2. Possessive pronouns and modifying genitives normally stand after their nouns. When placed before their nouns they are emphatic, as fīlia mea, my daughter; mea fīlia, my daughter; casa Galbae, Galba’s cottage; Galbae casa, Galba’s cottage.
Notice the variety of emphasis produced by writing the following sentence in different ways:
| Fīlia mea agricolīs cēnam parat (normal order) Mea fīlia agricolīs parat cēnam (mea and cēnam emphatic) Agricolīs fīlia mea cēnam parat (agricolīs emphatic) |
3. An adjective placed before its noun is more emphatic than when it follows. When great emphasis is desired, the adjective is separated from its noun by other words.
| Fīlia mea casam parvam nōn amat (parvam not emphatic) Fīlia mea parvam casam nōn amat (parvam more emphatic) Parvam fīlia mea casam nōn amat (parvam very emphatic) |
4. Interrogative words usually stand first, the same as in English.
5. The copula (as est, sunt) is of so little importance that it frequently does not stand last, but may be placed wherever it sounds well.
[69.] EXERCISE
First learn the [special vocabulary], p. 284.
Note the order of the words in these sentences and pick out those that are emphatic.