Lucy the Valiant Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I'm learning Latin *with* my children, and I don't know anyone IRL to ask for grammar help. In the sentence Magistri discipuli erant, could it be translated both "the teachers were students" AND "the students were teachers"? That doesn't seem right, but aren't both of the nouns in the nominative case? Does it matter which one is the subject and which is the predicate nominative? THANK YOU if you can help! (Kid doesn't care, but I am curious.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I would go with "teachers" as subject here using word order as my clue, since it's first. How did your book translate it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 The book says "teachers are students," but I just heard a lecture about how word order doesn't matter as much in Latin as it does in English, so that made me curious. Thank you! (I guess in English it's totally word order that differentiates between subjects and predicate nominatives, huh?) I love homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Right, it's the endings that give you the subject of a sentence vs. word order, but in this case of two nominatives, one after a linking verb, word order would be your only clue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprilleigh Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Both are technically correct because "erant" is a linking verb (just like it is in English). Both linked nouns have the same endings (same "part of speech" if you prefer) because they are treated equally by the verb. However, in the absence of other indicators to the contrary, it is safe to assume an SOV word order for Latin, so if you have to pick just one, I'd go with "Teachers are students." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 Thank you so much! Enjoying this adventure with my kiddos. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 The book says "teachers are students," but I just heard a lecture about how word order doesn't matter as much in Latin as it does in English, so that made me curious. Thank you! (I guess in English it's totally word order that differentiates between subjects and predicate nominatives, huh?) I love homeschooling. It doesn't matter as much, but it does matter at times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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