The ablative case in Latin is a merger of three cases from Indo-European, the ablative (separation), the instrumental (ablative of means), and the locative (in + ablative for most nouns except where the locative survives in Latin). My nickname is the “Bashful Ablative,” which one of my students compared to a bunny, that stays/freezes “in” place or runs “away.” The color I use is green, as in “green “with” envy,” a non-primary color. For the endings, see Summary of Noun and Adjective Endings
| Context Clues or Markers | Translations | Grammatical Term or Construct |
| Thing; passive verb “Linus citharā percussus est.” “Cives urbem vītīs defenderunt.” |
“by (means of)/ with —-” “Linus was stuck by/with a lyre.” “The citizens defended the city with/by their lives.” |
Ablative of Means/ Instrument |
| Expression of time; ordinal number “Sextō diē rediit.” “Polydectes illō annō regnabat.” “Locum illō tempore ceperunt.” “uxorem unō annō amisit.” |
“on/in/at —“/”with —” “S/he returned on the 6th day.” “Polydectes was ruling in that year.” “They captured the place at that time.” “He lost his wife (with)in one year.” |
Ablative of time when or within which |
| Abstract noun with adj. expressing “how” “magnā [cum] pace” “multō amore“ |
“with —“/ or change to adverb – (rather/very/etc. –(ful)ly) “with great peace/very peacefully” “with much love“ |
Ablative of Manner |
| noun with adj. describing physical or external characteristic “canis tribus capitibus.” “vir validā manū“ |
“of/with —“/ or trans. before noun described. “the dog with three heads/ the three-headed dog.” “the man with the strong hand.” |
Ablative of Description |
| Proper name of city; verb of motion “Romā discedit” |
(from) — “He is departing from Rome“ |
Ablative of place from which |
| Abstract noun/ expressing an emotion “Amore puella mansit.” “Terrore cucurrerunt.” |
“from/because of/on account of” “He remained on account of his love for the girl.” “They ran because of terror |
Ablative of Cause |
| [thing] with verb or adj. expressing lack, separation, deprivation, freedom, etc. “Pecuniā carent.” “Servitudine liberati sunt.” |
(Verb D.O.)/from/of “They lack money “they were freed from slavery.” |
Ablative of Separation |
| With comparative adj. or word expressing comparison “Fideliores sunt oculi auribus.” “Nihil is majus philosophiā |
“(-er) than—-” “The eyes are more faithful “Nothing is greater than philosophy.” |
Ablative of Comparison |
| Word expressing quantity or measurement with comparative adj. or word expressing comparison. “Multō clarius locutus est.” “Filius capite fuit altior.” “paucīs post annīs“ |
Translate as adv or “by ____” “he spoke much more clearly.” (by much) “the son was taller by a head/ a head taller.” “ a few years later (after by a few years) |
Ablative of degree of difference |
| With a general adj. or noun (abl. specifies the scope or tells in what respect the adj. applies) “Nomine sed non rē erat rex.” “Nemo justior pietatēe fuit aut bellō major armīs“ |
Translate: noun/adj “in” ablative “He was the king in name but not in fact.” “No one was more just in piety or greater in war and weapons.” |
Ablative of respect or specification |
| with utor, fruor, potior, vescor, fugnor “Castrīs potiuntur.” “Hi enim ratione utuntur.” |
Translate as D.O. “They get possession of the camp” “For these people use reason“ |
Ablative with certain deponent verbs |
| Noun + participle (or two nouns), often at beginning of sentence and/or set off by commas. “Duce captō, hostes fugerunt.” “Mē duce, vicistis.” |
(“with —“) or as a subordinate clause introduced by after/since, when, while (although, if) “the leader having been captured (after/because/when/their leader had been captured) the enemy fled.” “With me as your leader, you have won.” |
Ablative Absolute |