O! Heu! Eheu!

Level 3

Cries stand at the start, and each one has its own pattern.

How It Works

Cry	Meaning	What follows	Example
O	oh, O	the vocative	O Marce!
heu, eheu	alas	a sentence	Heu, quid facis?
O me	poor me	an accusative	O me miserum!
vae	woe	the dative	Vae mihi!
euge	well done	nothing	Euge!

The vocative of a second declension name ends in -e: Marce. The accusative of an exclamation shows the person the cry is about: me miserum, poor me.

Heu and eheu mean the same thing, and eheu is the longer form. Euge is a cheer for something done well.

A prayer can open the same way, as in O Maria, ora pro nobis.

Examples (5)

O Marce!
O Marcus!
Marce is the vocative of Marcus.
Heu, quid facis?
Alas, what are you doing?
Heu shows sorrow and is followed by a question.
O me miserum!
Poor me!
Me miserum is accusative, the accusative of an exclamation.
Vae mihi!
Woe is me!
Vae takes the dative: mihi.
O Maria, ora pro nobis!
O Mary, pray for us!
Maria is the vocative after O.

Common Mistakes

Using the nominative after O.
O Marcus!
O Marce!
A call uses the vocative. The vocative of Marcus is Marce.
Using the nominative in a cry about oneself.
O me miser!
O me miserum!
In this cry me is accusative, so the word that goes with it must be accusative too: miserum.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

O! Heu! Eheu!Level 3

Learn This First

O goes with the vocative.

The Vocative Case
Know the vocative, because O goes with it: O Marce!
Level 2

Words in This Pattern

ooheueheuvaeeuge

Practice O! Heu! Eheu! in Bubblegum

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