Quot.. tot..

[puer brasilianus]

How and when to use ' Quot.. tot..' and Is ' Tot..quot..' the same thing?!

Quot.. tot..
Tot.. quot..

 

[Pacifica]

when to use ' Quot.. tot..'

When saying that things X are as many as things Y and the like. E.g. quot homines, tot sententiae = "(there are) as many opinions as (there are) people".

Tot..quot..' the same thing?!

It's the same thing with the emphasis inverted. In any case, tot corresponds to "as many" and quot to "as". So to mean "there are as many opinions as there are people", whichever order you put it in, quot must come before homines and tot must come before sententiae (quot homines, tot sententiae or tot sententiae quot homines). If quot comes before sententiae and tot before homines (quot sententiae, tot homines or tot homines quot sententiae) it means "there are as many people as there are opinions".

 

[Puer Pedens]

So the "basic" order would be 'Tot.. quot' as 'Tantus.. quantus..' and 'quot.. tot..' and 'quantus.. tantus..' coulde be merely emphatic inversions, right?

 

[Matthaeus]

yup