MATSEC AM Latin cheat sheet

Case functions to test first when a noun is ambiguous: nominative = subject or complement; accusative = direct object, motion towards, or object of most prepositions; genitive = possession, partitive, objective/subjective with verbal nouns; dative = indirect object, advantage, agent with gerundive; ablative = separation, instrument, manner, absolute; vocative = address.

Ablative absolute recognition rule: a noun/pronoun plus a participle (or adjective/noun pair) both in the ablative and syntactically detached from the main clause; translate with 'with/after/when/since/because' plus a finite verb, not as a prepositional phrase.

Purpose clauses: ut/ne + present subjunctive after primary sequence, imperfect subjunctive after historic sequence; quo introduces purpose when a comparative is present; relative pronoun + subjunctive can also express purpose.

Result clauses are signalled by tam, tantus, ita, adeo, sic, tot in the main clause, then ut/ut non + subjunctive; distinguish from purpose by the correlative and by the absence of a negative ne.

Indirect statement (oratio obliqua): accusative + infinitive after verbs of saying, thinking, perceiving; tense of the infinitive is relative to the main verb (present = same time, perfect = earlier, future = later).

Fear clauses: timeo/vereor/metuo + ne = 'that' (feared outcome happens); + ne non or ut = 'that ... not'. Verbs of preventing (impedio, prohibeo) take ne or quominus + subjunctive.

Cum-clauses: cum + indicative = 'when' (temporal); cum + subjunctive = 'since/although/when' - decide by context: concessive if tamen follows or the clause contrasts, causal if reason is given, circumstantial otherwise.

Conditionals: si + present indicative = open/real; si + imperfect subjunctive = present contrary-to-fact; si + pluperfect subjunctive = past contrary-to-fact. Nisi = 'unless'; si non = 'if not' (whole clause negated).

Gerundive vs gerund: gerundive (future passive participle) agrees with its noun and expresses obligation (passive periphrastic with esse) or purpose with ad/causa; gerund is a verbal noun in the neuter singular oblique cases. Supine: -um after verbs of motion (purpose), -u after adjectives (respect).

Identify the metre before translating verse: dactylic hexameter = six feet of dactyls/spondees, fifth foot almost always dactylic, sixth a spondee or trochee; elegiac couplet = hexameter plus pentameter (two half-lines, each ending in syllable–syllable–stress pattern of two dactyls then a long syllable).

Scanning decision rules: final -a/-o/-um is normally short but lengthened before a following consonant cluster (muta cum liquida exceptions); a vowel before another vowel or h is short; final -m is elided before a vowel or h (synizesis and hiatus are stylistic markers to note, not errors).

Epic conventions (Vergil, Aeneid): arma virumque opening signals theme; in medias res structure; epic similes drawn from nature, agriculture, or war; divine machinery; epithets and patronymics; prophecy and ekphrasis as structural markers.

Rhetorical figures to name in commentary: anaphora, chiasmus, tricolon crescens, asyndeton, polysyndeton, hyperbaton (especially in verse word order), hendiadys, litotes, apostrophe, praeteritio, sarcasm/irony in Cicero's invective.

Ciceronian periodic style: long complex sentences built around a main verb held to the end; identify the main clause first, then subordinate ut/cum/quod/si clauses; note the clausula (rhythmic ending) at sentence end.

Historical prose (Livy, Sallust, Tacitus): note the author's moralising purpose, use of speeches (often invented) to characterise, archaisms (Sallust: antea, fuere), brevitas and inconcinnitas (Tacitus), and the annalistic structure.

Commentary answer structure: (1) identify figure/feature, (2) quote the Latin, (3) explain its effect on meaning, characterisation, or theme, (4) link to the passage's wider context in the prescribed book.

Prescribed-text translation marking: examiners reward accurate rendering of tenses (historic present, imperfect as background), participles (as clauses), and subjunctives (as purpose/result/cum clauses) - a literal but grammatical version beats a loose paraphrase.

Verse context questions: know speaker, addressee, book and episode, and position in the narrative; a passage's significance often lies in foreshadowing, character contrast, or thematic echo of earlier books.