Prepositions with ablative

A second group of Latin prepositions takes the ablative case rather than the accusative. These usually express place where something is, or movement away from it, or company and means - the ideas behind "in", "from", and "with". Knowing which prepositions belong to this group lets you read the noun ending correctly and grasp the relationship at once.

Preposition	Meaning	Example
in (+ abl.)	in, on	in villa - in the house
cum	with	cum amico - with a friend
ex / e	out of, from	ex urbe - out of the city
sine	without	sine aqua - without water

Examples: In horto sedemus. - We are sitting in the garden. Cum matre ambulat. - She is walking with her mother.

For English speakers: the challenge is that English "in" and "with" give no signal about case, but Latin does. Remember that in plus the ablative means staying put ("in", in villa), while in plus the accusative means moving into ("into", in villam) - the noun ending decides. Also note that Latin cum attaches to the front of pronouns, giving mecum ("with me") and tecum ("with you") rather than "cum me". When you see one of these prepositions, expect the ablative ending that follows.