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Introduction to Latin:
Lesson 4

By Linas

The Latin word for I know is scio.

Use ego and id as well and say:

I know it.

Answer: Ego id scio.
Not correct. Please try again.

If dico is I say and dicis is you say and scio is I know, try to guess what you know would be:

You know.

Answer: Tu scis.
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If you wanted to say I don’t know, you could say non scio. However, you could also say nescio. These two forms are totally interchangeable and it’s more of a matter of taste but talking about taste, nescio sounds cooler to me so I’ll be using it in the lesson. How do you say:

I don’t know.

Answer: Ego nescio.
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What would you don’t know be:

You don’t know.

Answer: Tu nescis.
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Imagine somebody asked you something and you want to tell them you don’t know. Drop ego for the sake of shortness.

I don’t know.

Answer: Nescio.
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This scio and non scio/nescio can also mean understand.

If somebody is talking to you and you don’t get what they are saying, you could say.

I don’t understand.

Answer: Nescio.
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You could also say (don’t drop ego in this case; just because it sounds cooler if you don’t - there is no rule about this, however, and usually you would drop it):

I don’t understand Latin.

Answer: Ego Latinam nescio.
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Of course, you could say Ego Latinam non scio as well. Matter of taste, again. Say:

You don’t understand Latin.

Answer: Tu Latinam nescis.
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Finally, we’ll be dropping tu in the next sentences. Say:

You understand Latin.

Answer: Latinam scis.
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Remember, that you send scis to the front and add ne to ask a question. Ask:

Do you understand Latin?

Answer: Scisne Latinam?
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The Latin word for like this is sic.

To say it is like this, you would say it like this is but you could drop it and say like this is. Say it:

It’s like this.

Answer: Sic est.
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In Latin (just like in Lithuanian, by the way), if you want to say yes, you use the word for like this. You do this because when somebody asks you stuff and you want to confirm it (by saying yes) you would say like this or it is like this (meaning: it is like you said) and this sic grew into meaning yes.

So, imagine somebody asked you:

Do you understand Latin?

Answer: Scisne Latinam?
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And you want to answer:

Yes, I understand Latin.

Answer: Sic, Latinam scio.
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Finally, let’s learn another word for Latin. Latinam could mean Latin but if you wanted to say Latinly which means in Latin you could say Latine!

Say the same things using Latine instead of Latinam.

Do you understand Latin?

Answer: Scisne Latine?
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Yes, I understand Latin.

Answer: Sic, Latine scio.
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So, now you can recognize both forms Latinam and Latine. That’s useful.