Latin grammar
The ablative
cāsus ablātīvus
The ablative does the work of three older cases: it says from where, by what or with what, and where or when. English needs a preposition for it: “by”, “with”, “from”, “in”, “at”.
What it does
- Separation and origin, often with ā, ab, ē, ex or dē: divisit lucem a tenebris, “he divided the light from the darkness”.
- Means and cause, with no preposition: “by” or “with” something.
- Place where, with in, and time when: in sinu matris, “in his mother’s lap”.
- Respect: lingua, institutis, legibus ... differunt, “they differ in language, customs and laws”.
- Company, with cum: cum matre, “with his mother”.
- The ablative absolute: a noun and a participle in the ablative, set apart from the rest of the sentence, giving its time or cause: Condita civitate, “when the city had been founded”.
Endings
| Declension | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | -ā (puellā) | -īs (puellīs) |
| 2nd | -ō (servō) | -īs (servīs) |
| 3rd | -e, -ī (rēge) | -ibus (rēgibus) |
| 4th | -ū (manū) | -ibus (manibus) |
| 5th | -ē (diē) | -ēbus (diēbus) |
The 1st declension ablative -ā has a long a. Texts without macrons print it as -a, like the nominative: the preposition or the sense tells them apart.
In the texts
Real lines from the graded passages, as the reader shows them: the ablative stands out in its colour, and an arc joins the word to what it goes with.
Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt.
All these differ from one another in language, institutions, and laws.
Lingua, institutis and legibus say in what respect the Gauls differ from one another.
Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona: et divisit lucem a tenebris.
And God saw that the light was good: and he divided the light from the darkness.
A tenebris: from the darkness. Separation takes the ablative, often with a or ab.
Condita civitate, quam ex nomine suo Romam vocavit, haec fere egit.
After founding the city, which he called Rome from his own name, he accomplished these things, more or less.
Condita civitate is an ablative absolute: a noun and its participle, standing apart, give the time: when the city had been founded.
Comprehendit igitur Perseum adhuc infantem, et cum matre in arca lignea inclusit.
Therefore, he seized Perseus while still an infant, and shut him up with his mother in a wooden chest.
Cum matre, with his mother; in arca lignea, in a wooden chest. Both are ablative after their prepositions.
Words read in the ablative
Words from the library’s analysed texts, with the forms they took in the ablative.