement: accusative subject + infinitive after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing: dicit Caesarem venisse - 'he says that Caesar came'.
- Purpose: ut/ne + subjunctive; result: ut + subjunctive after tam, ita, tantus.
- Gerundive: delenda est Carthago - 'Carthage must be destroyed'.
Worked example
His rebus cognitis, Caesar, ne frumentum deesset, legatos ad finitimos misit. Main verb misit, subject Caesar. His rebus cognitis is ablative absolute: 'when these things had been learned'. Ne frumentum deesset is a negative purpose clause: 'so that grain would not be lacking'. Ad finitimos is accusative of motion toward: 'to the neighboring peoples'. Result: 'When these things had been learned, Caesar sent envoys to the neighboring peoples so that grain would not be lacking.'
Traps
- Ne means 'lest' or 'so that not', not 'no'.
- -ne attached to a verb signals a question, not negation.
- Cum + subjunctive is often 'since' or 'although', not 'with'.
- Do not leave Latin words untranslated; each one earns or loses credit.