Aspects of literary style: word order

Understanding Word Order in Latin

Latin poetry often uses flexible word order for various reasons including emphasising certain words, maintaining the rhythm or following a particular metrical pattern.
Latin word order can seem jumbled to an English-speaker, but understanding it will greatly improve your translation skills and comprehension of the text.
Pay close attention to the endings of Latin words, they will tell you about the word’s function in a sentence regardless of its order.

Latin word order often places the most important words at the start or at the end of a sentence for emphasis.
A verb often comes at the end of a Latin sentence but there are many exceptions. The position of other words like the subject, object and adjectives can also vary depending on the intended emphasis.
Sometimes, a word or phrase is separated from the rest of the sentence for emphasis. Recognise these situations and consider their implications for the narrative.

Despite the flexible word order, Latin sentences generally follow a Subject - Object - Verb (SOV) structure.
Find the main verb of the sentence first; it is often found at the end. This will give you a strong starting point for understanding the sentence as a whole.
Recognise dependent clauses and their connectors. They must be translated in relation to the main sentence, despite their position.

Do not force Latin sentences to fit English Subject - Verb - Object (SVO) order. It may result in an incorrect or unnatural translation.
Try to preserve the emphasis created by Latin word order in your English translations, while maintaining a natural-sounding English sentence.
Practice translation exercises regularly. This will improve your ability to understand the intended meaning behind the poetry’s word order and accurately translate Latin literature into English.