Asked by Krissa
My book translated the sentence "They report the victory by means of a letter" into "Litteris victoriam nuntiant." Why is it litteris, not litterae. In the English sentence, letter was never pluralized. Why is it now? Thank you so much for explaining this.
Answers
Writeacher
In the singular, <i>littera</i> means a letter of the alphabet. In the plural, it can mean 1) letter<b>s</b> of the alphabet if modified by an adjective such as <i>multae</i>, 2) literature, or 3) a letter (epistle) written to someone.
Are you sure it's <i>litteris</i>, though? It would show up in ablative plural without a preposition to convey the meaning "be means of." How do you spell the ablative plural of that word?
Are you sure it's <i>litteris</i>, though? It would show up in ablative plural without a preposition to convey the meaning "be means of." How do you spell the ablative plural of that word?