Question

How would you translate this line? Sed Romani patriam meam occupaverunt; me (macron)et amicummeum ex patria portaverunt. So far, I have: But the Romans occupied my country, BLANK (I don't know what me with a macron means)and my friends were carried out of the country. Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

The word <i>me</i> with a macron (long mark over the e) is simply indicating either the accusative or ablative case. In this sentence, it's accusative because it's one of the direct objects of the second verb in the sentence. In addition, there needs to be a space between <i>amicum</i> and <i>meum</i> since they are two separate words -- and the other direct object of that second clause.

<b>But the Romans have occupied my country</b> ... so far, so good

Look at that second clause again. Since <i>me et amicum meum</i> = two direct objects (the pronoun, noun, and adjective are all in the accusative case), those words are not the subject of the second verb. <i>Romani</i> is the subject of <i>occupaverunt</i>, and <i>portaverunt</i> is also plural and in the same tense.

Try the translation again; the first part is correct, so how will you make the second part correct?

Let me know what you think.

Answer 2

You also need to remember normal word order in a Latin sentence:

Subject - direct object - verb

And the verb's ending will also include the subject if there's no separate noun or pronoun in the nominative case. In that case, the word order is this: direct object, then verb.

Answer 3

I came up with "But the Romans occupied my country; they carried me and my friends out of the country."

Answer 4

Almost -- "my friend" (singular).

Good for you!