Learning Liturgical Latin, Lesson 13

in odorem suavitatis...

Lesson 6: introduction to Latin verbs | verb-identification examples | vocab

Lesson 7: the verb “to be” | authentic-text grammar exercise | vocab

Lesson 8: categories of Latin verbs | first-conjugation (-are) verbs | translating a liturgical text | vocab

Lesson 9: authentic text warm-up | second-declension nouns (ager, angelus, auxilium, etc.) | liturgical text comprehension exercise | vocab

Lesson 10: second-declension neuter nouns | liturgical text comprehension exercise | vocab

Lesson 11: grammar exercise: the Our Father | nos, nostri, nobis… | introit for the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost | vocab

Lesson 12: comprehension exercise: Psalm 42

Click here for a list of all the previous lessons.

---

Grammar Exercise: The Our Father

Let’s conclude our slow, careful journey through the Latin version of the Lord’s Prayer. This is what we’ve examined so far:

Pater noster, qui es in caelis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,
et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

All we have left is this:

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo.

The little word ne is an adverb that works with verbs in the subjunctive mood (refer back to the discussion of sanctificetur nomen tuum for comments on the subjunctive). The combination ne + subjunctive creates a negative command. Can you see which word is the subjunctive verb? Right, it’s inducas. The non-subjunctive (i.e., indicative) form would be inducis, because this a third-conjugation verb with the infinitive inducere. Remember, as we saw in Lesson 7, that the primary sign of the subjunctive is when the letter a creeps into an e/i verb or the letter e creeps into an a verb. Thus, inducas instead of inducis indicates subjunctive.

Does in tentationem mean “in temptation” or “into temptation”? Correct, but how do you know? Well, yes, that’s the general idea, but let’s be more specific: tentationem is a third-declension noun, and though we haven’t learned third-declension case endings yet, you can guess from first- and second-declension endings that ‑em is more likely to be accusative than ablative. Since in means “into” when the noun is in the accusative case, our translation should be “and do not lead us into temptation.”