Year 4C · Grade 8: Comparison and Reflexives
Compare with quam or the ablative, and keep se and suus pointed at the subject.
What to notice
- quam with a comparative
- ablative of comparison
- se and suus
Explanation
A comparative such as altior, taller, can be finished in two ways. Quam repeats the case of the first person: Marcus est altior quam Quintus, and Quintus stays nominative because Marcus is nominative. Or the second person goes into the ablative with no quam: Marcus est altior Quinto.
Se and suus point back to the subject. Puella se laudat means the girl praises herself. Puella suum librum legit means she reads her own book. If the owner is someone else, Latin uses eius: Puella eius librum legit means she reads that other person's book.
Examples
- Marcus est altior Quinto. — Marcus is taller than Quintus. Quinto is ablative of comparison.
- Marcus est altior quam Quintus. — Marcus is taller than Quintus. Quam keeps Quintus in the same case as Marcus.
- Puella se laudat. — The girl praises herself. Se is the reflexive object.
- Puella suum librum legit. — The girl reads her own book. Suum refers to the subject.
- Puella eius librum legit. — The girl reads someone else's book. Eius does not point back to the subject.
Latin in this lesson
- Marcus est altior Quinto. — ablative of comparison
- altior quam Quintus — Quintus stays nominative
- Puella se laudat. — The girl praises herself.
- suum librum — her own book
- eius librum — someone other than the girl
- Milites se defenderunt. — The soldiers defended themselves.