Away From: the ablative
Use the ablative alone for things, and a, ab, e, ex or de before people and places.
How It Works
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| pecunia caret | he lacks money |
| periculo liberata est | she was freed from danger |
| ab urbe discedunt | they leave the city |
| eripe me de inimicis | rescue me from my enemies |
The ablative alone is the usual way after verbs of lacking and freeing when the thing is an idea or an object, such as money or danger.
Use a or ab for people, e or ex for out of, and de for down from or away from.
The same idea works with adjectives such as liber (free) and vacuus (empty): liber metu is free from fear.
Examples (5)
- Marcus pecunia caret.
Marcus lacks money.
Pecunia is ablative singular and has no preposition.
- Iulia periculo liberata est.
Iulia was freed from danger.
Periculo is the ablative of what she was freed from.
- Pueri ab urbe discedunt.
The boys leave the city.
Ab urbe: a preposition goes in front of a place.
- Libera nos a malo.
Deliver us from evil.
From the Lord's Prayer. A malo is a preposition and the ablative.
- Eripe me de inimicis meis, Deus meus.
Rescue me from my enemies, my God.
From Psalm 58:2. De inimicis is a preposition and the ablative.
Common Mistakes
Putting the thing lacked in the accusative.
Marcus pecuniam caret.Marcus pecunia caret.Careo takes the ablative of what is lacking, so the form is pecunia, not pecuniam.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The ablative can say away from, with or without a preposition, so the ablative of means and the ablative prepositions come first.