With Comparatives and words implying comparison the ablative is used to denote the Degree of Difference:—
-
quīnque
mīlibus
passuum distat
,
it is five miles distant.
-
ā mīlibus
passuum circiter duōbus
(B. G. 5.32)
,
at a distance of about two miles.
[For
ā
as an adverb, see §
433
. 3.]
-
aliquot ante
annīs
(Tusc. 1.4)
,
several years before.
-
aliquantō
post suspexit
(Rep. 6.9)
,
a while after, he looked up.
-
multō
mē vigilāre ācrius
(Cat. 1.8)
,
that I watch much more sharply.
-
nihilō
erat ipse Cyclōps quam ariēs prūdentior
(Tusc. 5.115)
,
the Cyclops himself was not a whit wiser than the ram.
The ablatives
quō ... eō
(
hōc
), and
quantō ... tantō
, are used correlatively with comparatives, like the English
the ... the
In this phrase
the
is not the definite article but a pronominal adverb, being the Anglo-Saxon
thȳ
, the instrumental case of the pronoun
thæt
,
that.
This pronoun is used both as relative (
by which, by how much
) and as demonstrative (
by that, by so much
). Thus
the ... the
corresponds exactly to
quō ... eō
.
:—
-
quō
minus cupiditātis,
eō
plūs auctōritātis
(Liv. 24.28)
,
the less greed, the more weight
(by what the less, by that the more).
-
quantō
erat gravior oppūgnātiō,
tantō
crēbriōrēs litterae mittēbantur
(B. G. 5.45)
,
the severer the siege was, the more frequently letters were sent.
To this construction are doubtless to be referred all cases of
quō
and
eō
(
hōc
) with a comparative, even when they have ceased to be distinctly felt as degree of difference and approach the Ablative of Cause:—
-
eōque mē minus paenitet
(N. D. 1.8)
,
and for that reason I regret less
, etc. (by so much the less I regret).
-
haec
eō
facilius faciēbant, quod
(B. G. 3.12)
,
this they did the more easily for this reason
,
because
, etc. [Cf.
hōc mâiōre spē
,
quod
(
id
. 3.9).]
The Ablative of Comparison (§
406
) and the Ablative of Degree of Difference are sometimes used together with the same adjective:—
-
paulō
minus
ducentīs
(B. C. 3.28)
,
a little less than two hundred.
-
patria, quae mihi
vītā meā multō
est cārior
(Cat. 1.27)
,
my country, which is much dearer to me than life.
But the construction with
quam
is more common.
Ablative of Quality
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