The SAT Subject Test in Latin assesses students' knowledge of Latin language and literature, focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.
Latin grammar is at the heart of understanding and mastering the language. Unlike English, Latin relies heavily on word endings (inflections) to convey the role of each word in a sentence. This means that you need to pay close attention to noun cases, verb conjugations, and adjective agreements.
There are six main cases in Latin, each serving a specific purpose:
Latin verbs change their endings based on person, number, tense, mood, and voice. Memorizing the four main conjugations and their patterns is crucial for translating and understanding sentences.
Adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. This means the endings must always match!
Regular drills, parsing exercises, and reading simple sentences can help solidify your grasp of Latin grammar.
Puella rosam amat. ('The girl loves the rose.') — 'puella' (nominative, subject), 'rosam' (accusative, direct object).
Servus domini librum portat. ('The slave carries the master's book.') — 'domini' is genitive, showing possession.
Latin grammar uses inflections and endings to communicate meaning, making it essential to learn cases, conjugations, and agreements.