AP Translation Practice — Timing and Accuracy
AP Translation Practice: Timing and Accuracy
A lesson of La B2 — Upper Intermediate, in AP Latin Exam Preparation, about 15 minutes.
AP Translation Practice — Timing, Accuracy, and Common Pitfalls
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to pace yourself through AP translation passages, avoid the five most common translation errors, and achieve AP-level accuracy on Caesar and Vergil passages.
Introduction
The AP Latin translation section is a timed exercise in accuracy. Unlike a comparative essay where analytical insight earns points, translation is graded against a defined answer key: every major phrase is worth points, and errors are cumulative. The good news is that translation errors cluster around a small set of predictable patterns — the five pitfalls below account for the majority of lost points. Knowing them in advance, and practicing specific avoidance strategies, is the most efficient way to improve your score.
Core Concept — Five Common Translation Pitfalls
Pitfall 1: Missing the Sequence of Tenses
Latin's subjunctive tenses shift based on the main verb. In a purpose or result clause after a past main verb, the imperfect subjunctive means "might/would" and the pluperfect means "might have/would have."
"Caesar milites emisit ut pontem facerent."
Wrong: "Caesar sent soldiers so that they build the bridge."
Right: "Caesar sent soldiers so that they might build the bridge." (facerent = imperfect subj. — past sequence)
Pitfall 2: Treating Accusative + Infinitive as Two Separate Sentences
Indirect statement puts the subject in the accusative — do not translate it as a subject nominative.
"Caesar nuntiavit milites vicisse."
Wrong: "Caesar announced. The soldiers conquered."
Right: "Caesar announced that the soldiers had conquered." (milites = accusative subject of indirect statement; vicisse = perfect infinitive)
Pitfall 3: Confusing Ablative Absolute with Main Clause
An ablative absolute is a subordinate phrase, not a main clause. Both nouns are in the ablative.
"His rebus cognitis, Caesar discessit."
Wrong: "These things were learned. Caesar departed."
Right: "When these things had been learned, Caesar departed." (The ablative absolute his rebus cognitis is subordinate — it provides the circumstances of discessit)