Exercise 18: Prepositions
Roughly speaking, cases (nominative, accusative et cetera) tell the reader the relationship a noun has to the verb/sentence; sometimes, however, we find this function performed by preposition + noun, e.g.
ad = to; the noun it introduces MUST be in the accusative: ad urbem = to the city
cum = with; the noun it introduces MUST be in the ablative: cum militibus = with (the) soldiers
in + accusative = into/on to
in + ablative = in/on
de + ablative = about/concerning (more uses later)
a/ab + ablative = from (another use later)
e/ex + ablative = out of
NOTE:
Dative ( = ‘to’) is used for recipients/beneficiaries et cetera, ad + accusative ( = ‘to’) for motion to something.
Ablative ( = ‘with’) is used for means, manner et cetera (e.g. ‘he entered with a jaunty step’), cum + ablative for accompaniment (e.g. ‘she came with her friends’).
