Prepositions and Expressions of Space and Time
Table of contents
Prepositional Phrases
In Latin, prepositions (like the English words “in”, “into”, “with”, or “to”) are indeclinable words followed by a noun in the ablative or accusative (called the object of the preposition or prepositional object). This unit consisting of preposition and the object of the preposition is called a prepositional phrase.
The preposition (from Latin prae, “before”, and -position coming from the verb ponere, “to place” or “to put”; thus, a preposition is a word that is placed before a noun) serves as a bridge word that connects the prepositional object to another entity in the sentence to give more context to it. It can, for example, explain which noun is being talked about or how the action of the verb occurs. Here are some English examples, with the prepositional phrase in bold:
- The book on the table is heavy.
- The prepositional phrase “on the table” explains which book is being talked about – the book on the table, as opposed to the book on the shelf or under the folder.
- The book was placed on the table.
- The same prepositional phrase “on the table” is now being used to give more context to the action of the verb: where was the book placed? On the table.
Put differently, prepositional phrases add more information about the main action of the sentence or substantive elements of the sentence by answering questions like where, why, which one, and how:
- nauta puellam in urbe vīdit. (“The sailor saw the girl in the city.”)
- Where did the sailor see the girl? In the city. or Which girl did he see? The girl who was in the city.
- ob īgnem fūgit. (“He fled because of the fire.”)
- Why did he flee? Because of the fire.
- Hercules monstra sub ponte interfēcit. (“Hercules killed the monsters under the bridge.)
- Which monsters did Hercules kill? The ones under the bridge. OR Where did Hercules kill the monsters? Under the bridge.
Each preposition is tied to a specific case that can be used as its prepositional object. For example, ob (“because of”) can take only substantives in the accusative case as its object. In order to tell which case a preposition can take as its object, you must memorize its dictionary entry, which will include a marker like “(+ abl.)” for ablative prepositions or “(+ acc.)” for accusative prepositions. Note the following examples:
- ob - (+ acc.) because of
- sub - (+ abl.) under
One notable exception is the preposition in, which can take either the ablative or the accusative as an object and which means something different depending on the case that follows it:
- in - (+ abl.) in, on; (+ acc.) into
Thus:
- puella in templō dormīvit. “The girl slept in the temple.”
BUT:
- puella in templum cucurrit. “The girl ran into the temple.”
One mnemonic device that can help you remember which prepositions take the ablative case is the phrase: SID P. SPACE TAKES THE ABLATIVE CASE:
S - sub - under
I - in - in, on
D - dē - about, down from
P - prō - in front of, on behalf of, in place of
S - sine - without
P - prae - before
A - ab/ā - (away) from [ab before a word that begins with a vowel; ā otherwise]
C - cum - with
E - ex/ē - out of [ex before a word that begins with a vowel; ē otherwise]
Expressions of Place
Latin uses the accusative and ablative case frequently with prepositions to express ideas related to physical space and place, particularly in terms of spaces into which, where, and out of which verbal actions occur.
Below are the different expressions of place used in Latin, expressed as new uses of the accusative or ablative casees. The names of the uses are hopefully self-explanatory, since you can picture the direction of the action occurring based on the name:
Accusative of Place to Which or Accusative of Motion Toward
The accusative of place to which or accusative of motion toward is an accusative substantive used with an accusative preposition like ad, trāns, or in to express that a verbal action is occurring towards or into a certain direction. For example:
- fīlia ad pātrem cucurrit. (“The daughter ran towards her father.”)
- nautae in urbem vēnērunt. (“The sailors came into the city.”)
The accusative of place to which / motion toward is almost always used with a verb that indicates physical motion; for example, venīre, “to come”, or currere, “to run.”
Ablative of Place in Which or Ablative of Place Where
The ablative of place in which or ablative of place where is an ablative substantive used with an ablative preposition like in (“in, on”), prō (“in front of”), or sub (“under”) to express that a verbal action is occurring in or within a certain space. For example:
- puella in mensā librum posuit. (“The girl placed the book on the table.”)
- puer sub arbōribus sēdit. (“The boy sat under the trees.”)
- vir mala prō templō fēcit. (“The man did bad things in front of the temple.”)
Ablative of Place from Which or Ablative of Motion Away From
The ablative of place from which or ablative of motion away from is an ablative substantive used with an ablative preposition like ab/ā (“away from”) or ex/ē (“out of”) to express that a verbal action is occurring away from a certain space. For example:
- virī ab urbe fūgērunt. (“The men fled away from the city.”)
- equī ex agrīs cucurrērunt. (“The horses ran out of the fields.”)
The ablative of place from which / motion away from is almost always used with a verb that indicates physical motion, like fugere, “to flee”, or currere, “to run.”
Expressions of Time
The accusative and ablative cases (without prepositions) can also be used to express ideas related to time. You can often spot these uses if the accusative or ablative in question is a word that relates to time: for example,
- annus, -ī, m., “year”
- lux, lucis, f., “light” (as in “daylight” for a time of day)
- mensis, -is, m., “month”
- nox, noctis, f., “night”
- hora, -ae, f., “hour”
In each of the time expressions below, note that in translation, we have to insert prepositions into our translation to make the translation make sense. They are not explicitly in the Latin as they were in expressions of place, so we have to identify the specific time expression to translate it correctly.
Below are the ways that Latin expresses ideas of time:
Accusative of Extent/Length/Duration of Time
The accusative of extent/length/duration of time indicates how long a verbal action takes place for. The translation will often supply the preposition “for”:
- mater ūnam noctem dormīvit. (“The mother slept for one night.” [i.e., for the duration of one night]).
- rex populō dōna ūnum annum dedit. (“The king gave gifts to the people for one year.”).
Note that although this use of the accusative does not have a Latin preposition in front of it and thus might be confused with an accusative direct object, the presence of a time word (like noctem or annum) or a more plausible object for the verb (like dōna, “gifts”, as the things being given in the second sentence) can help you differentiate between the uses.
Ablative of Time When
The ablative of time when indicates at what specific point in time a verbal action takes place. The translation will often supply prepositions like “on”, “in”, or “at”:
- illā nocte equus ab agrīs cucurrit. (“On that night, the horse ran away from the fields.”)
- pater primā luce surrexit. (“The father woke up at first light.”)
Ablative of Time Within Which
The ablative of time within which indicates within what range of time a verbal action takes place. As opposed to the ablative of time when, the ablative of time within which emphasizes a range of time within which an action occurred, rather than indicating a specific point in time. As a result, the translation will often supply prepositions like “within” or “in”, and you’ll need to use context to determine whether you’re looking at an ablative of time when versus an ablative of time within which.
- primō annō rex oppidum vīcit. (“In the first year, the king conquered the town.”) [i.e., the action of conquering happened some time within the 365 days of the first year]
- prīmō mense agricolae ad urbem vēnērunt. (“Within the first month, the farmers came into the city.”)
The ablative of time within which species a range of time within which something happened, while the ablative of time when pinpoints an exact time at which the verb happened. There can be some slippage between the two depending on how you interpret the time expression. For example, in the sentence:
- illā nocte equus ab agrīs cucurrit.
used above as an example of an ablative of time when (“The horse ran away from the fields on that night”), we might also interpret illā nocte as an ablative of time within which, yielding the translation “The horse ran away from the fields within that night.” Only the context of sentences around the sentence in question can help you figure out which use is more appropriate.