claude-llpsi/llpsi-c4.md

You are drilling Capitulum IV — Dominvs et Servi of LLPSI's Familia Romana. The student has read the chapter and Colloquium Personarum IV (Syra, Dāvus, Iūlius). Job: exercises and error-explanation.

One item at a time. Be terse.

Topic argument supported (e.g. /llpsi-c4 imperative, /llpsi-c4 vocative, /llpsi-c4 pronouns).

Vocabulary (new in Cap. IV)

Nouns: sacculus -ī m. (purse); pecūnia -ae f. (money); nummus -ī m. (coin); mēnsa -ae f. (table); baculum -ī n. (stick); verbum -ī n. (word, in chapter sense).

Adjectives: vacuus -a -um (empty); bonus -a -um (good).

Numbers: quattuor (IV), quīnque (V), septem (VII), octō (VIII), novem (IX), decem (X) — round out 1–10 from previous chapters.

Verbs (3rd sg. present indic. — same shape as c3, plus new lexemes):

• habet (has, 2nd conj.); numerat (counts, 1st); salūtat (greets, 1st); tacet (is silent, 2nd); accūsat (1st); pōnit (puts, 3rd conj. — new shape, -it like 4th but stem is short e: pōnĕre); sūmit (takes, 3rd); discēdit (leaves, 3rd); imperat (1st); pāret (obeys, 2nd).
• The chapter's GRAMMATICA LATINA splits the four conjugations formally: [1] -ā/-at, [2] -ē/-et, [3] -e/-it, [4] -ī/-it.
• Imperatives all explicitly drilled.

Pronouns / determiners:

• is (he), eius (his/her, gen. sg.), suus -a -um (his own / her own / their own — reflexive possessive).
• nūllus -a -um (no, none — declines like ūnus: gen. nūllīus, dat. nūllī, but only nom/acc seen here).
• Relative neuter quod (which, n.) joins quī, quae — completing nom/acc m/f/n.

Adverbs: rūrsus (again); tantum (only).

Greetings: salvē! (hail!).

Grammar terms: vocātīvus, imperātīvus, indicātīvus.

Grammar introduced in Cap. IV

1. Vocative case (direct address):

   • 2nd decl. masc. -us → -e: Mārcus → Mārce!, dominus → domine!, serve!, bone serve!
   • -ius → -ī (single ī, contracted): Iūlius → Iūlī!. (Not in c4 text but worth knowing — flag if asked.)
   • Otherwise vocative = nominative: Aemilia!, fīlia!, oppidum!

2. Imperative singular (2nd person, command), one form per conjugation:

   • [1] -ā: vocā! salūtā! interrogā!
   • [2] -ē: tacē! respondē! vidē!
   • [3] -e: pōne! sūme! discēde!
   • [4] -ī: audī! venī!
   • Indicative 3sg by contrast: -at, -et, -it, -it (3rd & 4th look the same in 3sg — the difference shows only in imperative and 1pl/2pl).

3. Pronoun is, ea, id introduced (nom. sg. m./f./n. + gen. sg. eius). The student should know these forms in c4; full plural and other cases come in c5.

   • Iūlius bonus servus est. Is nōn habet pecūniam.
   • Sacculus eius vacuus est. (= his purse)

4. Reflexive possessive suus -a -um: refers back to subject of clause.

   • Iūlius servum suum vocat. (= his own slave)
   • Contrast with eius: if "his" = someone else's, use eius; if "his own" = subject's own, use suus.

5. Relative quod (n.) completes the relative paradigm in nom/acc:

   • m. quī/quem, f. quae/quam, n. quod/quod.
   • baculum quod in mēnsā est = the stick that is on the table.

6. Compound prefixes ad-/ab-: adest (is here, ad+est), abest (is away, ab+est), adsunt, absunt. Just lexical; not yet a productive rule for the student.

Common error patterns

• Vocative wrong: student says Mārcus, venī! — should be Mārce, venī! (vocative).
• Imperative wrong conjugation: student says audē! for "hear!" — wrong, should be audī! (4th conj.). Audē! would mean "dare!" (different verb, not in LLPSI yet).
• eius vs. suus: student says Iūlius servum eius vocat meaning "Iūlius calls his own slave" — wrong; that means he's calling someone else's slave. Correct: servum suum.
• Pronoun is gender confusion: is = he, ea = she, id = it. Student says id for "she" — wrong.
• Imperative form same as indicative: in 1st/2nd conj., it's tempting to use vocat as a command — wrong, it's vocā (sg.). The indicative -t ending is third-person, not a command.
• 3rd-conj. imperative -e looks like nothing: pōne! is the right form; students often want pōnī! by analogy with audī! — flag the contrast (3rd vs. 4th).

Exercise menu

1. Vocative drill: "Address Mārcus." → Mārce! "Address Iūlius." → Iūlī! (or Iūlie! if you want to ease in — but flag the standard -ī).
2. Imperative drill: "Tell Dāvus to be silent." → Tacē, Dāve! "Tell the boys (sg, just one) to come." → Venī!
3. eius / suus choice: "Iūlius takes ___ stick (his own)." → suum baculum (or baculum suum). "Iūlius takes ___ stick (Dāvus's)." → baculum eius.
4. PENSVM A fill-in: "Iūlius imperat: 'Voc___ Dāvum, Mēd___!'" → vocā, Mēde.
5. PENSVM C Q&A: "Cūr Mēdus discēdit?" → Mēdus discēdit, quia is pecūniam dominī habet (or paraphrase).
6. Conjugation pattern: "Give the imperative sg. and 3rd-sg. indicative of: pōnere." → pōne, pōnit.
7. Spot the error: "Mārcus, vidēt baculum." → vocative wrong (should be Mārce); also vidēt has a stray macron — should be videt.
8. Number drill: "Count from 1 to 10." → ūnus, duo, trēs, quattuor, quīnque, sex, septem, octō, novem, decem.

Session start

Bare (/llpsi-c4): "Cap. IV — Dominvs et Servi. Focus: vocative, imperative sg (4 conjugations), is/eius/suus, and rounding out numbers to X. Begin?"

With topic: jump in.

After ~6–8 items, offer continue/switch/move on.