enim

 

Tironis

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@Pacifica - Chapter 6 A) 10. Vos amamus; boni enim magistri estis.
Just wondering if ". . . boni magistri enim estis" is acceptable.
"enim" in third place just looks wrong, somehow, but may be right for all I know.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

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Location:
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Enim can come in third position when the two words before it are so closely linked as to form one prosodic unit. Example: aequum est enim, where aequum est is really pronounced as one word, aequumst. It sometimes not only can, but must be this way; for example a preposition like in or ex can't be separated from the following word by enim (e.g. you don't say in enim agro but in agro enim).

Regarding boni magistri enim estis specifically, I think it's possible for boni magistri to be taken as a unit (maybe more a unit of sense than a prosodic one) but it sounds a little unusual.
 
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meisenimverbis

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So, would you rather say boni enim magistri estis? :think:
(Perhaps estis enim boni magistri? Or vos enim boni magistri estis? So my question will be this: what is more natural, basic or common?)
 
 

Tironis

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Regarding boni magistri enim estis specifically, I think it's possible for boni magistri to be taken as a unit (maybe more a unit of sense than a prosodic one) but it sounds a little unusual.
Thanks. I agree it does sound a little unusual.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

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So, would you rather say boni enim magistri estis? :think:
(Perhaps estis enim boni magistri? Or vos enim boni magistri estis? So my question will be this: what is more natural, basic or common?)
As it happens, boni enim magistri estis is what I wrote. The sentence is from the answer key to my Latin Exercise Book.

Your other two versions are good as well, but be aware that the one including vos is emphasizing "you"—so it's like "you are good teachers (as opposed to some other people, for instance)".
 

meisenimverbis

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As it happens, boni enim magistri estis is what I wrote. The sentence is from the answer key to my Latin Exercise Book.

Your other two versions are good as well, but be aware that the one including vos is emphasizing "you"—so it's like "you are good teachers (as opposed to some other people, for instance)".
I thought about emphasis...

So it's natural to cut the boni magistri with an enim. That's interesting. I guess I may have been incurring in mistake here. :think:
Is enim always supposed to come in the second position?
 

Pacifica

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Location:
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Is enim always supposed to come in the second position?
Most often, but not always.

See my first post on the thread:
Enim can come in third position when the two words before it are so closely linked as to form one prosodic unit. Example: aequum est enim, where aequum est is really pronounced as one word, aequumst. It sometimes not only can, but must be this way; for example a preposition like in or ex can't be separated from the following word by enim (e.g. you don't say in enim agro but in agro enim).

Regarding boni magistri enim estis specifically, I think it's possible for boni magistri to be taken as a unit (maybe more a unit of sense than a prosodic one) but it sounds a little unusual.
(There are even a few instances of it coming first, but that is really very rare and non-classical.)
 

Anbrutal Russicus

Active Member

Location:
Russia
If your emphasis is on magistrī, it's possible; the thing is that putting the emphasis on it is unusual and makes it sound like bonus·magister is a compound word like senātūs·cōnsultum, pater·familiās or ūsus·frūctus. The default nuclear stress in Latin is on the first member of the phrase.
 
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