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High School Latin I · Topic 1
Latin Basics
You already speak more Latin than you think.
Did you check the time this morning and see a.m.? Give an example with e.g.? Watch a video? Then you used Latin before lunch. Video is a real Latin word. It means “I see.”
Latin was the language of ancient Rome, and it never really went away. On this page you will learn to read it out loud, spot it hiding in English, and hold your first tiny conversation in it.
The big three are sections II, III and IV: sounds, Latin in English and first phrases. Sections V to VII are a quick preview of what comes next.
Where Latin came from
Latin began as the language of Latium (LAH-tee-um), a small region of central Italy around the city of Rome. The oldest known Latin inscriptions date from the 600s and 500s BCE, such as a gold brooch from Praeneste (once thought to be a forgery, now widely accepted as genuine) and an inscribed stone post buried under the Lapis Niger (“black stone”) in the Roman Forum.
As Rome grew into an empire, Latin spread across Europe and around the Mediterranean. The century of Julius Caesar, Cicero and Virgil (roughly 100 BCE to 14 CE) gave us the “Classical” Latin that students still read.
Ordinary people’s spoken Latin kept changing, and over centuries it became Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian. These are called the Romance languages, from Rōmānus, “Roman.” Meanwhile, written Latin stayed the shared language of European scholars, scientists and the Catholic Church for well over a thousand years. The Church still publishes official documents in Latin today.
So is Latin “dead”? No one learns it as a first language anymore, but it is far from gone. You will meet it all over this page.
The alphabet and how to say it
You already know the Latin alphabet, because English borrowed it from Rome. The Classical Latin alphabet had 23 letters:
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z
There was no J, U or W. The letter I did double duty as the vowel i and the consonant sound y, and V stood for both the vowel u and the consonant sound w. Y and Z were added only for words borrowed from Greek, and K was rare. Modern textbooks usually print u for the vowel, so you will see lingua on this page and LINGVA on a Roman monument.
Unlike English, Latin is spelled the way it sounds. Every letter is pronounced, including the e at the end of a word and both letters in a double consonant like the ll in puella (girl).
Vowels: short and long
Each vowel can be short or long. A long vowel is held about twice as long, and many textbooks mark it with a line called a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Romans didn’t usually write macrons, but they heard the difference, and so should you.
| Letter | Sounds like | Latin example |
|---|---|---|
| a / ā | short: a in “idea”; long: a in “father” | casa (hut), Rōmāna (Roman) |
| e / ē | short: e in “pet”; long: ey in “they” | et (and), vēnī (I came) |
| i / ī | short: i in “pit”; long: i in “machine” | quid (what), amīcus (friend) |
| o / ō | short: o in “often”; long: o in “hose” | bonus (good), Rōma (Rome) |
| u / ū | short: u in “put”; long: u in “rude” | sum (I am), ūnum (one) |
Why bother with long marks? Because they can change the meaning. liber means “book,” but līber means “free.” malum is “a bad thing,” but mālum is “an apple.” On this page every long vowel is marked.
Consonants: mostly like English, with a few surprises
| Letter | Rule | Example and how to say it |
|---|---|---|
| c | Always hard, like k. Never like s. | Cicerō KIH-keh-roh; centum (hundred) KEN-toom |
| g | Always hard, as in “get.” Never like j. | genus (kind) GEH-noos |
| v (consonant u) | Like English w. | vēnī (I came) WAY-nee |
| i (as a consonant, often printed j) | Like English y. | iam (now, already) YAHM; Iūlius YOO-lee-oos |
| s | Always as in “sit,” never like z. | rosa (rose) ROH-sah |
| t | Always as in “top,” never like sh. | nātiō (nation) NAH-tee-oh |
| qu | Like kw. | quid (what) KWID |
| r | Tapped or lightly rolled, as in Spanish or Italian. | Rōma ROH-mah |
| ch, ph, th | k, p and t with an extra puff of air. They appear mostly in Greek words. Many classes simply say f for ph. | philosophia pih-loh-SOH-pee-ah |
Diphthongs: two vowels, one sound
| Letters | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ae | eye | Caesar KYE-sar |
| au | ow in “how” | aurum (gold) OW-room |
| oe | oy in “boy” | poena (penalty) POY-nah |
| ei | ay in “day” (rare) | deinde (then) DAYN-deh |
Where the stress goes
Latin has a simple stress rule. Words of two syllables stress the first one: Rō-ma. In longer words, look at the next-to-last syllable. Stress it if it is long (it has a long vowel, or its vowel is followed by two consonants). If it is short, stress the syllable before it.
- a-mī-cus has a long ī, so: a-MEE-koos
- pu-el-la has a double l, so: poo-EL-lah
- Ci-ce-rō has a short e, so stress moves back: KIH-keh-roh
How do we know what Latin sounded like?
There are no recordings of Romans, so scholars piece the sounds together from clues. Greek writers spelled Cicero’s name Κικέρων (Kikerōn), with a k sound. The Germans borrowed Caesar early on as Kaiser, again with k and an “eye” sound. Roman grammar teachers described their own sounds, and spelling mistakes scratched on walls (like the graffiti at Pompeii) show how ordinary people actually talked. W. Sidney Allen’s book Vox Latina gathers this evidence.
Classical vs. Church Latin
You may also hear an Italian-style pronunciation called Ecclesiastical (Church) Latin. It is used in the Catholic Church and in a lot of choral music. In it, c before e or i sounds like ch, g before e or i sounds like j, v sounds like English v, and ae sounds like ay. Neither is “wrong.” In this course we use Classical, the sound of Caesar’s Rome.
| Word | Classical | Church (Ecclesiastical) |
|---|---|---|
| Cicerō | KIH-keh-roh | CHEE-cheh-roh |
| Caesar | KYE-sar | CHAY-zar |
| vēnī | WAY-nee | VAY-nee |
Try it: read these Roman names out loud, Classical style: Gāius Iūlius Caesar, Vergilius, Cicerō. (Answers: GAH-ee-oos YOO-lee-oos KYE-sar, wer-GIH-lee-oos, KIH-keh-roh.)
Everyday Latin in English
English is a Germanic language, a cousin of German and Dutch. But after the Norman Conquest of 1066 it soaked up thousands of French words, and scholars later borrowed straight from Latin. A well-known study of about 75,000 words in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary (Finkenstaedt and Wolff, 1973) traced about 28 percent to Latin and about 28 percent more to French. The short, everyday words (the, and, house, eat) are mostly Old English. The longer, school-and-science words are often Latin.
Roots inside your vocabulary
An English word that grew from a Latin word is called a derivative. Learn one Latin root and you get a whole family of English words.
| Latin | Meaning | English derivatives |
|---|---|---|
| aqua | water | aquarium, aquatic, aqueduct |
| portāre | to carry | portable, transport, export |
| vidēre | to see | video, vision, evidence |
| audīre | to hear | audio, audience, audition |
| scrībere | to write | scribble, describe, script |
| dīcere | to say | dictionary, predict, verdict |
| spectāre | to watch | spectator, spectacle, inspect |
| manus | hand | manual, manicure, manuscript |
| pēs, pedis | foot | pedal, pedestrian, centipede |
| terra | land, earth | territory, terrain, terrestrial |
| māter | mother | maternal, maternity, matriarch |
| lūx, lūcis | light | lucid, translucent, elucidate |
Some words are Latin with no change at all: video (“I see”), audio (“I hear”), agenda (“things to be done”), data (“things given”) and alibi (“elsewhere”).
Abbreviations you already use
| Abbreviation | Latin | Literal meaning | How we use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g. | exemplī grātiā | for the sake of an example | for example |
| i.e. | id est | that is | in other words |
| etc. | et cētera | and the rest | and so on |
| a.m. | ante merīdiem | before midday | morning hours |
| p.m. | post merīdiem | after midday | afternoon and evening |
| A.D. | annō Dominī | in the year of the Lord | years counted from the traditional birth year of Jesus; the same years are also labelled CE (Common Era) |
| P.S. | post scrīptum | written after | a note added after a letter’s signature |
| N.B. | notā bene | note well | pay attention to this |
| et al. | et aliī | and others | and other authors |
| cf. | cōnfer | compare! | compare with |
Mix-up alert: e.g. gives examples (“fruit, e.g., apples”). i.e. restates exactly what you mean (“the largest planet, i.e., Jupiter”). One trick: e.g. = “example given,” i.e. = “in essence.”
Mottoes
| Motto | Meaning | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Ē plūribus ūnum | Out of many, one | The Great Seal of the United States (adopted in 1782) and U.S. coins |
| Semper fidēlis | Always faithful | Motto of the U.S. Marine Corps (“Semper Fi”) |
| Citius, altius, fortius | Faster, higher, stronger | The Olympic motto (since 2021 with commūniter, “together”) |
| SPQR: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus | The Senate and the People of Rome | Ancient Roman inscriptions and coins, and Rome’s city drain covers today |
Latin in law and science
Lawyers and scientists still use Latin because it is precise and the same in every country.
- Law: habeās corpus (“you should have the body”) is a court order to bring a prisoner before a judge. prō bonō (“for the good”) means legal work done free. A subpoena (sub poenā, “under penalty”) orders you to come to court.
- Science: In 1758 the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus used two-part Latin names for animals in his Systema Naturae, and scientists still name living things this way. We are Homō sapiēns, “wise human.” In Tyrannosaurus rēx, the first word is built from Greek (“tyrant lizard”) and rēx is Latin for “king.”
- The calendar: July is named for Iūlius Caesar and August for the emperor Augustus.
Your first words and phrases
Romans greeted each other a little differently from us. Notice that Latin cares whether you are talking to one person or more than one.
| Latin | Say it | Meaning and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Salvē! | SAHL-way | Hello! (to one person). Literally “Be well!” |
| Salvēte! | sahl-WAY-teh | Hello! (to two or more people) |
| Valē! | WAH-lay | Goodbye! (to one person). Literally “Be strong!” |
| Valēte! | wah-LAY-teh | Goodbye! (to two or more people) |
| Quid agis? | kwid AH-gis | How are you? Literally “What are you doing?” |
| Bene. / Optimē! / Male. | BEH-neh / OP-tih-may / MAH-leh | Well. / Great! / Badly. |
| Et tū? | et TOO | And you? |
| Quid tibi nōmen est? | kwid TIH-bee NOH-men est | What is your name? Literally “What is the name to you?” |
| Mihi nōmen est Marcus. | MIH-hee NOH-men est MAR-koos | My name is Marcus. (Nōmen mihi est works too.) |
| Grātiās tibi agō. | GRAH-tee-ahs TIH-bee AH-goh | Thank you. Literally “I give thanks to you.” |
| Amābō tē. | ah-MAH-boh TAY | Please. Literally “I will love you” (if you do this). It shows up this way in Roman comedies and in Cicero’s letters. |
| Ita vērō. / Minimē. | IH-tah WAY-roh / MIH-nih-may | Yes indeed. / Not at all (no). Latin has no exact word for yes or no. |
| magister / magistra | mah-GIS-ter / mah-GIS-trah | teacher (man / woman) |
| discipulus / discipula | dis-KIH-poo-loos / dis-KIH-poo-lah | student (boy / girl) |
| Cūrā ut valeās! | KOO-rah oot WAH-leh-ahs | Take care! Literally “See to it that you are well.” Cicero often ended his letters this way. |
A first conversation
Marcus: Salvē! Quid tibi nōmen est? Hello! What’s your name?
Iūlia: Salvē! Mihi nōmen est Iūlia. Et tibi? Hello! My name is Julia. And yours?
Marcus: Mihi nōmen est Marcus. Quid agis, Iūlia? My name is Marcus. How are you, Julia?
Iūlia: Optimē! Et tū? Great! And you?
Marcus: Bene, grātiās tibi agō. Valē! Fine, thank you. Goodbye!
Iūlia: Valē, Marce! Goodbye, Marcus!
Notice that Julia says Marce, not Marcus. When you speak to someone whose name ends in -us, the ending usually changes to -e. That is your first hint that Latin endings do a lot of work.
Endings matter more than order
In English, word order tells you who does what. “The girl sees the farmer” and “The farmer sees the girl” mean different things. In Latin, the ending of the word tells you.
- The subject (the one doing the action) uses the nominative form: puella (girl), agricola (farmer).
- The direct object (the one receiving the action) adds -m, the accusative form: puellam, agricolam.
Puella agricolam videt.
The girl sees the farmer.
Agricolam puella videt.
Still: the girl sees the farmer!
Agricola puellam videt.
The farmer sees the girl.
Romans usually put the verb last, but poets especially moved words around for emphasis or sound, and the endings kept the meaning clear. Agricola ends in -a even though Roman farmers were usually men. These endings mark word families, not whether the person is male or female.
A first verb: amō, “I love”
Latin verbs change their endings to show who is doing the action, so you often don’t need a separate word for I, you or they. Here is the present tense of amō, amāre (to love, to like):
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | amō: I love | amāmus: we love |
| 2nd | amās: you love | amātis: you all love |
| 3rd | amat: he/she/it loves | amant: they love |
The endings -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt show up on almost every Latin verb, so they are worth memorizing now. Try one: Agricola terram amat. “The farmer loves the land.” (Notice terram: the land is the object, so it gets the -m.)
Famous sayings, checked
Lots of “Latin quotes” online are misattributed. Here are four real ones and one famous fake, with where they actually come from.
Quiz: Latin Basics
Ten questions on roots, abbreviations, sounds, phrases and endings. Choose one answer for each (use Tab and the arrow keys, or tap), then press Check my answers. Press Try again to clear the quiz and start over. Your best score is saved on this device only.
Talk About It
These questions have no single right answer. Talk them over with a partner or your class.
- People call Latin a “dead” language. Is that fair for a language that nobody speaks at home but that millions of people use pieces of every day?
- Schools, governments and the military often choose Latin mottoes instead of English ones. Why do you think that is? What would your school’s motto be, and would it sound better in Latin?
- With no recordings, scholars rebuilt Classical pronunciation from clues. Which clue on this page do you find most convincing, and why?
- Because Latin endings show who does what, a Roman poet could put words in almost any order. What could a writer do with that freedom that an English writer can’t?
Sources
- Frederic M. Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin, 7th ed., revised by Richard A. LaFleur (HarperCollins, 2011): alphabet, pronunciation, first-declension nouns and present-tense verbs.
- W. Sidney Allen, Vox Latina: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1978): the evidence for Classical pronunciation.
- Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar (1903), online edition by Dickinson College Commentaries: The Alphabet, Vowel and Consonant Pronunciation, Accents and 1st Conjugation.
- Charles E. Bennett, New Latin Grammar (1908), free at Project Gutenberg eBook #15665.
- Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879), searchable at the Perseus Digital Library: meanings and vowel lengths of the words on this page.
- Suetonius, Life of the Deified Julius 32, 37 and 82: Latin text at The Latin Library; English translation (Alexander Thomson, revised by T. Forester) at Project Gutenberg eBook #6400.
- Horace, Odes 1.11: Latin text at The Latin Library; English translation by John Conington at Project Gutenberg eBook #5432.
- Plutarch, Life of Pompey 60 and Life of Caesar 32, translated by Bernadotte Perrin (Loeb, 1917–1919), at LacusCurtius: Pompey and Caesar.
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy), “È autentica la Fibula prenestina” (press release in Italian, June 2011): lab tests on the Praeneste brooch, dated to the 600s BCE, and the forgery debate.
- Ohio State University Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies, “Inscriptions dated before 44 BC”: the Lapis Niger inscription (CIL I² 1), late 500s BCE.
- René Descartes, Discourse on the Method (1637), Part 4, and Principles of Philosophy (1644), Part 1, article 7.
- Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff, Ordered Profusion: Studies in Dictionaries and the English Lexicon (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1973): origins of English words.
- “E Pluribus Unum,” GreatSeal.com: the motto’s history on the Great Seal (1782).
Credits: All illustrations are original SVG drawings made for Jugami. The “say it” guides are simplified English approximations of Classical pronunciation.