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Jessica
August 13, 2009, 11:52 AM
I studied Latin for two years, but I can't hardly remember any declensions or conjugations (or I can only remember some declensions or conjugations)
These are fine points, but your knowledge of English is good--so it's time. Officially there is no double negative in well-spoken English, but take that rule with a grain of salt (which means don't take it too seriously.) Any always goes with the negative. Some always goes with the positive. (can't and any is much like no and ningún)
Other examples: I don't have any money/I have some money.

shouldn't it be ...but I can hardly... ?

and what are declensions? :thinking:

satchrocks
August 13, 2009, 12:26 PM
shouldn't it be ...but I can hardly... ?

and what are declensions? :thinking:

Where Latin gets somewhat tricky is that its nouns undergo a sort of "conjugation" of their own (they're not being conjugated per se, but they change form based on their use within the sentence).

In English:
The rocks fly.
The boy throws the rock.

As you can see, in English (as in Spanish), we only change the form of the nouns to adjust for number (i.e. pluralizing). Thus, in both cases, the noun "rock" looks basically the same. This is also true for Spanish nouns.

On the other hand, in Latin, we learn nouns along with "declension charts" much like one might learn Spanish verbs with conjugation charts. The forms within the chart (called cases) define the use of the word within the sentence.

For example:
"Amicus" is the basic word for friend; it is the nominative form of the noun, meaning that this form is used when the friend is the subject of the sentence.
"Amici" is also the word for friend- it is the accusative form of the noun, meaning that this form is used when the friend is the direct object of the sentence

There are 5 cases along with their plural counterparts within each declension (and there are 5 declensions).

So! After all that rather long-winded post, the point is basically that Latin nouns are declined similarly to how Spanish verbs are conjugated. With Latin, the noun's form defines its use in the sentence.

CrOtALiTo
August 13, 2009, 12:49 PM
Irmamar. The language Latin is harder than the English or Spanish inclusive.

I mean, I want to know if there's the possibility to learn the language and use it in someplace.

I know that it's a language very old, but I find interesting the mix up of the language.

poli
August 13, 2009, 01:08 PM
shouldn't it be ...but I can hardly... ?

and what are declensions? :thinking:
Jessica
In this case it's can't because any always corresponds with the negative and will not allow you to make the sentence positive.
For instance we can say:
I can't see any difference:thumbsup:(you can thow hardly in there as a adverb)
but
I can see any difference:thumbsdown:(it's bad English)
Hardly is a adverb that can be used with both negative and positive sentences --but mostly negative.

Jason.
August 13, 2009, 05:52 PM
lots of languages i would love to learn.
Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, etc.

irmamar
August 14, 2009, 02:05 AM
Poli and jchen, can't I say "I can hardly...?" = Apenas puedo (I meant: I'm able to remember some declensions, but not all of them, so there is the possibility to remember something, not everything) :confused:

Crotalito, Latin is more difficult than English and Spanish, at leas for me, above all because you have to learn those declensions and the sentence structure is quite different to Spanish: for instance, usually the verb is at the end of the sentence, and you have to distinguish correctly the functions of the elements in a sentence. A small example, compared to Spanish:

Errare humanum est (errar es humano)

Verb: at the end of the sentence
humanum: acusativo (I don't know in English), Direct Object

But if you want to study Latin, don't hesitate and do it ;)

poli
August 14, 2009, 06:55 AM
Poli and jchen, can't I say "I can hardly...?" = Apenas puedo (I meant: I'm able to remember some declensions, but not all of them, so there is the possibility to remember something, not everything) :confused:
Technically you can, but habitually in English speech, hardly more often goes with the negative. In place of hardly in a positve sentence you can use barely. If you say hardly in a positive sentence, it may sound a little bit awkward.


examples:
I have barely enough food to survive.
I don't have hardly enough food to survive.

Crotalito, Latin is more difficult than English and Spanish, at leas for me, above all because you have to learn those declensions and the sentence structure is quite different to Spanish: for instance, usually the verb is at the end of the sentence, and you have to distinguish correctly the functions of the elements in a sentence. A small example, compared to Spanish:

Errare humanum est (errar es humano)

Verb: at the end of the sentence
humanum: acusativo (I don't know in English), Direct Object

But if you want to study Latin, don't hesitate and do it ;)
-------------------------------

CrOtALiTo
August 14, 2009, 09:46 AM
Poli and jchen, can't I say "I can hardly...?" = Apenas puedo (I meant: I'm able to remember some declensions, but not all of them, so there is the possibility to remember something, not everything) :confused:

Crotalito, Latin is more difficult than English and Spanish, at leas for me, above all because you have to learn those declensions and the sentence structure is quite different to Spanish: for instance, usually the verb is at the end of the sentence, and you have to distinguish correctly the functions of the elements in a sentence. A small example, compared to Spanish:

Errare humanum est (errar es humano)

Verb: at the end of the sentence
humanum: acusativo (I don't know in English), Direct Object

But if you want to study Latin, don't hesitate and do it ;)


I see, the words are some hard than Spanish.

But well , I don't believe that the Latin help me much in the labor world.

Thank you.

Tomisimo
August 14, 2009, 10:44 AM
I studied Latin for two years, but I can hardly remember some declension and conjugation.
Poli and jchen, can't I say "I can hardly...?" = Apenas puedo (I meant: I'm able to remember some declensions, but not all of them, so there is the possibility to remember something, not everything)

Yes, you can use "I can hardly..." but you must accompany it with "any" and not "some". :)

I can hardly remember any...
I can only remember some...

CrOtALiTo
August 14, 2009, 09:08 PM
The phrase I can hardly means duramente, or Puedo duramente.

Which one?

Tomisimo
August 14, 2009, 09:32 PM
The phrase I can hardly means duramente, or Puedo duramente.

Which one?
"I can hardly..." = "Apenas puedo..."

irmamar
August 15, 2009, 01:16 AM
OK, thanks :)

CrOtALiTo
August 16, 2009, 01:13 PM
"I can hardly..." = "Apenas puedo..."


Thank you for you contribution.:)

poli
August 17, 2009, 07:23 AM
Yes, you can use "I can hardly..." but you must accompany it with "any" and not "some". :)

I can hardly remember any...
I can only remember some...

This is clear and concise explanation of a rule you may not find in grammar books. :thumbsup:

pixel
September 04, 2009, 04:12 PM
Actually trying to learn Spanish on my own, I would love to learn, some day, Italian, Portuguese, German, Romanian and Greek.

pjt33
September 04, 2009, 04:41 PM
For example:
"Amicus" is the basic word for friend; it is the nominative form of the noun, meaning that this form is used when the friend is the subject of the sentence.
"Amici" is also the word for friend- it is the accusative form of the noun, meaning that this form is used when the friend is the direct object of the sentence
:bad:
Case
Nominative
Accusative
Genitive
Dative
AblativeMeaning
Subject
Direct object
Possessive
Indirect object
ComplicatedSingular
amicus
amicum
amici
amico
amicoPlural
amici
amicos
amicorum
amicis
amicis
amici can be singular genitive or plural nominative but never accusative.

I studied French for 5 years and Latin for 4, but I don't remember much because I focussed on keeping up my Spanish. I'm tempted at times to study Catalan, but I don't think my Spanish is really good enough yet to divert attention away from it.

EmpanadaRica
September 05, 2009, 11:38 AM
Danish... :rolleyes:

:D Well maybe you could help me in that case? ;)

I think Danish would make sense as I speak German and it would most likely be closest to German and Dutch, judging from the geographical position, and what I have seen of it sofar (which I confess is quite limited, usually in manuals and such...) :)

laepelba
September 05, 2009, 08:03 PM
I think that learning Spanish will be difficult enough for me ... but in case I am ever ready to add a third language, I think I want to learn Swahili because I have a heart for working with the poor and the displaced people in East Africa.....

AngelicaDeAlquezar
September 05, 2009, 08:55 PM
Just for curiosity, Lou Ann... are there many varieties of Swahili or is it a more or less standard language?

ookami
September 05, 2009, 10:45 PM
In order of priority the languages I would like to learn and that I'm trying to study:
-Spanish?
-English & Japanese (same priority, actually learning and, at least for one more year, the only ones)
-German
-French
-Latin
-Greek
-Chinese
Obviously, I'll try to dominate English, Japanese and Spanish more than nothing, the others... time will say.