h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My good sir or madam, it appears to me that you speak Latin. If this is so, please, teach me. If not, that's good too.

Why sir, you flatter me. I should greatly enjoy teaching you, though be warned, my own knowledge is limited greatly, but I can get you through the basics. The grammar is most difficult, and the words can be best learned with a dictionary. Though, if you like, I can give you word lists...

TM

I thank you kindly. I did in fact purchase a Latin book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Latin by Natalie Harwood, however, I have neglected it too much. I am hoping to start again soon and you could, not only give me incentive, but assist me when I am in need. So far, I have learnt of the 5 noun declesions and I had just just started verbs when I took my sabatical. So, that is my background thus far. Am I helpable?

Of course! Learning the lists is a major part of the battle! The thing is, do you know how to use the lists? Such as, if I were to give you the sentence:

Puellam equus est.

Could you tell me what it meant?


Est= the 3rd person singular form of the 'to be' verb. ---he, she, it is.

It's a female horse?

The puallam bit confuses me. It saounds like Puella; girl. However, I do not know of any ending that would make it puallam. Perhaps you can tell me?

I think it helps that I fluently speak French; Latin and French are, in many many ways, very very simmilar. THis is to be expected, seeing as French is a descendant of Latin.

Puellam, sorry, my typo err and yeah, the Horse is a girl.

That's 1 for me.