Support This Website at No Cost to You!!!

Latin Vocabuary: And

by Steve
(San Francisco)

Dear Latin Teacher,

It seems the Romans used both et and -que to mean 'and' in English. Is there a reason why sometimes the writers choose et and sometimes -que?

Thank you, Steve


Dear Steve,

These two Latin words meaning and are basically interchangable. If there is a very slight difference in meaning it is that -que implies a very close connection.

For example, Senatus Populusque Romanus means the Senate and the Roman People, implying a very close connection.

Another difference between et and -que is that et can be an adverb meaning even or also, where -que is always a copulative conjunction.

When it comes to copulative conjunctions, atque and ac are much stronger than et and -que.

Hope this helps, and thanks for asking a Latin teacher.

Sincerely,

John

See more Latin roots

Return to Vocabulary Lesson Plans.

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Ask a Latin Teacher.