How is, "I'm glad it's Friday," to be translated? Is it: "mihi placet diem Veneris esse."? Alternatively, "gaudeo quod diem Veneris esse."?
I'm glad it's Friday
- Thread starter galleon586bt
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Thanks. Why use "adesse" (instead of "esse")--"I'm glad to arrive at/ be present at Friday."?
If you translate excessively literally as: "I delight in Friday to be present," it makes the wording more clear.
Thanks again. Changing the subject, I've just noticed that verb, "pluit", does not have a supine stem. I was going to use the "supine + fuisset" to say, "it has been raining".
Thanks again. One more thing if I may, please: given that verb, "pluit", lacks a supine, how would you say, "it has been raining"? On Glosbe it has, "de die Martis pluit." = "It has been raining since Tuesday," Is this correct--it doesn't look it? I want the implication that it has been but is no longer raining.
Several languages, including Latin, use some form of the present tense where English would use the present perfect or present perfect continuous to indicate an action which began in the past and is still continuing to happen in the present. The imperfect, to my mind, would mean something more like "It had been raining" in this type of context.
That's right, and I was going to say we needed the present tense here (because "it has been raining" usually implies it's still raining and that's conveyed in Latin with the present tense) but I had missed this comment:
If it's no longer raining, the imperfect seems to make more sense (like, "it had been raining since Tuesday (but it recently stopped)").
This seems like a similar case to when you tell someone "I've been looking for you" when you've just found them (and so aren't looking for them anymore). In Latin that would be te quaerebam (imperfect)—cf. PHI Latin Texts - Word Search (packhum.org)
Let's specify that the supine doesn't come into this construction because the meanings a supine can have are completely unrelated; and the perfect passive participle (similar in form to the supine) doesn't come into it either because not only is the perfect tense not involved but the construction isn't passive.
It has been raining can be continuous or iterative in terms of aspect; in other words, it can mean that it has been raining continuously for some time into the present, or it can mean that it has rained several times recently and looks like it may well rain again, but not necessarily continuously. The first meaning would be rendered by a Latin present, but I'm not sure about the second meaning. The same?
Therefore, do you agree with Glosbe: "de die Martis pluit," = "It has been raining since Tuesday (and still is)," in which the present tense, "pluit", covers the whole timeframe?
Yes, most likely.
I'm not too sure about that use of de (it seems unusual at least) but as far as the verb is concerned, yes, that's a perfectly normal use of the present tense.
Given that "a" = "from", what is the role of "iam inde" = "already from"?
Well, literally "already from there".
It's just an idiomatic phrase that adds some emphasis.
Changing the subject: in "magno argumento esse debeat causam et princfipium philosophiae esse inscientiam," what is the role of present subjunctive, "debeat"--is it an iussive, "it is obliged to be" = "it must be"? Giving: "This should serve as strong evidence that ignorance must be the cause and beginning of philosophy."