Starting and Ending a Letter

Level 5

Writer in the nominative, reader in the dative, then salutem dicit.

How It Works

Part	Latin	Meaning
opening	Marcus Iuliae salutem dicit	Marcus greets Iulia
opening, shortened	S.D., S.P.D.	salutem dicit, salutem plurimam dicit
health wish	si vales, bene est; ego valeo	if you are well, good; I am well
closing	vale, valete	goodbye to one person, to several
closing	cura ut valeas	take care to stay well

After the greeting, Cicero's letters often add a health wish, and writers shorten it to S.V.B.E.E.V.

Paul's letters open the same way, with a greeting: gratia vobis et pax (grace and peace to you).

A letter often ends with a place and a date: Romae, ante diem tertium Idus Martias (Rome, 13 March).

Marcus Iuliae suae salutem dicit.
Marcus sends greetings to his Iulia.
The writer is nominative, and Iuliae is the dative of the reader.
Marcus Cornelio salutem plurimam dicit.
Marcus sends warm greetings to Cornelius.
Salutem plurimam dicit is the full form of S.P.D.
Si vales, bene est; ego valeo.
If you are well, that is good; I am well.
The usual health wish after the greeting.
Cura ut valeas.
Take care to stay well.
A closing line. Ut valeas is a short indirect command.
Gratia vobis, et pax a Deo Patre nostro, et Domino Iesu Christo.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7. Paul's letters open with a greeting in the dative.

Putting the reader in the nominative.
Marcus Iulia salutem dicit.
Marcus Iuliae salutem dicit.
The writer is the subject, so Marcus is nominative. The reader receives the greeting, so Iuliae is dative.

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

Starting and Ending a LetterLevel 5

A letter opens with a greeting and closes with a farewell.

salusdicovalevaleovalete

Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Latin lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.