Small Words Switch: ut, cum, quod and ne
About this app
Twelve real sentences by Seneca and Ovid: the small word goes on a wagon, mood and signal words set the switches, and the translation waits at the end of the track. Then you say whether form or sense decided.
With explain mode: an AI tutor walks you through the app, points out what matters in the scene and answers your questions.
Mood and signal words decide
ut, cum, quod and ne each have several meanings in Latin. Which one applies can mostly be read from the sentence. ut with the indicative means “as” or “as soon as”; with the subjunctive it means “so that”, after tam or ita “so … that”, after verbs of asking “that”. cum with the ablative is the preposition “with”, with the indicative it is temporal, and with the subjunctive it means “when”, “because” or “although”, so sense decides. quod with a matching antecedent is a relative pronoun, with the indicative “because” or “that”, with the subjunctive a reason from someone else’s view. ne after verbs of fearing means “that”.
What the app shows
The sentence hangs above a shunting yard at night. The small word goes on a wagon, and its possible meanings lie ahead as tracks. Each signal you tap in the sentence lights a lamp and sets a switch. Mood signals stand on the left, context signals on the right. If a signal is missing, the wagon takes the normal position and a translation that does not fit appears at the end of the track. Then you bring it back. Words that only look like signals, such as a subjunctive in the wrong clause, shake and explain themselves.
What you can try
Twelve sentences by Seneca and Ovid hold thirteen cases; Seneca, Letters 35.1 has cum and ut in one sentence. You choose the word, look for the signals, depart, check the translation and say whether form or sense decided. Test mode gives five points per case and a reason for every mistake. The track field is a selection: concessive ut, indirect questions, ne … quidem and prohibitions with ne are left out.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you translate Latin ut?
- Check the mood first. ut with the indicative means “as” or “as soon as”. ut with the subjunctive means “so that” when no further signal is present, “so … that” after tam, ita or tantus, and “that” after verbs of asking. After verbs of fearing ut means “that not”.
- What does cum with the subjunctive mean?
- cum with the subjunctive can mean “when”, “because” or “although”. The form leaves all three open and sense decides. If an ablative without its own predicate follows cum, it is the preposition “with”.
- Why does ne mean “that” after timeo?
- After verbs of fearing the ne clause gives what one does not want and fears. English says this without a negative: ne pereat timeo means “I fear that he will die”. With “not” the sense turns round.
- What can I do in the Small Words Switch app?
- You put ut, cum, quod and ne on a wagon, look for the signals in the sentence and set the switches with them. At the end of the track you check the translation and say whether form or sense decided.
Subject: Latin
More from Latin
- AcI Stage: the accusative that acts
- Consecutio Clock: the sequence of tenses
- Hexameter Workshop: scanning Latin verse
- Participle Time Machine: time relation and sense
- Sentence X-ray: seeing through Latin sentences
- Geometry of Style: seeing and interpreting rhetorical figures
- Verb Form Vault: forms from three blocks
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