Latin Prepositions

(I borrowed some of the following examples from the web, but they are naïvely anglicized or merely “cute” and need to be turned into real Latin.

Prepositions Governing the Accusative

        notes   example
ad   to, toward   motion   Ad senatum ambulo. (I walk to the Senate)
aduersus   (abstract)   against   Gladiator aduersus militem stabat. (The gladiator stood against the soldier.)
ante   in front of,
before 		  position   Cloelia carrum ante equum posuit. (Cloelia put the cart before the horse.)
apud   at, among   position   Asterix et Obelix apud Romanos sunt. (Astérix and Obélix are visiting Romans.)
circiter   about   position    
circum   around   position   Milites circum transfugam stabant. (The soldiers stood around the deserter.)
cis, citra   on this side of   position  
contra   against   position   Puer contra condus pugnauit. (The child fought with the shopkeepers.)
erga   toward   motion  
extra   outside   position   Extra casam pugnauerunt. (They fought outside the house.)
in   into, onto, on   motion   Hercules saxum in casam iecit. (Hercules threw the rock into the house.)
infra   below   position  
inter   between,
among 		  position   Inter amicos sto. (I stand among friends.)
intra   within   position   Intra fæces et urinas nascimur. (Amid feces and urine are we born.—St. Augustine)
juxta   near   position  
ob   because of   cause  
per   through   motion  
post   behind, after   position   Flauius equum post carrum ponebit. (Flavius will put the horse after the cart.)
praeter   beyond, past  
prope   near   position  
propter   because of   cause   Post hoc ergo propter hoc. (“After it thus because of it.”—logical fallacy)
secundum   next to   position  
sub   under   motion  
super   over   position  
supra   above, over   position   Pontis supra aquam territum. (a bridge over fearful water.)
trans   across   motion   Ventus trans flumen flat. (the wind blows across the stream.)
uersus   toward   motion  
ultra   beyond    

Nota bene: When towns or islands are small or distant enough to be considered one place, the prepositions ad and in are simply expressed by the accusative case of the place name.

Until vulgar Latin introduced such notions, a great deal of expression in the accusative was done without prepositions, particularly to denote duration of time and direction.

Cloelia nauit dua horas. (Cloelia swam for two hours.)

Iacobius Romam iuit. (James went to Rome.)



Prepositions Governing the Genitive

Almost non-existent, there may be a case of tenus in the sense of as far as attested. And also causa, by reason or on account of. This is mostly a note to remind myself to look into these.



Prepositions Governing the Dative

None. In fact, the dative lost, starting among the masses in classical times, some of its values to other cases governed by prepositions.

In classical Latin: Severus Titi librum donat. (Severus is giving the book to Titus.)

But 2,000 years ago already, some were starting to say, Severus ad Titum librum donat.

In modern French, « Sévère donne le livre à Tite ».


Prepositions Governing the Ablative

        notes   example
a, ab, abs   by   agent   ab Aenea esus. (Eaten by Aeneas.)
  since, after   time   a censu natus. (born after the census.)
  from   motion from   a domu veniens. (coming from home.)
  from, out of   cause   ab augerio territus. (frightened by augury.)
cum   with   accompaniment   cum Marco edi. (I ate with Mark.)
de   down from   motion from   de caelo descendere. (to fall from the sky.)
  about,
concerning 		  subject   liber de Caesare. (a book about Caesar.)
e, ex   from, out of   source   de danista ex infernis affligi. (to be injured by the money lender from hell.)
in   in, on   position   in saxo sto. (I am standing on the rock.)
prae   before   position   Cum prae Caesare steti, mihi ad Siciliam ablegauit. (Because I stood before Caesar, he banished me to Sicily.)
pro   in front of, for   position   pro vobis venio, ut post vos sto. (I come before you to stand behind you.)
sine   without   accompaniment   amor sine spe. (love without hope.)
sub   below, under   position   aqua sub ponte. (water under the bridge.)

Nota bene: When towns or islands are small or distant enough to be considered one place, the prepositions ab and e (and their other forms) are simply expressed by the ablative case of the place name.

Until vulgar Latin introduced such notions, a great deal of expression in the ablative was done without prepositions, particularly to denote agency, time-when, manner, means and origin.

Forma linguæ Latinæ a multis laudatur. (Latin's beauty is praised by many.)

Messis uenit duobis mensibus. (The harvest comes in two months.)

Ceres sopiebat filiam dolore. (Ceres put her daughter to sleep with sadness.)

Claudius gladio pugnat. (Claudius fights with a sword.)

Cornelius Lugduno uenit. (Cornelius came from Lyons.)

A mnemonic device attributed to a certain Sally Davis of Arlington, Virginia holds that   S i d   S p a c e   (think of a man dressed in a space suit?) represents the list of Latin prepositions that can take the ablative:
s ub
i n
d e
   
s ine
p ro
a b
c um
e.

Any preposition not in this list governs the accusative. Note that one preposition, in, makes both lists.