Directions: There are 2 kinds of directions in Latin.

Latin uses a spelling change in the basic word after the directions IN and OFF.

[To satisy your curiosity, the other direction is TO, and that's another matter!]

After "in".............lupus and such words > lupo

.......................scutum and its type > scuto

.......................lupa, tabula and such words > lupá, tabulá, etc.

.......................dux, miles, and other words that become -em in the actee form > duce, milite, etc.

That same spelling change can express HOW a thing happens, as in WITH a sword: gladio. For that, no other word: "gladio" in and of itself means "with a sword".

You're right....it could get really confusing if there were no distinction at all between IN, OFF, DOWN FROM, WITH...so there are specific words for these directions and one must use them. For the technophiles, these directions are called prepositions. Why are they called that? Because they come "in front". They're "pre-positioned" to give you the right direction...like signposts.

in.....in [yes, "in" is a Latin word.] also means: "within", "inside" or even "on"; simplest location...remember it's only English that has 4 words for this idea. Latin has just one. "In." [say een.]

e[x] ...."out of " [the difference between e and ex is that between a and an in English: it's sound, not meaning. Same with a, ab.]

a[b]....from, as in "away from the town." or "from the town"

de...."down from, off," as in "off the table." "down from the hill." [Note: English "stacks" directions one atop the other. Latin is quite happy with just one, thank you!

cum..."with", used with people! He went "with Alice." Think of "com"pany. As a matter of fact, "com" is a countrified variant of "cum" [say: koom]

[nothing]..."with", used with things, as in HOW a thing was done, with what instrument: he hit the mark "with his sword". Using "cum" conjures a really silly picture...he and his sword together plotting to hit something...but if you just say "gladio" ...you've said "with a sword".

Bene! Femina aquam urná portat [carries.] Caesar et Antonius militem scuto portant. Caesar Antonium e casá portat. Femina cum Antonio Caesarem videt.

Now, we need to say something about order in which things happen. The original actor/actee group holds firm. BUT if it's "the-woman-with-Antony", that whole expression can come together as a package. If the woman sees "Caesar-with-Antony" the order would be "Femina Caesarem cum Antonio videt." [Latin would tend to stick in "who is walking", but that's a bit advanced yet.]

New words:

nauta nautam [looks like female, but rarely is] sailor

navis navem [ship]

navigare navigat sail

ambulare ambulat ...walk

ager agrum [field: agricultural]

stare stat [stand [still]]

Note: you sail "on a ship" rather than "sailing a ship". Nauta nave navigat. "A sailor sails on a ship." Not quite as bad a tongue-twister in Latin as in English!

pirata piratam [rarely female] pirate

Pirata navem gladio capit. Nauta scutum gladiumque capit. Navem defendit. [defendere defendit: defend]

Nauta navem amat. Nauta nave e Sicilia navigat. Caesar navem habet. An Antonius nave navigat?

Femina e casá ambulat. Femina cum gladiatore a foro ambulant. E foro ambulant. Caesar Brutum in foro videt. Calpurnia Antonium in foro videt. Lupus de colle [collis collem: hill] ambulat. Caesar Brutum in agro videt. Caesar cum Bruto in agro ambulat. De colle ambulant.  Nonne Cleopatra nave navigat? An Caesar in agro ambulat? An lupum videt? An gladio navem capiunt?

This is where one really begins to need practice. Put together a lot of sentences and run them past your eye until you get really used to this curious way of doing "in," "from," "with" and "with." It's quite different, and it takes some getting used to. Practice, practice, practice.

Very soon now I'm going to start providing some Latin comics, the adventures of Galba and the Pirates, for starters. You just about know enough. There's just a couple of fairly easy lessons to go!

TECHNICALITIES

That new "case" is the "ablative," used for certain words of direction or instrument. Those are called "prepositions" in English.

Even more obscure technicality: in really, really early and rural Latin there used to be a "locative" case. It was gobbled up by the "ablative", since in most instances, it looked a lot like it. There used to be an "instrumental" case, too, which was also devoured by the "ablative" for exactly the same reason: most people couldn't tell the difference and consequently forgot there was a difference. That's why there's that "plain" usage of "gladio," "with a sword," for instance, or "urná", "in a jar". It's really an instrumental case in sheep's clothing, but no one cared any more what it was, grammatically: the average Roman didn't have a degree in linguistics and just cared what it sounded like... Which was just like the ablative. So the ablative ended up with a whole truckload of jobs, a catch-all case for anything left over.

One of the only survivals of the old cases was the word "domum": home, and curiously...we talk about going "home" or being "home" too. Would you believe the pesky locative has a survival in English, too?

That's the way languages change, growing simpler and simpler in one sense, that everything sounds alike, until people absolutely have to make distinctions and recomplicate things to make sure the difference is heard. The usual impetus for simplification is a massive influx of new speakers, as in an immigration, and the usual reason for complication is a long period without them.