< Latin II
Latin II/Irregular Comparisons
Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. Today we'll learn the special comparison forms for some of Latin's most common adjectives. These words are used so often that it's worth taking time to learn their unique patterns.
New Grammar
These important adjectives don't follow the regular -ior/-issimus patterns. Instead, they have their own special forms:
| Basic | Comparative | Superlative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| bonus | melior | optimus | good, better, best |
| malus | pējor | pessimus | bad, worse, worst |
| magnus | major | maximus | big, bigger, biggest |
| parvus | minor | minimus | small, smaller, smallest |
| multus | plūs | plūrimus | much/many, more, most |
| senex | senior | --- | old, older, (oldest) |
| juvenis | junior | --- | young, younger, (youngest) |
Note that senex and juvenis rarely use superlatives - Romans used maximus nātū (greatest in birth) for "oldest" and minimus nātū for "youngest."
New Words
| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| multus, -a, -um | much, many | ||
| senex, senis | old (of people) | ||
| juvenis, -e | young | ||
| nātū | by birth | Used with major/minor |
New Sentences
| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vīnum melius quam cervīsia est. | The wine is better than the beer. | Food/drink comparison |
| Hic liber pējor quam ille est. | This book is worse than that one. | With demonstratives |
| Fīlius major quam fīlia est. | The son is bigger than the daughter. | Family terms |
| Pater senior quam māter est. | Father is older than mother. | Age comparison |
| Multī librī bonī, plūrēs malī sunt. | Many books are good, more are bad. | Using plūrēs |
| Servus junior dominum optimum habet. | The younger slave has the best master. | Multiple forms |
| Rōma est urbs maxima Italiae. | Rome is the biggest city of Italy. | Geography |
| Frāter minimus familiae sum. | I am the smallest brother in the family. | Family position |
| Plūrimī discipulī linguam amant. | Most students love the language. | With plūrimī |
| Major nātū frāter doctior est. | The older brother is more learned. | Age with nātū |
Practice
| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Try this Reading exercise | |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
Now that you know both regular and irregular comparisons, next time we'll practice using them together in more complex sentences. Valēte!
This article is issued from Wikiversity. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.