"Marcus is an American young man."
Translation:Marcus est iuvenis Americanus.
7 Comments
783
In English, it is more common to say, "Marcus is a young American man." "Young man" doesn't have to stick together. We often refer to young people as "youth."
- 496
Latin Subject-Complement clauses are nominally SVO, [ like English ].
Latin authors use Verb-Final in Subject-Complement clauses in 10% of instances.
Engish Adjective word order sequencing
GSSSACNM
G • General Opinion
S • Specific Opinion
S • Size
S • Shape
A • Age
C • Colour
N • Nationality
M • Material
Latin Word Order A • Latin Word Order B • Demonstratives and Adjectives indicating Quantity and Size are nominally Attributive - Prepositive, immediately preceding the modified noun ( as in English ). • Other descriptive inherent quality Adjectives usually follow the Noun. Adjectives may get separated from the Noun, declining separately, especially in poetry.
Roman Latin word order Thoughtco
Is there any specific order regarding adjectives in Latin? I'd imagine so. In English and German, the adjective comes first (ex: big house). However, in Latin-derived languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, Catalan etc), the noun comes before (ex: casa grande (pt) = "house big" (en). So I'm guessing there's an order to follow in Latinno matter how flexible it can be.
- 783
I've noticed they can be placed both before and after the described object. I can usually tell which object is being described because the declensions match. But I'm a beginner here too, there may be more complicated rules.
As a fellow beginner, you totally understand my doubt. Have a great day! Obrigado! ;-)
I find this link most useful when answering questions of Latin word order: http://rharriso.sites.truman.edu/latin-language/latin-word-order/
Common order is: noun – adjective
(except: demonstrative/adjective of quantity/size – noun)
N.B.: adjectives have “bungee cords” (endings) and can jump over other words (especially verbals) separating them from their nouns).
Some examples: Parvus puer magnum puerum pugnat. (The small boy fights the big boy). Puer stultus non docet (The stupid boy does not learn).
Adjectives are also often split by a preposition: Puer magnam ad urbem ambulat. (The boy walks toward the big city)
And always, the order can be changed to add emphasis or surprise. Rewriting the previous example: Parvus puer puerum magnum pugnat.
Here placing magnum after puerum adds a bit of suspense/surprise. If you read it in order you get something like: The small boy, a boy (oh a big one) fights. Even more emphasis could be: Parvus puer puerum pugnat magnum. That would really emphasize that the other boy is big.
