AureliaeLacrimae

I really thought it funny how English has so few cases and so I decided to give a brief explanation about this.
The three cases in English are [NOM] or nominative, [GEN] or genitive and [ACC] or accusative.
Generally, grammar books explain in great detail when to use them, but I found that it is easier with fewer rules. So, generative grammar helps here.
Nominative is used for the subjects of finite clauses - I am here. We love biscuits. He spoke to me.
Genitive is used for possessors - That's my hat. She's his mother.
Accusative is the default case and is used everywhere else - Give her the book. I spoke to him about it. This is for him. For him to be absent...
So, basically, the rule for Case assignment is as follows: If it's a subject of a finite clause/ verb, assign feature [NOM]. If it's a possessor, assign [GEN]. Everywhere else, assign [ACC]. This then covers a whole range of situations where accusative appears, including direct and indirect object (in English, it appears that accusative has taken over the role of dative as well) and the subjects of non-finite clauses with preposition for, as well as the prepositional objects (to me, for him).

I am aware that a lot of people use Google translate simply because it is the most convenient translator found online and definitely the most known one: everyone knows about Google translate. Today, it is even available as an App. So, is Google translate good for Latin? Can it pass some basic checks?
I say, yes.
We all know that typing in the sentences will never get you the correct translation. It will always be a rudimentary translation in the Neanderthal-like speech. However, when it comes to translating words by themselves, Google translate is quick and efficient and fairly accurate. 
I have tested it out and I say that the results are good so far. When I typed in "see" I received a whole range of synonyms from video to specto and what I liked was the fact that each of these had at least five or six translations. This means that you at least know what the word roughly means, i.e. "see in what way" or "when to use which "see" verb" They usually come in the first person, which is also good, considering that the dictionary entries are always in the first person, so you can always go somewhere else for more information. Same was with the nouns. I tested it with "sea" and just like in the previous example, I received a lot of synonyms. 
 
Google Translate Latin
However, you have to be aware of one great disadvantage: Google translate doesn't tell you the grammatical specifications!! For example, when it comes to the verb, Google translate only gives you the first person form. You don't know to which verb class the given verb belongs, which limits your usage maximally - you have to go somewhere else to find out that fact. Same is with nouns. You only get the nominative form, nothing else. This is why you don't know the basic information about the noun: not its gender and certainly not its class. 
 
So, is Google translate good? Yes, it's good. It can be used as a quick-access tool which can give you the rudimentary information about the word you type in. However, it is not perfect. When it comes to grammar, you're on your own. This is why it might be a better option to use some other translator, which does give you this information. I believe that I have already written about them in one of my previous posts, so if you're interested, go back and check it out.
Google translator is the most widely used translator online. But it is not the best. This is especially true for languages such as Latin.

Well, some of you have noted that you would like to know some of the Latin sayings and I have chosen a few of my favourites. The translations I have provided for these sayings are not the official translations. If you want those, you can easily find them by typing in the proverb in Latin. The translations are accurate, though. I was careful to capture the essence of what had been said in the proverb.
 
So, without any further ado:
Dicta et sententiae
 
1.            O tempora, o mores!                                        Oh what times, oh what customs! (or Alas ...!)
2.            Post nubila Phoebus.                                        After the clouds comes Phoebus (Sun).
3.            Bis dat, qui cito dat.                                          He who gives fast, gives twice.
4.            Licentia poetica.                                               The freedom of the poet.
5.            Amor magister est optimus.                             Love is the best teacher.
6.            Aurora musis amica.                                       The dawn is the friend of the muses.
7.            Gloria discipuli, gloria magistri.                       The glory of the student is the glory of the teacher.
8.            Periculum in mora.                                         There is a danger in delay.
9.            Fama volat.                                                    Lit. The tale flies. i.e. The rumours circulate fast.
10.          Ab ovo.                                                           From the egg.
11.          Repetitio est mater studiorum.                      Repetition is the mother of knowledge.
12.          Sapienti sat.                                                 To the wise man, it is enough.
13.          Omnia vincit amor.                                       Love conquers all.
14.          Omnia praeclara rara.                                  Everything rare is amazing.
15.          Mens sana in corpore sano.                        Sane mind in the sane body.
16.          Usus magister egregius.                             Experience is the best teacher.
17.          Res, non verba.                                          Act, don’t say.
18.          Aquila non capit muscas.                          The eagle doesn’t hunt flies.
19.          Festina lente!                                            Make haste slowly.
20.          Divide et impera!                                      Divide and conquer.
21.          Parce tempori!                                         Save time!
22.          Cave canem!                                            Beware the dog!
23.          Carpe diem!                                             Seize the day!
24.          Vade mecum!                                           Come with me!
25.          Servus meus liber esto!                           Let my slave be free!
26.          Omnia mea mecum porto.                      Lit. I carry everything that’s mine with me.
27.          Sapiens omnia sua secum portat.           Lit. The wise carries everything that’s his with him.
28.          Quod nocet, saepe docet.                      That which harms will often teach.
29.          Margaritas ante porcos.                         (Throw) Pearls in front of pigs.
30.          Inter nos.                                                Between us.
31.          Pars pro toto.                                         Part for whole.
32.          In memoriam.                                        In the memory.
33.          In melius. In peius.                                In good. In evil /bad.
34.          In spe.                                                   In hope.
 

First of all, Romans used Roman numerals (logical, isn't it?), so one isn't 1 but I, two isn't 2 but II, and so on. When it comes to number four, in most cases, it's written like this: IV. However, you will also find instances were it's recorded like four Is: IIII, so don't be puzzled. Still, IV is the common way of writing down the number four, so that's how I'm going to write it.

Some basic symbols used:
(I am sure most of us know this, but still, just to be sure)

I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1000

Combinations
You must have wondered why four is written like IV and nine like IX. Well, Roman numerals are all about counting and adding up. Two is one plus one and therefore I + I = II. Same analogy can be used for III = I+I+I, six VI = V+I, seven VII = V+I+I, eight VIII= V+I+I+I,... However, they were also trying to be economical and use as little symbols as possible, so instead of writing down nine like VIIII (or four like IIII), which would take five symbols! (in those days, many things weren't written down on paper but engraved into stone, which isn't easy at all, so they were very careful about it) they came up with the idea of subtracting: IV stands for V-I and we all know that 5-1 equals 4. Same is with nine: IX stands fo X-I. 10-1 is 9, isn't it? And so, instead of engraving four or five symbols, you only have two.

I have used examples with numbers to ten. Same can be applied to the rest of the system.
Thirty is ten+ten+ten and therefore X+X+X=XXX, whereas forty, which is 50-10 will be written down like XL rather than XXXX - economy - two symbols are better than four. Eighty is 50+10+10+10, therefore L + X+X+X = LXXX, but ninety is 100-10 rather than 50+10+10+10+10 (it's so long to write down), so ninety: XC.

This is true even for numbers higher than 100. However, remember me mentioning four could be written both as IIII and IV, but IV was more common? Same can be said for 400. True, it's more commonly written as 500-100, which is CD, but you can also write it down as CCCC. So, 400 is CD. 900 is 1000-100, therefore CM.

Now, to numbers:

0 nihil (no symbol for zero)
1 I ūnus
2 II duo
3 III trēs
4 IV quattuor
5 V quīnque
6 VI sex
7 VII septem
8 VIII octō
9 IX novem
10 X decem
11 XI ūndecim
12 XII duodēcim
13 XIII trēdecim
14 XIV quattuordecim
15 XV quīndecim
16 XVI sēdecim
17 XVII septendecim
18 XVIII duodēvīgintī
19 XIX ūndēvīgintī
20 XX vīgintī
21 XXI vīgintī  ūnus
22 XXII vīgintī  duo
23 XXIII vīgintī  trēs
24 XXIV vīgintī  quattuor
25 XXV vīgintī  quīnque
26 XXVI vīgintī  sex
27 XXVII vīgintī  septem
28 XXVIII duodētrīgintā (or vīgintī octō)
29 XXIX ūndētrīgintā (or vīgintī novem)
30 XXX trīgintā
31 XXXI trīgintā  ūnus
32 XXXII trīgintā  duo
33 XXXIII trīgintā  trēs
34 XXXIV trīgintā quattuor
35 XXXV trīgintā  quīnque
36 XXXVI trīgintā  sex
37 XXXVII trīgintā  septem
38 XXXVIII duodēquadrāgintā (or trīgintā octō)
39 XXXIX ūndēquadrāgintā (or trīgintā novem)

40 XL quadrāgintā
50 L quīnquāgintā
60 LX sexāgintā
70 LXX septuāgintā
80 LXXX octōgintā
90 XC nōnāgintā
100 C centum

200  CC    ducenti
300  CCC  trecenti
400  CD  quadringenti
500    D    quingenti
600  DC  sescenti
700  DCC  septingenti
800 DCCC  octingenti
900  CM  nongenti
1000  M    mille

For the rest, you just paste them together. Enjoy!

I have also attached the symbols, so that you can see them in a jpeg format.

I really thought it funny how English has so few cases and so I decided to give a brief explanation about this.
The three cases in English are [NOM] or nominative, [GEN] or genitive and [ACC] or accusative.
Generally, grammar books explain in great detail when to use them, but I found that it is easier with fewer rules. So, generative grammar helps here.
Nominative is used for the subjects of finite clauses - I am here. We love biscuits. He spoke to me.
Genitive is used for possessors - That's my hat. She's his mother.
Accusative is the default case and is used everywhere else - Give her the book. I spoke to him about it. This is for him. For him to be absent...
So, basically, the rule for Case assignment is as follows: If it's a subject of a finite clause/ verb, assign feature [NOM]. If it's a possessor, assign [GEN]. Everywhere else, assign [ACC]. This then covers a whole range of situations where accusative appears, including direct and indirect object (in English, it appears that accusative has taken over the role of dative as well) and the subjects of non-finite clauses with preposition for, as well as the prepositional objects (to me, for him).

This is a classical relative clause which serves as the object complement - this sentence is in the pattern SVO. The structure of this relative clause ''who has suffered'' is defining - we can't omit that as then we wouldn't know who is the object of our ''taking care of''. A similar example: I am looking for a woman who lives with you. If you omit the ''who lives with you'' part, the hearer has no idea to whom the speaker is referring, or I know the secretary who wrote this. (There are a dozens of secretaries, but I know a particular one) A completely different case is this: I live in Paris, which has beautiful parks. (Everyone knows where Paris is - the second part is extra information provided which can also be omitted). It's simply additional information which is optional, not obligatory. There's a similar example in the Bible (1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin [...]) but here he is the subject, so you must use a different pronoun - that is, the nominative case. Him is accusative case used for object. Though, of course, you can always say this in two sentences: Take care of him. He has suffered.

Defining relative clauses aren't separated from the rest of the sentence with commas. Only non-defining.

I am still going to check the grammar book to be sure as this differs from the usual defining relative clause as object where you can omit the pronoun (in which case you usually have another subject)

As I have already mentioned elsewhere, I have started to ''liven up'' the Latin section from the other languages subforum. I won't repeat myself much - I'll only say that I'm working on providing you with all the necessary material for successful language learning.

I strongly believe that if you wish to learn, all the obstacles become easy to deal with. You just have to be inspired enough to keep going on. That's one of the reasons why many of us who start learning a foreign language fail at an early stage - we don't have someone who's learning with us or guiding us through the process.

I hope you'll find both at our little section. There's not much now, but I'm working on improving it every day. At the moment, there's enough to get you started.

So, my dear potential students, do join us in Latin reading!
You're all welcome!

Addendum:
Feel free do ask questions and comment on all the lessons, regardless of when they were posted. Language learning is a complex process and it is natural that you will have questions. I will try to answer each and every one of them.

Updated 02/12/2014

Although I'd rather put ''What could have happened if I hadn't stumbled upon this place...'' to make it a clear third conditional - however, mixed conditional is fine as well. The clear third conditional is more of a textbook example, though.

Modal verbs must be followed by BARE INFINITIVE - that is, infinitive without to:
may happen, will go, can play, could see

They can also be followed by PAST INFINITIVE:
may have done, could have been, would have left

PAST INFINITIVE form:
have + past participle [3rd column form for irregular verbs/-ed for regular]
(always have!! even if the subject is 3rd person singular! it's infinitive - infinitive is non-finite and can't change)

she may have done it
not *she may has done it - you don't add present perfect, you add past infinitive

may have happen combination doesn't exist.
have is an auxiliary which contains "perfective" aspect, so it always comes with a past form, it cannot come with present form, just like be has progressive aspect as an auxiliary, so it's used in forming continuous tenses (even complex - have been doing) but can also be used in passives with past participle.