# what is the meaning of "aut" in this sentence



## melonidas

Hello buddies,

In triginta cum pugnatoribus, quindecim milia hostium aut occidit aut capit, militem
suum ingenti praeda ditat, i am not sure what is the function of "aut"; nevertheless, this is the traduction i obtain:    With thirty fighters, Amelio fell against fifteen thousands  of enemies, enriches his army with the enormous plunder

Thank you


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## fdb

It is still the same text:

 			Aemilius consul CIV naves hostium demersit, XXX cum pugnatoribus  			cepit; XV millia hostium aut occidit aut cepit; militem suum ingenti  			praeda ditavit. 

Want to try again?


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## melonidas

But the text I have is different from the one you are showing: Aemilius consul centum et quattuor naves hostium demergit,

triginta cum pugnatoribus capit, quindecim milia hostium aut occidit aut capit, militem

suum ingenti praeda ditat.


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## fdb

Your text is the same, except that the numbers are spelt out, and the tense of the verbs is different.

Now try to translate either one of them, respecting the case of all the nouns. Hint: "XXX" goes with "naves"; "aut ... aut" means "either .... or".


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## melonidas

Does this translation look  better?

Amelius the consul sinked one hundred and four enemy ships, finished thirty ships with fighters, either finishes with fifteen innumerable enemies or falls, enriches his army with enormous plunder


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## fdb

melonidas said:


> either finishes with fifteen innumerable enemies or falls



What did I say about a translation having to make sense?


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## Cagey

Try this one again: _quindecim milia hostium aut occidit aut capit,__
aut occidit aut capit_  should be translated as a unit. 
_
occidit_ and _capit_ are transitive verbs that take an accusative object.  What is the object? 
​
Here are the usual English translations for these words when they appear in this sort of context.
_occido, occidere_, cut down, kill, slay. 
_capio, capere_, take, capture, seize. ​​ 
(It's possible that you understand the Latin correctly, but it's only the English translation that makes it seem that you have a problem.  If that is the case,  I apologize.)


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## melonidas

_this is my new attempt
quindecim milia hostium aut occidit aut capit
_
Either kills or captures fifteen thousand enemies

quindecim: [indeclinable] case: don't know
milia: ac.pl neuter 2nd declension Direct object
hostium: gen. pl 3rd declension [hostis-is] Name affix


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## Cagey

That looks good to me.  

(Yes, saying that _quindecim_ is indeclinable is probably enough.)

You want to make the verb tense consistent in the rest of your translation.  If you are translating your text, all the the verbs should be in the present: sinks; captures thirty ships. 

Do you feel you understand the sentence now?


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