Subject First:Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb pueri rosas puellis dant Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. pueri rosas dant puellis Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb pueri puellis rosas dant Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. pueri puellis dant rosas Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. pueri dant puellis rosas Subject / Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. pueri dant rosas puellis |
Direct Object First:Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. rosas pueri dant puellis Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb rosas pueri puellis dant Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb rosas puellis pueri dant Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject rosas puellis dant pueri Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. rosas dant pueri puellis Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject rosas dant puellis pueri |
Indirect Object First:Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb / Dir. obj. puellis pueri dant rosas Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb puellis pueri rosas dant Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb puellis rosas pueri dant Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject puellis rosas dant pueri Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject / Dir. obj. puellis dant pueri rosas Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject puellis dant rosas pueri |
Verb First:Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. dant pueri puellis rosas Verb / Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. dant pueri rosas puellis Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj. dant rosas pueri puellis Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject dant rosas puellis pueri Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj. dant puellis pueri rosas Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject dant puellis rosas pueri |
All of the sentences above mean the same thing:
"The boys are giving roses to the girls" / "The boys are giving the girls roses."
But notice how the Latin words can be ordered with far more flexibility than they would be in English, which generally limits itself to just the two common patterns given just above.
Learning to read Latin easily means becoming able to grasp the meanings in such a wide range of possible word order. Extensive practice with the micro-structures will be beneficial.
Constitutive Phrases
Notice that these 24 four-word sentences, break down into just 12 two-word phrases.
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dant puellis / dant pueri / dant rosas puellis dant / puellis pueri / puellis rosas pueri dant / pueri puellis / pueri rosas rosas dant / rosas puellis / rosas pueri |
Learn to perceive immediately the meaning that is carried by each of these shorter phrases.
Latin Teaching Materials at Saint Louis University: © Claude Pavur 1997 - 2009. This material is being made freely available for non-commercial educational use.
