Year 4C · Grade 8: Numbers and Idioms
Count with cardinals and ordinals, and learn three phrases that do not translate word by word.
What to notice
- cardinal numbers
- ordinal numbers
- iter facere, in animo habere, memoria tenere
Explanation
Cardinals count how many. Learn unus, duo, tres, quattuor, quinque, sex, septem, octo, novem, decem, then viginti (20), centum (100), and mille (1000). Ordinals put things in order: primus, secundus, tertius, quartus, quintus, sextus, septimus, octavus, nonus, decimus. An ordinal behaves like an adjective, so it matches its noun.
Three everyday phrases are worth memorizing as wholes. Iter facere means to travel, literally to make a journey. In animo habere means to intend, literally to have in mind. Memoria tenere means to remember, literally to hold by memory, and the thing remembered is accusative.
Examples
- unus, duo, tres, decem — one, two, three, ten These are cardinals.
- viginti, centum, mille — 20, 100, 1000 Mille is the cardinal for one thousand.
- primus, secundus, tertius — first, second, third These are ordinals.
- Iter facimus. — We travel. Iter facere is an idiom.
- In animo habeo legere. — I intend to read. In animo habere means to intend.
- Viam memoria teneo. — I remember the road. The thing remembered is accusative.
Latin in this lesson
- viginti — twenty
- mille — a thousand
- tertius — third
- Iter faciunt. — They travel.
- In animo habet manere. — He intends to stay.
- Carmen memoria tenet. — She remembers the song.