"Fabulae Ab Urba Condita" 3a

[iamrian]

Could someone verify this translation is correct? Thank you very much.

LATIN
Forte Tiberis abundāverat, neque eī quī puerōs ferēbant adīre ad altam aquam poterant.

ENGLISH
By change the Tiber was overflowing, none of those who brought the boys could bring them to the deep water.

 

[Bitmap]

It's not correct. What do you need this for?

 

[iamrian]

I am translating an intermediate history text called "Fabulae Ab Urbe Condita" by Geoffrey Steadman. This is for personal use, if that is what you are asking.

Could you tell me how it is wrong? I am trying to get better at my Latin.

 

[Pacifica]

- Forte means "by chance" not "by change" (though perhaps that was a typo...?) You can even, if you like, rephrase "by chance the Tiber..." to "the Tiber happened to..."

- Check the tense of abundaverat.

- There is no word meaning "none" in the Latin. Neque means "neither/nor" or "and... not".

- Ei is nominative.

- I would translate ferebant as "carried" here.

- Adire means "to go/come to", "to approach".

 

[Bitmap]

I suppose "by change" is a typo. Forte means "by chance".
abundaverat is pluperfect, so you need to translate the tense correctly.
neque = "and not" --> "and those, who were carrying the boys, could not approach/ make it to the deep water".

 

[iamrian]

Thank you for the instructive feedback. This is such a useful forum! Here is my second attempt:

"By chance Tiber had overflowed, those who carried the boys could not make it to the deep water."

It feels like there should be a "therefore" or "so" connecting the clause with the main sentence. Am I missing something?

 

[Bitmap]

It feels like there should be a "therefore" or "so" connecting the clause with the main sentence. Am I missing something?

No. There is none. Only a neque meaning "and ... not" ... which seems ok to me.

 

[Pacifica]

In other words, you just forgot the "and".

 

[iamrian]

That sounds right. Thank you.