122 ABLATIVE OF TIME
- The vowel e which appears in every form is regularly long. It I.shortened in the ending -eī after a consonant, as in r-ĕī; and before -m in the accusative singular, as in di-em. (Cf. § 12. 2.)
- Only diēs and rēs are complete in the plural. Most other nouns of this declension lack the plural. Aciēs, line of battle, and spēs, hope, have the nominative and accusative plural.
274.
The ablative relation (§ 50) which is
expressed by the prepositions at, in, or on may refer not
only to place, but also to time, as at noon, in summer, on the first day. The ablative which is used to express this relation is called
the ablative of time.
275.
Rule. The Ablative of Time.
The time when or within which anything happens is expressed by the ablative without a preposition.
a. Occasionally the preposition in is found.
Compare the English Next day we started and On the next day we started.
276.
EXERCISES
First learn the <a href = "LatinBegin2.html#sec276vocab">special vocabulary, p. 294.
I.Galba the Farmer. Galba agricola rūrī vīvit. Cotīdiē prīmā lūce labōrāre incipit, nec ante noctem in studiō suō cessat. Merīdiē Iūlia fīlia eum ad cēnam vocat. Nocte pedēs dēfessōs domum vertit. Aestāte fīliī agricolae auxilium patrī dant. Hieme agricola eōs in lūdum mittit. Ibi magister pueris multās fābulās dē rēbus gestīs Caesaris nārrat. Aestāte fīliī agricolae perpetuīs labōribus exercentur nec grave agrī opus est iīs molestum. Galba sine ūllā cūrā vivit nec rēs adversās timet.
II.
- In that month there were many battles in Gaul.
- The cavalry of the enemy made an attack upon Cæsar’s line of battle.
- In the first hour of the night the ship was overcome by the billows.
- On the second day the savages were eager to come under Cæsar’s protection.
- The king had joined battle, moved by the hope of victory.
- That year a fire destroyed many birds and other animals.
- We saw blood on the wild beast’s teeth.
