nonagesimustertius

Theme for this week: Easily confused words

paro, parare, paravi, paratus

Definition:to prepare, get ready, provide; to intend, set about; to intend, set about; to procure, get, buy; to arrange

pareo, parere, parui, paritum

Definition: to be visible, be evident; (with dat) to obey, submit to, comply with

Sententiae: Necesse est nunc liberis ad eundum ad ludum parare, quare emendum copias ludo iter faciunt

It is necessary now for children to prepare for the sake of going to school, and therefore they make a journey for the sake of buying supplies for school.

Simul meatus solis liberis in somno parendus est, quod ludus mane incipit.

At the same time the motion of the sun must be obeyed by the children in sleep, because school begins early in the morning.

These two words illustrate a common reason to confuse words--you learn one word, paro, early on in Ecce Romani 1 (sorry, I don't know about any other textbooks!). Then, you come across pareo and have to not jump to the conclusion that it is "to prepare" just because it starts with "par." Pario is another similar word, and indeed the word "parentes" comes from pario, meaning "to create," not pareo, though parentes is also a valid present active participle for pareo. These two words are both rather common, paro being found in Catullus 10, 22, 40, 45, and 76; Book 8 of Ovid's Metamorphoses; and Books 1, 2, and 4 of Vergil's Aeneid. Pareo is found also in Book 4 of Vergil's Aeneid and in Book 8 of Ovid's Metamorphoses.