CONFUSION WORDS

Back when I started Latin (in the 70s!), my high school Latin teacher (Mrs. Penny Cipolone - give her proper credit) gave us vocabulary lists with a section called "confusion words." These were words commonly mixed up. She encouraged us to work on these pairs or groups of words to make sure we kept them straight. I set out some of them below. Again, if you have some you would like to add to this list, please send me and e-mail.

1. habeo and habito

habeo, habere, habui, habitus  (2nd conjugation- to have)

habito, habitare, habitavi, habitatus (1st conjugation- to live)

Trick- habito has an extra syllable and has the root -habit, from which we get inhabit, meaning to live.

2. maneo and moneo

Both are second conjugation verbs.

maneo, manere, mansi, mansus  (to remain)

moneo, monere, monui, monitus  (to warn)

Trick- to admonish someone is to warn them, or advise them. For maneo, I always suggest students put an re- in front of the verb- usually they see "remain" then.

3. rex, rego, regina, regnum

rex, regis m king (third declension)

regina, reginae f queen (first declension

regnum, regni  n kingdom (second declension)

rego, regere, rexi, rectus (third conjugation, to rule)

Most get rex and regina, while knowing rego is a verb usually gets "to rule." For regnum, remember it is neuter- what do kings and queens rule? Answer- a kingdom

4. mater, pater, frater, soror

All third declension nouns

mater, matris f  mother

pater, patris m father

frater, fratris m brother

soror, sororis f sister

This comes from knowing English. Who goes to a maternity ward? Once they know that, paternity follows naturally. For the others, who joins fraternities and sororities? College students ALWAYS know this, at least in the USA!!

5. liber

Three different words to keep straight:

liber, libera, liberum- adjective meaning free. Tip- look to see if there is a noun it modifies.

liber, libri- a book

liberi, liberorum- children (note the "e" in liberi.

6. vita and vito

You could easily see the verb vito and think it has to do with living. It does mean "to avoid". It is first conjugation and thus retains the "a" like the noun vita, which does mean life.

More to come....