For today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to say “with” or “without”. Both will be in the ablative.

Ad īnsulam nāvigat cum scaphā = He is sailing to the island with a boat

“Cum” means “with” and the word it modifies will be in the ablative.

Ad casam sine aquā ambulant = They are walking to the house without water

Here, “sine” serves as the word “without”, and the word that it modifies is in the ablative.

Ad casam cum cibō ambulō = I am walking to the house with food

“Cibō” does not end in “ā” like the other words in the ablative.

This is because “cibō” is a second declension noun. Before the introduction of cibō, we’ve been dealing with first declension nouns in the singular ablative. Second declension nouns in the singular ablative will end in “ō”.

Now try translating these sentences :

(1) Ad scholam sine librō ambulās

(2) Silvam cum gladiō dēlētis. (gladius = sword)

(3) Pīrātās sine gladiō nōn pugnat

(4) Magistrī ad scholam sine tabulā nunquam ambulant

Here are the answers :

(1) You are walking to the school without a book

(2) You all are destroying the forest with a sword

(3) He is not fighting the pirates without a sword

(4) The teachers never walk to the school without a writing tablet