WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
WHAT IT'S USED FOR
Prepositions
The ablative case is most often used when the noun is the object of certain prepositions. Sometimes, the preposition itself is omitted to lower the number of syllables in a line of poetry, or to make the phrase easier and shorter to say or write, but the nouns involved will still be in the ablative case.
Examples:
He ran out of the shop. The slave-girl was walking with the friends. The Nymphs howled from the highest peak.
e taberna cucurrit. ancilla cum amicis ambulabat. summō ulularunt vertice Nymphae.
The ablative case is most often used when the noun is the object of certain prepositions. Sometimes, the preposition itself is omitted to lower the number of syllables in a line of poetry, or to make the phrase easier and shorter to say or write, but the nouns involved will still be in the ablative case.
Examples:
He ran out of the shop. The slave-girl was walking with the friends. The Nymphs howled from the highest peak.
e taberna cucurrit. ancilla cum amicis ambulabat. summō ulularunt vertice Nymphae.
SID SPACE, the Ablative Astronaut
Only certain prepositions make their nouns take the ablative case. How do we know which ones? You just gotta memorize the list. Thankfully, our good friend SID SPACE, the Ablative Astronaut, can help us remember them. His name is an acronym that stands for: Sine, In, De, Sub, Prope, A (or ab), Cum, E (or ex). The other prepositions typically have their nouns take the accusative case; you can learn more about prepositions here. |
OTHER USES OF THE ABLATIVE CASE
Ablative Absolutes
This is a situation where you find an ablative noun plus a participle that act kind of like a prepositional phrase, usually describing some kind of action that happened in the past, before the main action of the sentence. They can be translated a few different ways. The most literal way would be to say "with X having been done," but we don't normally speak like that in fluid English, so we can translate it other, less literal ways too: "after X was done" or "when X had happened" are usually acceptable.
Examples:
Euphrosynē nōmine auditō cōnstitit.
Literally: With her name having been heard, Euphrosyne stopped.
Smooth English: Euphrosyne stopped after hearing her name.
urbe captā, milites discesserunt.
Literally: With the city having been captured, the soldiers departed.
Smooth English: When the city was captured, the soldiers departed.
Other Ablative Case Uses
There are also some other specific uses for the ablative case that need mentioning. All of these are connected to each other, because they all answer certain questions about the action in the sentence - things like "who did it?" or "what did they use to do it?" or "when did it happen?".
Ablative of Agent - "who did it?"
Normally, the subject of a sentence is the one who does the action. But if you have a passive verb in the sentence, that means the action is being done TO the subject, not BY him. So we use a or ab with a person in the ablative case to show who did the action in a passive sentence. We call this the ablative of agent because we are using it to describe the agent, the person who accomplished the action. The ablative of agent has to be a person. If it's not a person, it's not an agent.
hoc factum est ā Caesare. This was done by Caesar.
Ablative of Means - "what did they do it with?"
Sometimes, a sentence will say that the main action was done using a particular object, as in the examples below. If the sentence tells you what object the action was accomplished with, that object will be in the ablative case. Also, it does not use a preposition; if you say that someone was hit by a wagon, it won't be "ā plaustro," it'll just be "plaustro," and if you say that someone beat you with a wet noodle, it won't be "cum collyrā madidā," it'll just be "collyrā madidā." No prepositions in either situation. We call this the ablative of means because we use it to describe by what means the action was accomplished. The ablative of means cannot be a person. If it's a person, it's not an ablative of means.
Salvius pugione vulneratus est. Salvius was wounded by a dagger.
Ablative of Manner - "how was it done? how did they act?"
Every once in a while, you come across a sentence that basically uses a noun where an adverb should go. Instead of saying "quickly," it might say "with great speed," or instead of saying "skeptically," it might read "with a bit of skepticism." In Latin, you communicate this with an ablative noun. Sometimes it will have a preposition like "cum," but sometimes it won't. Either way, we call it the ablative of manner because it tells us in what manner the action was done. The ablative of manner is almost always a broad concept, idea, or feeling, like love, anger, joy, honor, strength, anxiety, etc.
dōnum magnō gaudiō accēpit. He received the gift with great joy.
Ablative of Time When - "when was it done?"
Want to say when something happened? Use the ablative case for the time that it happened. We call this the ablative of time when - hopefully, the reason for that name is obvious. Also: don't use a preposition here.
quārtō diē revenit. He came back on the fourth day.
Note: This is what you use when you're talking about when something happened. If you want to say how long something went on for (as in "he was gone for four days"), use the accusative case, not the ablative.
Ablative of Place From Which - "where did they come from?"
Lastly, if you're looking to tell someone you went somewhere, you might have a sentence that tells them where you started from. If you say you left your friend's house to go to the movies, or you came down to visit from Canada, whatever place you came from will be in the ablative case in Latin. We call this (rather uncreatively) the ablative of place from which. This kind of ablative doesn't typically use prepositions either.
Terrā Sub Terris venio. I come from the Land Down Under. (Literally: "the Land Below the [Other] Lands.")
num tu Romā adhuc ambulavisti? Surely you didn't walk here from Rome?
domō abiit. He went away from home.
This is a situation where you find an ablative noun plus a participle that act kind of like a prepositional phrase, usually describing some kind of action that happened in the past, before the main action of the sentence. They can be translated a few different ways. The most literal way would be to say "with X having been done," but we don't normally speak like that in fluid English, so we can translate it other, less literal ways too: "after X was done" or "when X had happened" are usually acceptable.
Examples:
Euphrosynē nōmine auditō cōnstitit.
Literally: With her name having been heard, Euphrosyne stopped.
Smooth English: Euphrosyne stopped after hearing her name.
urbe captā, milites discesserunt.
Literally: With the city having been captured, the soldiers departed.
Smooth English: When the city was captured, the soldiers departed.
Other Ablative Case Uses
There are also some other specific uses for the ablative case that need mentioning. All of these are connected to each other, because they all answer certain questions about the action in the sentence - things like "who did it?" or "what did they use to do it?" or "when did it happen?".
Ablative of Agent - "who did it?"
Normally, the subject of a sentence is the one who does the action. But if you have a passive verb in the sentence, that means the action is being done TO the subject, not BY him. So we use a or ab with a person in the ablative case to show who did the action in a passive sentence. We call this the ablative of agent because we are using it to describe the agent, the person who accomplished the action. The ablative of agent has to be a person. If it's not a person, it's not an agent.
hoc factum est ā Caesare. This was done by Caesar.
Ablative of Means - "what did they do it with?"
Sometimes, a sentence will say that the main action was done using a particular object, as in the examples below. If the sentence tells you what object the action was accomplished with, that object will be in the ablative case. Also, it does not use a preposition; if you say that someone was hit by a wagon, it won't be "ā plaustro," it'll just be "plaustro," and if you say that someone beat you with a wet noodle, it won't be "cum collyrā madidā," it'll just be "collyrā madidā." No prepositions in either situation. We call this the ablative of means because we use it to describe by what means the action was accomplished. The ablative of means cannot be a person. If it's a person, it's not an ablative of means.
Salvius pugione vulneratus est. Salvius was wounded by a dagger.
Ablative of Manner - "how was it done? how did they act?"
Every once in a while, you come across a sentence that basically uses a noun where an adverb should go. Instead of saying "quickly," it might say "with great speed," or instead of saying "skeptically," it might read "with a bit of skepticism." In Latin, you communicate this with an ablative noun. Sometimes it will have a preposition like "cum," but sometimes it won't. Either way, we call it the ablative of manner because it tells us in what manner the action was done. The ablative of manner is almost always a broad concept, idea, or feeling, like love, anger, joy, honor, strength, anxiety, etc.
dōnum magnō gaudiō accēpit. He received the gift with great joy.
Ablative of Time When - "when was it done?"
Want to say when something happened? Use the ablative case for the time that it happened. We call this the ablative of time when - hopefully, the reason for that name is obvious. Also: don't use a preposition here.
quārtō diē revenit. He came back on the fourth day.
Note: This is what you use when you're talking about when something happened. If you want to say how long something went on for (as in "he was gone for four days"), use the accusative case, not the ablative.
Ablative of Place From Which - "where did they come from?"
Lastly, if you're looking to tell someone you went somewhere, you might have a sentence that tells them where you started from. If you say you left your friend's house to go to the movies, or you came down to visit from Canada, whatever place you came from will be in the ablative case in Latin. We call this (rather uncreatively) the ablative of place from which. This kind of ablative doesn't typically use prepositions either.
Terrā Sub Terris venio. I come from the Land Down Under. (Literally: "the Land Below the [Other] Lands.")
num tu Romā adhuc ambulavisti? Surely you didn't walk here from Rome?
domō abiit. He went away from home.