Expert: Maria - 9/15/2004

Question
Hi!  I'm writing a screenplay, and I have a villian who goes by the nom de guerre of "The Martyr's Heir."  How would that translate into Latin?

What's the general guideline for possessives in Latin?  I know how to do it in English and in French, but I don't have the first clue about how to do it in Latin.

Thanks a bunch,
MJ

Answer
Hello,

"The Martyr's Heir" is in Latin:

“Martyris Heres”.

As for the general guideline for possessives in Latin, bear in mind that the possessive adjectives/pronouns   take the gender, number, and case of the noun to which they refer.

For example:
-“Haec ornamenta sunt mea” (these are my jewels) ['mea',i.e. ‘my' in English,  is nominative neuter plural, as it agrees with the nominative neuter plural  ‘ornamenta'].

-“Domus mea” (my house)[‘mea', i.e. ‘my' in English,  is nominative feminine singular as it agrees with ‘domus' which is a nominative feminine singular]

-“Pater noster” (our father) )[‘noster', i.e. ‘our ' in English,  is nominative masculine singular as it agrees with ‘pater' which is a nominative masculine singular].

-“Patrimonium tuum”( your inheritance) )[‘tuum', i.e. ‘your' in English, is nominative neuter singular as it agrees with ‘patrimonium' which is a nominative neuter singular].

-“Germani suas copias castris eduxerunt (the Germans led their troops out of the camp) [‘suas', i.e. ‘their' in English , is accusative feminine plural as it agrees with ‘copias' which is an accusative feminine plural].

Hope this can help you.

Best regards
Maria
______________________________________________
The Heir = HERES
Martyr's = MARTYRIS