Page:Latin for beginners (1911).djvu/99

179. Rule. Ablative of the Place From. The place from which is expressed by the ablative with the prepositions ā or ab, dē, ē or ex.

Agricolae ex agrīs veniunt, the farmers come from the fields

a. ā or ab denotes from near a place; ē or ex, out from it; and dē, down from it. This may be represented graphically as follows:

180. Rule. Ablative of Separation. Words expressing separation or deprivation require an ablative to complete their meaning.

a. If the separation is actual and literal of one material thing from another, the preposition ā or ab, ē or ex, or dē is generally used. If no actual motion takes place of one thing from another, no preposition is necessary.

(a) Perseus terram ā mōnstrīs līberat

Perseus frees the land from monsters (literal separation—actual motion is expressed)

(b) Perseus terram trīstitiā līberat

Perseus frees the land from sorrow (figurative separation—no actual motion is expressed)

181. Rule. Ablative of the Personal Agent. The word expressing the person from whom an action starts, when not the subject, is put in the ablative with the preposition ā or ab.

a. In this construction the English translation of ā, ab is by rather than from. This ablative is regularly used with passive verbs to indicate the person by whom the act was performed.

Mōnstrum a Perseō necātur, the monster is being slain by (lit. from) Perseus