“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” is a pretty well-known phrase meaning “It is sweet and glorius to die for one’s country.”
I thought it would make a neat title for an essay (debatable, I know), but I need to turn it into a question. How would one alter it to mean something more like “Is it sweet and glorius to die for one’s country?”
In Latin, you can make neutral yes/no questions as well as questions that expect a certain response. Neutral yes-no questions are formed with -ne at the end of the verb (which is usually placed first):
Estne dulce et decorum pro patria mori?
“Is it sweet and fitting to die for one’s country?”
You can also make it clear that you expect a certain answer. This is done with nonne if you expect an affirmative answer and num if you expect a negative answer:
Nonne dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?
“Isn’t it sweet and fitting to die for one’s country?” (figuratively, expecting ‘yes, it is sweet and fitting’)
Num dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?
“It’s not really sweet and good to die for one’s country, is it?” (figuratively, expecting ‘no, it’s not sweet or fitting at all’)
I can’t be sure this is right because I haven’t really studied Latin in some time (and I was self-taught to begin with), but someone will give a more authoritative answer. It’s a good idea, if the reader knows Latin or you provide a translation, because the way you formulate the question can fit with the thesis of your essay.
What **Roches ** has said certainly agrees with everything that I learnt when I studied Latin at school.
By an odd coincidence, this phrase – which I personally can go weeks, if not months, without encountering – popped up in a book I started reading last night. [/ot]
Such is the genius of Horace, the original author of this bit of Latin; even today, when this phrase is filled with a dark irony not found in his original ode, the beauty of his Latin remains. “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” is the other line of his you’ve no doubt heard.
Sorry, Q. Horatius Flaccus is my favorite Latin poet…
I’m fairly certain that the -ne goes on the first word, regardless of whether it is the verb or not.
IIRC you have the “rule” backwards – the -ne goes on the verb, whether or not it’s the first word (although it usually is, in this construction).
Both of my grammar books, and my Latin teacher, and this site and this site all claim it’s on the first word. This site says it goes on the emphatic word, though I’m not entirely sure what they mean by that (I’m a fairly recent student of Latin). I have not found any sources claiming it’s on the verb.