What is the difference between the Latin word in followed by a noun in the accusative case and the word in followed by a noun in the ablative case?

Answer 1

Thanks for the question!

This is actually very confusing for many beginning Latin students. Like a number of prepositions in Latin, "in" can take an object in either the accusative or the ablative case. (The object of a preposition is a noun that follows a preposition, and the preposition and its object together form a prepositional phrase.) With most of these two-case prepositions, use of the accusative case for the object indicates motion while use of the ablative indicates a lack of motion. The translations for Latin "in" are the following:

in + accusative = into, onto

in + ablative = in, on

Here are some sample sentences:

"Feles in cubiculum ambulat." = The cat walks into the room.

"Feles in stragulum ambulat." = The cat walks onto the rug.

"Feles in cubiculo est." = The cat is in the room.

"Feles in sella est." = The cat is on the chair.

I hope I've made this clear enough. Good luck with your Latin studies!

Ave atque vale!

Magister Andrew

Answer 2

Great Question! Generally speaking, in Latin prepositional phrases in the accusative are used to show motion, while prepositional phrases in the ablative are used to pinpoint either a specific location or a source for something.

If you have a preposition that can be used in both the accusative or ablative case (e.g.: "in") the meaning changes based on which case is being used.

E.G.:

in agris = ablative = in/on the fields

in viam = accusative = into/onto the road

Hope this is helpful!

-Sid

Answer 3

In Latin, the word "in" plus the accusative case simply means "in", as in In piscina sto. Because piscina is in the ablative case, this sentence means, "I stand in the pond." Contrast this with the sentence, In piscinam cadit. In this sentence, because the noun piscinam is in the accusative case, the sentence means, "She fell into the pond." Therefore, in plus the ablative means in, and in plus the accusative means into.