The Latin language really doesn't have that many words in its vocabulary. The majority of Latin's vocabulary is the result of mix-and-match with prefixes, suffixes, and bases. There are also a few ways to tweak verbs to give them new, special meanings. If you learn bases and prefixes, you'll be able to multiply your Latin (and English!) vocabulary knowledge tremendously.

Adding Prefixes

Here is a list of the most common prefixes and their meanings. You should find them easy to learn because they are almost all closely related to prepositions. Some prefixes don't have an easily translatable word or phrase. They have a general idea, or flavor, that they add to the meaning of the base. For example, the verb caedīmeans “to cut,” and the prefix ob has an “opposing,” “up close and personal” flavor. Put them together and you get occī dī, -ere, occī dī,occī sum (“to kill”).

Table 12-8 Latin Prefixes

Prefix	English	Example
ā , ab	away, from	abeō(to go away)
ad	to, toward, near	adsum (to be present)
ante-	before, in front	antecedō (to go ahead)
con-	with, together, intense	conveniō (to gather)
dē-	down, from, bad	dē rideō(to mock)
dis-	scattered, apart, bad	discumbō(to sprawl)
ē -/ex-	out	exeō (to leave)
in	in, on, against	ineō(to enter)
in	not	infirmus (weak)
ob-	opposing, counter, blocking	obvius (evident) (ob + via,“blocking the road”)
per-	thorough, intense	perterritus (thoroughly frightened)
prae-	ahead	praesum (to be in charge)
praeter-	except, beyond	praetereō(to pass by)
prō-	forward, in front	prō cē dō(to go ahead)
re-, red-	again, back	redeō(to return)
sub-	under, subtle	subrideō(to grin)
super-	over, above	supersum (to be left over, survive)
trans-, trā-	across	trā dō (to hand over)

Some prefixes change their spelling slightly when attached to a word. The main reason this occurs is to make the word easier to say. These changes can make prefixes difficult to recognize.

A good example of these phenomena is the verb accipiī (“to welcome”; literally, “to take to one's self”). It is made of the prefix ad- (“to, toward”) and the verb capiī(“to take”). The d on ad changes to c to make it easier to say. This process is called assimilation.

Adding Suffixes

A suffix is a syllable or two that can be added to the stem of a word to create another word related in meaning. Suffixes usually produce nouns or adjectives. Of course, the nouns they form have their own genitive and gender, and the adjectives have masculine, feminine, and neuter forms.

Here is a list of the most common suffixes:

Table 12-9 Latin Suffixes

The following suffixes can be added to the stem of the fourth principal part of a verb:

A person who does an action:

The act or result of an action:

Making Verbs

There are a few ways for you to increase your verb knowledge. Verbs can take suffixes to create new verbs with special twists on their original meanings. Verbs can also be made from nouns or adjectives.

Frequentative verbs show an action that is repeated or sustained over time. Their meaning is quite similar to that of the continuous aspect. They are made by turning the fourth principal part of a verb into a first conjugation verb.

Inceptive verbs show an action in its early stages. They are formed by adding -scī, -scere to the present stem of a verb.

Denominative verbs are verbs that are made from nouns or adjectives. We often use nouns in English as if they were verbs. For example, “tree” is a noun, but dogs “tree” cats every day. In Latin they are formed by taking the stem of a noun or adjective and treating it like a first conjugation verb.

Latin-to-English Translations

Translate the following Latin sentences into English.

• Cum Carthagine rediissent, multa dē urbe narrā bant.

• Parum sapientiae habē re nolō.

• Tot arma in hostēs intulē runt nostrī ut hostēs statim fū gerent.

• Mī litēs autem in castra redī re nolunt quod fortissimī sunt et minimē ignā vī .

• Puerī domum properā re voluē runt nam in ludō totum diem esse nolē bant.

• Cum Graecī urbem Trō iam perdidissent, multī hominēs tamen superfuē runt.

• Ubi dea miserōs in periculō vī derat, adiuvā re volē bat at nōn poterat.

• Soror perterrita fuit, cum frā ter suus periit.

• Omnia multā arte cū rā que conficere poteris.

• Paucī tanta tam facillimē gerere possunt.