The Accusative Case
The basic concept of the accusative case is to set an endpoint to an action. It shows what is directly affected and where the action stops. When you hit the ball, the hitting stops when you connect with the ball. If you go to Rome, the going stops when you get to Rome.
The most common function for a word in the accusative case is called the direct object. For example, the phrase “she ate” begs the question “Ate what?” That “what” is the direct object. “She ate a salad.” Ah! That's better. According to the sentence, a salad is what she ate and that's where the eating stopped. “Frank took …” Took what? You can't just take; you have to take something, be it my advice, a nap, a bullet, a snapshot, or cash from the till. That something is the direct object. Look again at our dog sentence — which is the direct object in each sentence?
Canis virum mordet. (Dog bites man.) Vir canem mordet. (Man bites dog.)
5-9 Accusative Case Endings
Lined up in a chart, accusative case forms reveal remarkably easy to learn and recognize patterns. That's a real blessing since it is among the most common cases. A verb can get by with personal endings for its subject and not need a nominative, but for a direct object, a noun in the accusative is the only game in town.
There are two kinds of verbs: transitive and intransitive. Transitive verbs are ones that show an action that is performed on something (e.g., “kick,” “sell,” “leave”). They must have a direct object. Intransitive verbs are ones that show a state of being or motion from place to place (e.g., “be,” “sleep,” “rely,” “go”). They cannot have a direct object.
Latin-to-English Translations
Translate the following Latin sentences into English.
Servum tenuit.
Domin
Canis mulierem amā bat.
Mulierēs hominēs accē pē runt.
Dominōs servā nōn amā bant.
English-to-Latin Translations
Translate each of the following sentences into Latin.
They were considering the situation.
People considered the king god.
The woman used to like the house.
You had time.
The man loved his dog.
