Several students, whose first foray into a second language was in my Latin classroom, have gone on to major in Russian, Greek, French, Arabic and German. And they have gone far in those languages.

We are often told that Latin is useful because it provides the key to so much English vocabulary, which of course it does. But what about the much more interesting aspects of a language: how it arranges and uses those words to create precise meaning?

That is what my students have told me. When they reflected on aspects of Latin that at first shocked and confused them, they realised that those differences were precisely what enabled them to move from one language acquisition experience to the next.

They had encountered so many differences between English and one second language, that they were ready for a third and perhaps a fourth. Grammatical gender? No problem - we met that in 6th grade! Adjectival agreement? Well of course! Six verb forms, one for each person? Nothing new here! Noun endings, subjunctive verbs, adjectives following the nouns they modify, word order?

Students who have spent time with Latin will have met so many ways in which one language can differ from another that they are no longer likely to be surprised or confused. They have learned to adapt to what appears to be ‘quirkiness’ and then to recognize examples of the strengths and beauty of each language.

Rules for Reading 6-10

But that is all assuming that they have learned to adapt to Latin as it is, and not to force it to act as though it is English. This is where Hoyos’s last six rules come into play.

As you read through rules 6-10, you will immediately recognize that they are designed for readers heading into the intermediate and advanced levels of proficiency and beyond. Here Hoyos offers strategies for dealing with the whole range of complexity of Latin sentences.

In other words, these strategies are provided to enable fluent reading of authentic Latin prose from the classical era to the renaissance. The grand goal of classical education is to keep us in touch with the extraordinary writers of over two millennia whose ideas have shaped western civilization. (Ancient Greek anyone? See note above about the relative ease of learning a third language! And, in the case of studying both Latin and Greek, you will discover many common linguistic features.)

So this is why I highly recommend Hoyos’s book, Latin, How to Read it Fluently, which unpacks the rules and demonstrates their use. It is absolutely impossible to give them fair treatment in one short post. Instead, today I will offer an overview of what I think are the most salient features of Rules 6-10, items that you can build into a Latin I or II level class, and which we regularly used in Latin III and beyond. Don’t forget, you can access a PDF of the book yourself using the link above or get a hard copy on Amazon. It is well worth the read.

Essential Takeaways

At the most basic level, we can think of this next level of ‘Rules’ as a way to explain why Latin actually didn’t need punctuation: the Romans clearly signaled to their readers and hearers where they were in a train of thought. Three observations from Hoyos stay with me whatever Latin text I am reading.

1. Expect words to be arranged in groups with a clear beginning and ending, whether these are short phrases or long clauses. Different authors may have their own peculiar way of grouping words, so look for consistency.

2. Look for ‘signposts’ that point to a transition from one phrase or clause to another. Subordinating constructions could be introduced by conjunctions such as ut, or si, or by something else, such as a relative pronoun. Or it may be a vocabulary word that raises the expectation of particular subordinate constructions such as indirect speech or indirect questions. I always provide a list of coordinate and subordinate conjunctions for my students, as well as a list of ‘verb signposts.’ This list includes what a friend of mine calls ‘M&M’ verbs—i.e. those to do with ‘mouth’ or ‘mind’, such as dicere, or putāre—as well as verbs that might introduce an indirect command or an indirect question.

3. Follow the earlier rule of always reading through the entire sentence in order to work out how it is constructed, even if it goes on for an entire paragraph. The metaphor of navigating a sentence is helpful, though not an exact parallel. When you are considering the best way to get from the first word to the last, imagine that you are sailing in uncharted waters . Once in the midst of those waters, you pay attention to surroundings, to islands, to rocks that might shipwreck you, to mountains in the distance, to the sun and the stars and to the movement of the waves. In other words, there is a great deal happening at the same time both on the high seas and in a long sentence. It can be easy to lose your bearings. Hoyos provides pointers for paying attention to the way the Latin is ordered, which in turn enables the reader to use that knowledge in order to make meaning of the whole.

RULE 6A

Once a subordinate clause or phrase is begun, it must be completed syntactically before the rest of the sentence can proceed.

This rule addresses both the writer and the reader. It also reminds students not to grab words that they recognize and then attempt to tie them to other words later in the sentence.

RULE 6B

When one subordinate construction embraces another, the embraced one must be completed before the embracing one can proceed.

The most commonly used instances of this in simple passages are prepositional phrases and relative clauses.

RULE 6C

A Main Clause must be completed before another Main Clause can start.

A knowledge of coordinating conjunctions is very useful. To refer to an earlier point, such words signal the end of one main clause and the start of a new one.

RULE 7

Normally the words most emphasized by the author are placed at the beginning and end, and all the words in between contribute to the overall sense, including those forming an embraced or dependent word-group. A word-group can be shown by linking its first and last words by an ‘arch’ line.

This is why Latin sentences may well begin with a subject, to the relief of the native English speaker! But if not, there will most likely be a reason on the part of the author for delaying that information.

By the way, in this rule, Hoyos introduces a useful tool when reading: a pencil! Note, however, it is not for writing interlinear English! Rather it is to identify structure.

RULE 8

The words within two or more word-groups are never mixed up together: ‘arches’ do not cut across one another. But an ‘arch’ structure can contain one or more interior ‘arches’; that is, embraced word-groups.

Here Hoyos elaborates his point that words that could belong to a word group might actually be separated in order to enclose all the ideas in one place. Magnā cum laude is a very basic example of this rule.

RULE 9

All the actions in a sentence are narrated in the order in which they occurred.

Just ask Julius Caesar!

RULE 10

Analytical sentences are written with phrases and clauses in the order that is most logical to the author. The sequence of thought is signposted by the placing of word-groups and key words.

Just ask Cicero!

I am not being flippant when I mention Caesar and Cicero like that! And to prove that is it true, the best way to approach and attempt to utilize these last six rules is in sitū, where it matters. Hoyos provides numerous enlightening examples in his short book.

While it is a minority of students who will go on to read widely in Latin, those of us in the K12 trenches can point the way forward to children who show an interest in the ancient masters. There is an astonishing amount of Latin that has never been translated or even written about. We need future scholars who can open up these treasures for us.

Here are direct links to Hoyos’s materials:

Rules for Reading with annotations by Hoyos

Tips for Reading Latin - bookmark version by Ginny Lindzey

Rules for Reading Poster - also by Ginny

Latin: How to Read it Fluently, A Practical Manual (Amazon)

Latin: How to Read it Fluently, A Practical Manual (downloadable PDF)

Last time on this Substack, we imagined walking word by word through a Latin sentence and predicting what might come next based on the expectations generated by what we had already encountered. You could say we were focused on the micro level. This time we will work more at the macro level, paying attention to the micro as needed. What I have to offer here largely comes from my encounters with the person and thoughtful work of Professor Dexter Hoyos, now retired from the University of Sydney in Australia.

The underlying principle of his Ten Rules for Reading Latin is the delightful phrase: “TRDKE!” The Romans didn’t know English. In other words, it is our job as readers of Latin to learn to adapt to what is there and let the Latin speak to us so that we hear its message. (You may notice that this has already been a theme of previous ‘Random Remarks.’) As Hoyos points out, “Latin is not ‘hidden English’ in form or vocabulary or grammar. Don’t treat Latin sentences as though they are in the same word order and layout as English. If they are now and then, it’s entirely accidental.”

So, he developed Ten Rules for Reading Latin Prose. My own students and many others have found them transformational. Today we will look at his first five, which can be easily utilised by the beginning reader of Latin.

RULE 1

A new sentence or passage should be read through completely, several times if necessary, so as to see all its words in context.

This is a nice companion to the ‘expectations’ approach because it allows us the luxury of moving through the sentence without immediately analysing what we think might be going on word by word. And notice that, in this rule, there is absolutely no explicit mention of vocabulary or morphology.

RULE 2

As you read, register mentally the ending of every word so as to recognise how the words in the sentence relate to one another.

Now is the time to go micro. Does a pair of words have the same case ending? Could one word be modifying the other? Is this a noun-adjective pair? Or, in different place, is one noun being modified by another in the genitive case? Does there seem to be a plural subject, and if so, can we validate that by later finding a plural verb?

As we ask these kinds of questions, we should also be aware of ambiguous endings that might lead us astray - such as a word ending in the letter -i? Could that be a genitive singular, a nominative plural, a dative singular or even an ablative singular? Could it even be an imperative? What other word might there be in the sentence that enables us to disambiguate - such a verb that takes the dative, or an adjective that is followed by a genitive?

This is essential training for us as English speakers, because we are not used to paying much attention to endings. Forcing ourselves to consider the end before the beginning, and even before the meaning of the vocabulary, takes great self-discipline. But it is a discipline worth developing before reaching for the dictionary.

RULE 3

Recognise the way in which the sentence is structured: its Main Clause(s), subordinate clauses and phrases. Read them in sequence to achieve this recognition and re-read the sentence as often as necessary, without translating it.

What! Still no translation! But imagine yourself reading a Ciceronian sentence and allowing yourself to take the time to identify all the coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, each of which functions as a signpost to lead the way through his argument.

In fact, it is absolutely natural for anyone reading a second language to want immediately to plunge into translation, whether reading Latin or Hungarian. I have seen it when I was teaching French. No, let’s be honest, I did it when I was learning French! And when I was learning Latin! We are naturally eager to nail the meaning, and we have an innate belief that if we can just ‘get it into English’ that we will home dry. But, except in very short, very novice level sentences, that strategy will fail us in the end. Slowing down and re-reading is a much more powerful strategy in any language.

RULE 4

Now look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary; and once you know what all the words can mean, re-read the Latin to improve your grasp of the context and so clarify what the words in this sentence do mean.

Finally! Vocab! (Contrast this with the strategy of looking up all the words first and then playing jigsaw to organise them into some kind of meaning.)

And notice that Hoyos writes, ‘What all the words can mean,’ (italics added). Suppose, for example, there is a form of ago, agere in the sentence. Think how many possible meanings it could have. These can only be narrowed down once you know the context.

Or you may realise that a verb that you thought was passive verb is actually deponent, which means that an apparently random accusative noun is in fact a direct object. Meanwhile, it’s possible that some words that you thought you didn’t recognize may come to mind as you re-read, and as you discover the context. As a result, you don’t need to look them up after all!

RULE 5

If translating, translate only when you have seen exactly how the sentence works and what it means. Do not translate in order to find out what the sentence means. Understand first, *then* translate.

Allow yourself the luxury of reading and re-reading. You may discover that, yes, you do get what is being said without putting the whole thing into English. It is really possible to find that you have some kind of understanding of the message, even if you are not quite sure of how the grammatical details fit together or how you would write a coherent English sentence.

There is, of course, far more to this strategy. We will come back next time to the remaining five rules.

Meanwhile, if you read Latin regularly, and have never been introduced to these ideas, try them!

Here are direct links to Hoyos’s materials:

Rules for Reading with annotations by Hoyos You will find the quote about Latin not being ‘hidden English’ in the first rule about translating.

Tips for Reading Latin - bookmark version by Ginny Lindzey

Rules for Reading Poster - also by Ginny

Latin: How to Read it Fluently, A Practical Manual (Amazon)

Latin: How to Read it Fluently, A Practical Manual (downloadable PDF)

ME: I start typing a message: THE...

PHONE: (Checking the spelling), Do you mean They?

ME: No, I meant THE. Then I type: BASE.

PHONE: Aha! You must mean basement? Then again, you might want baseball - ?

ME: (Ummm, no! Wrong topic.) So, I hit space and...

PHONE: Well, you might want a verb. Here’s IS.

ME: (Aha! You read the last Substack on Front Loading. True - English does expects S+V at the start of a sentence.)

PHONE: Then again, how about OF? The word BASE often predicts a partitive.

ME: (Ooh! Fancy word. Did you take Latin?) But, no. BASE in my message is not a noun, it’s an adjective. And I type CALCULATION.

PHONE: Oh. Hmmm. Same suggestions: IS? OF? (But no idea what kind of verb it is...)

ME: Well, yes. This time it is a verb: HIT.

PHONE: (Stumped! I wasn’t expecting that! Did you spell it wrong?) I can suggest HUGS...!!

Word and Syntax Prediction

I won’t go on with this imaginary conversation because it’s getting tedious. But slowing down and thinking about what word might come next makes an important point about how to read from left to right. Each word can carry an expectation of another word. An article predicts a noun. But there could be an adjective before that noun. So, if you meet an adjective, you again can predict a noun.

In English our default is to expect a verb after a subject noun, and, yes, HIT is a verb. The tense could not have been predicted without other information such as the adverb YESTERDAY, or knowledge of the time frame from the larger context. Then what we can also predict from that verb, HIT, is that there is likely to be a direct object.

Context

The reason the phone was stumped by HIT is partly the lack of context. In a similar way, our students sometimes lose confidence in their ability to understand Latin because they are living in a completely different world from the time of the Romans.

What is a typical response to the inability to predict the next word? Have you noticed that students will resort to the Vocabulary Game (as we used to call it in our classroom)? They will trawl through a sentence hoping for clues based simply on vocabulary. Does it work? Sometimes! Enough to keep using it, but not enough to be sure of accuracy.

That said, there is definitely an argument for reading through a whole passage together aloud before even starting to check for comprehension. Choral reading is used in elementary ELA classrooms because does several things for readers:

1. It emphasizes implicitly that that any word is part of a sentence, and any sentence is part of a paragraph - and part of a larger story with its larger message.

2. The context may become apparent.

3. Reading aloud together builds fluency in mastering the sequence of sounds in Latin words without the risk of embarrassment in solo reading.

Ambiguity

The problem with the word, BASE, is that it is not immediately clear if it is a noun or an adjective. Ambiguity of that kind can be a problem in Latin too if an adjective is used substantively, because it can leave the reader floundering and looking for an adjacent noun. (That said, the noun could be separated from the adjective, as in magnā cum laude, but we can leave that for another day.)

And, of course, there is also ambiguity when a Latin noun or adjective ends in -a. It is a singular nominative? Or is a plural nominative or even a plural accusative? Disambiguation requires precise knowledge of declension and gender.

Sentence Patterns

Let’s suppose that my text message went on: THE BASE CALCULATION HIT ITS LOWEST POINT.

HIT can be a transitive verb and this fact raises the expectation of a direct object - POINT, whether or not a reader might consciously think about transitive or intransitive. And so here we have the most common sentence structure: S+V+DO. Note the classic English front loading - subject, then verb, then a direct object, all followed by a prepositional phrase that - at last! - provides some context.

Let’s recap for a moment. When introducing the concept of Kernels/Kernel Items/Core Elements, we pointed out that “these building blocks - bones - that form a basic sentence or Kernel are very simple. The sine quā nōn for meaning consists of just two or three items: S+V+/-DO/C/PN (Subject + Verb with OR without a Direct Object or a Complement or a Predicate Nominative). (see V. Syntax and Kernels - 3 Ways to Keep it Simple)

Phones And Students Can Recognize Patterns!

What our students need in our classrooms is to develop the confidence that meaning will be found as we slow down and ask ourselves what is likely to come next based on the words that we have already met. And if we move to the next word and realise that our prediction is incorrect, we should reread, rather than jumping to the conclusion that those crazy Romans couldn’t write clearly just because they didn’t do it like us!

Conclusion

We have some insight into why phones can get things at least partially right. AI has internalized syntax and spelling. If phones can suggest expectations based on Artificial Intelligence, our students can certainly do it with real, flexible intelligence and training!

=============

There is much more to say on this topic and we will come back to it. Meanwhile, here are links to a few great resources.

• If you will be at the American Classical League Institute at the College of William and Mary, be sure to attend Nava Cohen’s workshop. Register at this link for the in person or hybrid experience.

  

• Read more in an article in the Classical Outlook by Cohen and Kelly. Accessible via JSTOR:

• Reading Proficiency in Latin through Expectations and Visualization by Donka Markus and Deborah Pennell Ross. (Also on JSTOR)

Differences Distract

Whatever language we have grown up with naturally becomes the default model in our minds. As a result, it is natural to ask why another language doesn’t work the same way as our own. Our own language sets expectations for language structure that can cause dismay and confusion when we encounter a second language, because those expectations are not met. I have found that unpacking differences can help students to manage the two languages, and eventually to appreciate the value of those differences between Latin and English word order. As long as a students are, so to speak, ‘rebuking’ Latin for structuring sentences differently, they can struggle with making meaning because they are distracted by the differences.

WSJ cf. Julius Caesar

Let’s compare two short paragraphs, chosen at random merely because they are roughly the same length. However, in spite of the difference in topic and weightiness, I do think that they demonstrate salient features of the two languages.

...[E]ver since teen labor-force participation peaked at 57.9% in 1979...the market for teenage labor didn’t get harder. ... Teenagers left it on purpose—and understanding why they left, for whom and with what consequences turns a stale lament about kids these days into something more useful. [WSJ Why Teenagers Stopped Working in the Summer, Roland Fryer, June 9, 2026]

And:

Arpineius et Iūnius quae audiērunt ad lēgātōs dēferunt. Illī repentīnā rē perturbātī etsī ab hoste ea dīcēbantur, tamen nōn neglegenda exīstimābant maximēque hāc rē permovēbantur, quod cīvitātem ignōbilem atque humilem Eburōnum suā sponte populō Rōmānō bellum facere ausam vix erat crēdendum. [Julius Caesar, Dē Bellō Gallicō, V:27]

The point is not that Latin can get away with very long sentences—though of course it can, and that will be a topic for another time. While it is certainly the case that the two paragraphs are do not share the same register nor the same subject matter, it is the shape of their sentences that is worth noticing.

English Almost Always ‘Front-loads’ Subject and Verb

Each of the English sentences clearly starts with the subject:

• teen labor-force participation

• the market for teenage labor

• Teenagers

• Understanding

And in three of the four sentences, the verb follows immediately:

• teen labor-force participation peaked

• the market for teenage labor didn’t get harder.

• Teenagers left...

The fourth is a much more elegant and more complex sentence—as is to be expected from the WSJ. It does begin with the subject, but it’s a compound subject:

• understanding why they left,

• [understanding] for whom [they left]

and

• [understanding] with what consequences [they left]

...but there too, as expected, we immediately meet the verb: turns.

Latin Design

Now let’s look at the Latin sentences. Do they front-load the subject and verb?

• Arpineius et Iūnius

• Illī - or even: Illī repentīnā rē perturbātī

Well, yes, each begins with a subject. But, as our students soon learn, the verb is unlikely to follow unless it is a linking verb. The first sentence is short, so we don’t have to travel far to find dēferunt.

But the second sentence appears to have been designed to mimic why and how the legātī were perturbātī. Because of the way that Latin sentences can be arranged, Caesar can almost visually demonstrate their reasoning as the legates process the news received from the two envoys sent to the Gallic chieftain, Ambiorix. First of all, they begin to think through—exīstimābant—what the envoys had heard. But the next part of the sentence steps up their concern: permovēbantur. The conjunctions etsi, tamen, and (maximē)que guide the reader though their train of thought until it finally settles on the fact that such daring on the part of a cīvitās ignōbilis atque humilis...vix erat crēdendum [est].

Front Loading

My grandsons have introduced me to the differences between trucks. If you really want to pick up a heavy load, you need a vehicle—such as a garbage truck—that can reach under the bulk of an item and do the heavy lifting all at once. It’s a rather childish analogy, I concede, but take a look at most basic English sentences and you will see that they provide the heavy comprehension lifting for us by placing what we consider to be the most necessary thoughts up front. Latin, however, cannot be expected to follow that pattern every time. Indeed, why should we expect the Romans to follow the same patterns as English?

And I haven’t even addressed the fact that the typical English word order for a transitive sentence is S+V+DO, providing even more content within immediate reach of the reader. This, of course, is where Latin case endings come in—to clarify the roles of the various nouns no matter where they are placed in a sentence. In other words, in a basic sentence, where English syntax greatly relies on word order, Latin uses noun case endings. And that is a topic for a another ‘Remark.’

Here is the 1917 translation by H. J. Edwards from the Loeb Classics edition of DBG.

“Arpinius and Junius reported what they heard to the lieutenant-generals. The latter were alarmed by the sudden news, and, though the statement was made by an enemy, they nevertheless considered that it must not be disregarded. One thing especially stirred their anxiety—it was scarcely credible that the Eburones, an undistinguished and insignificant state, had dared of their own motion to make war on Rome.”

Finally, note how the translator breaks down the Latin into shorter English sentences, each one, “Drum roll, please!” ‘front-loaded’ with subject and verb.

Syntax and Kernels

Last time, we reviewed Science of Reading research that concluded that a sentence reflects the following perspective: “an abstract linguistic frame that has slots for categories of words and phrases.” (in Moats & Hennessy, 2011) - Hennessy & Salamone, 2025. You could think of the frame as a skeleton, essential but basic and not very interesting without the rest of the body which it carries.

And the previous week we noted that the building blocks - bones - that form a basic sentence or Kernel are very simple. The sine quā nōn for meaning consists of just two or three items: S+V+/-DO/C/PN (Subject + Verb with OR without a Direct Object or a Complement or a Predicate Nominative).

Three Ways to Nail the Kernel/Core Elements

I’m assuming that I’m writing for people with some knowledge of Latin, some of whom are teaching others. What I am offering is not a linear track in the process of learning to understand Latin, but rather a collection of skills and strategies which will enable the building of meaning wherever you are in your knowledge of the language. So, forgive me if I do not enter into a discussion of case endings at this point. I am making the assumption for these remarks that case endings are known and their uses understood.

The object of these strategies is simply to suggest ways for a reader to pay attention to them in the course of reading through a sentence from left to right. (In another Substack, we will tackle the topic of reading in the original Latin word order.) I should add that the ‘Random’ in the series title is included because I’d like to think that most of the strategies I propose are ‘stand alone,’ in that each one can serve to enhance reading effectiveness without being aware of the others.

Let’s start with these three sentences:

i. Kernel Chart

This strategy can be useful as an assessment though, let’s be honest, it’s a bit tedious! But all that is needed is a blank chart that can be recycled for any set of clauses or sentences at any level of difficulty. It forces the reader to slow down in order to make sure that he or she is genuinely recognizing the sentence skeleton, the basic structure.

ii. Pencil Markings

The advantage of pencil markings is that pencils are portable...until they are lost mid-semester. (Keep a jar of them on your desk if you’re a teacher!) But they are also correctable since first decisions sometimes need to be revised as you get further into a sentence.

The concept is also transferable throughout your Latin reading career. Your pencil can be pulled out whenever you find you are lost in a passage and need to slow down to identify the sentence structure. And once you have made the decision on the appropriate markings, that item is nailed and you can move on to managing the rest of the sentence and its content.

We will offer ideas for identifying and marking other parts of a sentence in a later Substack.

iii. Marginalia

Identifying kernel items/core elements in more complex Latin can be demanding because of Latin authors’ frequent use of participles in place of finite verbs. This is particularly the case with poetry.

Below are a few lines from Aeneid, Book I with S+V+ DO (where appropriate) noted in the margin. This can be a challenging activity using epic poetry because simple sentences seem be too ordinary for drama! That said, the exercise wonderfully illustrates the reality of basic syntax as the skeleton for basic meaning as well as the way that the poet can build upon it with the muscle and sinew and beauty of the language.

I hope you enjoyed the brief foray into Virgil! Seeing it again reminded me of the time we were reading the episode where we first meet Aeneas, and a student exclaimed, “Oh wow! Has this ever been made into a movie?!” She could see and hear the storm building around him and was overwhelmed by the visual arrangement of the words as well as their carefully orchestrated sounds. On another occasion, another student commented as he was memorizing a passage to recite, “Oh! I get it! This is music!”

So, there is way more to Latin than vocabulary, syntax and grammar!

Can anyone point me to major research on the most successful way to build meaning in Latin? Umm. No! I thought not! So where are teachers - and their students - to find ‘best practices’ in reading Latin? I would be delighted to be proven incorrect in my assessment of the situation and would be more than happy to point anyone to a place where they can ‘find it all!’ Meanwhile, these Random Remarks are an attempt to fill a gap.

We finished last week with the sine quā nōn of a sentence, the building blocks to form a basic sentence or Kernel : S+V+/DO/C/P (Subject + Verb with OR without a Direct Object or a Complement or a Predicate Nominative). The sentence chart shows other items that can expand meaning. Pronouns, prepositions, and interjections round out the options available to the writer - and thus need to be recognized by the reader.

St. Augustine - yes, the revered author of Dē Doctrīnā Christiānā - had exactly the same building blocks as the rest of us when he composed his remarkable works - no more, no less. My language experience outside English - other than Latin - includes French, Greek, Hebrew and Russian, at varying levels of proficiency. As far as I can remember, the eight parts of speech in the list above are consistent in all those languages. (By the way, as should be obvious by now, I am not heavily researching these ‘Remarks!’) But the point I am making is that for the English native speaker, there are bridges from one language to the next not merely at the word level, with parts of speech, but also at the sentence level. Both languages have the same needs and similar tools for making meaning.

Syntax

Donka Markus, of the University of Michigan Department of Classical Studies introduces her Elementary Latin students to the language with a highly functional presentation entitled, ‘You are a Builder,’ because this is exactly what is happening as we make sense of what is written. Like Augustine, every other writer or reader, famous or ordinary, uses the same building blocks to build meaning and to invite comprehension.

No-one ever doubts that vocabulary is central to understanding any language. However, what is often forgotten is that words always come to us arranged in sentences, and we have to know how to manage them there. But that is where we stumble on the true challenge of reading a second language, because arrangement varies from one language to another. (Much more on this later!)

Etymonline provides this definition of the word:

syntax(n.) c. 1600, “systematic arrangement of parts;” by 1610s specifically in grammar, “construction of sentences, arrangement of words according to established usage,” from French syntaxe (16c.) and directly from Late Latin syntaxis, from Greek syntaxis “a putting together or in order, arrangement, a grammatical construction,” from stem of syntassein “put in order,” from syn- “together” (see syn-) + tassein “arrange” (see tactics). Transferred to logical systems by 1922, to computers by 1958.

Yes, There Is Research!

Dr. Markus and her colleague Dr. Deborah Ross have been skillful and eloquent leaders in providing commentary on reading Latin, and we will come back to them in other Substacks. But since reading is a human endeavor, it is entirely reasonable to examine research on reading English to help us to think about reading Latin.

This is what I meant in an earlier Substack about Strands. You may have seen articles recently about the Mississippi Miracle! How did it happen that Mississippi, once ranked 48th in the nation in K-12 education, jumped to number one in fourth grade reading comprehension? According to The Week publication, Mississippi passed the “Literacy-Based Promotion Act in 2013, paving the way for implementing the “science of reading” in K-3 classrooms.”

The research that has built the Science of Reading movement is one strand that I plan to return to regularly.

Syntax and Reading Comprehension: What’s the Connection?

Many states have now adopted Science of Reading based curricula, so it is relatively easy to explore evidence-based practices that are being developed. In February I signed up for an online Science of Comprehension Symposium offered by Amplify I had some idea of what to expect, but what blew me away was Nancy Chapel Eberhardt’s presentation on Syntax and Reading Comprehension.

Her approach aligns with what happens in the Latin classroom when we introduce parts of speech in a dynamic way, stressing function over nomenclature, and doing it all in the context of meaningful sentences. In other words, to quote Donka Markus, when we see ourselves as builders in the reading process, using the grammatical building blocks provided to us.

Eberhardt’s presentation included the formula known as the Simple View of Reading. Designed by Gough and Tumner, 1986, 1990, it is widely utilized across Science of Reading literature to provide a model of the components of reading comprehension. And where does she locate ‘Syntax?’ - right there in the Language Comprehension frame.

I was especially struck by a quote from an article she wrote with Julia Salamone, “Syntax and Sentence Comprehension: Challenges and Opportunities” in the journal, Perspectives on Language and Literacy. There she points out that a sentence reflects the following perspective: “an abstract linguistic frame that has slots for categories of words and phrases.” (in Moats & Hennessy, 2011) - Hennessy & Salamone, 2025.

And so, we have come a full circle: we are right back to our formula for sentence possibilities found in the sentence chart we introduced last week.

We will return in a later Substack to other places where Eberhardt’s research can inform the Latin reader, but I will end today where she ended her webinar: “What’s relatively new in the conversation now is that we’re looking at how syntax is impacting reading comprehension.”

Could this be some of the research our Latin teaching profession is looking for?

How often have we heard that cry from a frustrated student! I was often tempted to reply, “No, of course it doesn’t - nothing that Cicero [for example] wrote makes sense, yet people still read him!”

How is that complaint even thinkable? Why would reasonable students sign up for a experience in which it appears that they are regularly exposed to meaningless collocations of words?

In previous Substacks we have already addressed part of the answer to this question. Words do have meaning and we must do all in our power to prove that in our classroom. At the very least, this means that as readers we must adapt ourselves to the text we are reading, and not attempt to manipulate it in an attempt to force it into a form that we can manage. For example, students frequently identify every Latin word that they know in a sentence and then - as if working with a set of magnetic tiles on a refrigerator door - rearrange them to make ‘sense,’ only to find that they the result is still meaningless.

Of course, such a strategy can work often enough in the beginning to provide just enough assurance that it should be retained as a viable tool. However, to quote Dexter Hoyos, Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, “TRDKE! - The Romans Didn’t Know English!” Latin is not English in some hidden code, it is the communicative tool of another world inviting us to hear its voices, to listen rather than impose our own meaning.

While I am not committing myself in these weekly remarks to laying out a cumulative sequence of strategies, today’s discussion does address the most fundamental level.

Sine quā nōn

Sentences have to make sense. My student’s expectation was exactly right. So, what components must a sentence have to be considered a sentence? And then - and this is important - will a Latin sentence have the same requirements as an English one? Is that knowledge transferable?

Suppose I were to say, ‘The elephant.’ Is that a sentence? No, not unless a verb is assumed in answer to a question such as, “What destroyed my tent?” This means that at the most basic level, we can expect a noun and a verb in a sentence. Is that requirement true in Latin and in English? Yes. But two-word sentences are rare in any language. The missing verb in my reply (sometimes called the gapped verb) is ‘destroyed.’ And of course, the original event also included a ‘tent’ - grammatically speaking, the direct object.

None of this grammar talk is new to you, I am sure. You are probably way ahead of me and thinking, ‘Oh, yes, nominative and accusative!’ But it was only after I had completed my Master’s in Latin that I was introduced to the following formula that works for mapping any sentence. It would have been nice to have had it explained to me a little earlier!

Kernels

The basic English statement about the elephant could be written S+V+DO , where S=Subject, V=Verb and DO=Direct Object. It turns out that we can generalise all sentences using the formula: S+V+/-DO/C/P, where C=Complement and P=Predicate Nominative. Sentences will always have a subject and a verb, even if one is implied, like the verb omitted in the answer to the question, ‘What destroyed my tent?’ Sentences may or may not also include direct objects or complements/predicate nominatives, hence the DO/C/P option. But sentences can be complete without these, hence the ‘plus or minus’ option. There are various names for these sentence elements. They may be described as the Kernel of the sentence, or sometimes as Core Elements. At the risk of stating the obvious, we can say that this is true for all clauses, whether main or subordinate - and therefore can provide huge help in navigating that lengthy Ciceronian sentence! (More will be offered on this topic in later episodes.)

Such a formula can be a comfort to students, whether or not they have previously met grammatical terms such as subject, direct object etc. This is because the formula reassures students that they will be able to identify the key items that give the sentence shape and meaning. That it is true for reading both Latin and English is another one of the bonuses that a Latin class provides in developing literacy.

Of course there are other components of sentences, and, as many teachers say, they provide ‘color’ or ‘gravy’ or ‘icing’ even though they are not actually necessary for a string of words to be called a sentence. To put it in more technical terms, they are modifiers and connectors which enable development of ideas - as endlessly and brilliantly used by Cicero!

Aids to Understanding

Finally, note that I did not introduce these terms as abstracts or apart from an actual piece of information - though, to be truthful, I have never had a tent destroyed by anything! Above all, when we discuss sentence structure, or grammar and syntax, fascinating though it might be, we need to remember that the goal of accurate identification and analysis is to foster clear understanding.

More on all of those in other discussions, but I am finishing with an elegant visual of all sentence possibilities.

Thanks to Nava Cohen, former elementary school Latin teacher extraordinaire,and now a PhD student at Northwestern University, for this visual. She credits it to Rickie Crown, National-Louis University and Baker Demonstration School Emerita. It is based on material from the University of Michigan Classics Department.

These short Substacks will seek to unpack what I have learned inside and outside the classroom about the business of reading Latin. Each one will be a stand alone piece, in no particular sequence, reflection my own research and pedagogical experiences. I taught Latin at various levels for over thirty-five years and even now I read it daily.

There is no doubt that it has shaped not only our own native tongue but the whole of Western culture in myriad ways. In recent years it is seeing somewhat of a revival as the cornerstone of what is known as the Classical School Movement.

That development is the prime motivation for my writing: perhaps I can share some of my journey with other learners to smooth their roads, and enable to them to delight in this beautiful, flexible, yet precise language.

Use Your Words

I love the new expression that I hear from mothers with very young children, ‘Use your words!’ As the mother of five children of my own, I remember feeling frustrated at how many months went by without words. I had a sense of the child’s personality, yet communication from them was limited to expressions of delight, pain, hunger, anger or calm, ranging from cooing to screaming.

Using words is the next step into the human world of understanding one another. Words offer precision both to the speaker and to the hearer because they pin down the thought or the feeling and provide a bridge into the life of another.

Communication

This is true for Latin words! Yes! Really! Whether you find those words in a dusty Latin grammar, online, in a Roman Missal, in a Loeb classic edition of Pliny or in a short modern Latin novella, their goal is always communication. Someone has something to say and wants someone else to hear it.

That is where we must begin: words are not merely a collection of letters or sounds. They are never merely a line in a dictionary or a grammar chart. They are not simply two-dimensional shapes.

Words have meaning and offer a pathway to...literally everywhere! That is why reading with understanding is so crucial. And that is why I am offering these thoughts to anyone else who is interested in reading Latin fluently.