Reus facinus negat.

Reus is the subject, and facinus is the direct object.

• reus = nominative singular, so it is the one doing the action
• facinus = accusative singular, so it receives the action
• negat = denies

So the basic structure is:

subject + object + verb
reus facinus negat = the accused denies the crime

Negat is:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

It comes from negare, meaning to deny.

So negat means he denies, she denies, or the accused denies, depending on the subject.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show each word’s role in the sentence.

A very common Latin pattern is to place the verb at the end, so reus facinus negat sounds completely normal.

English depends heavily on word order:

• The accused denies the crime is normal
• The accused the crime denies is not normal English

Latin can do this more easily because the endings already show what each word is doing.

Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So reus can mean:

• the accused
• an accused man
• sometimes just accused person depending on context

And facinus can mean:

• the crime
• a crime
• a wicked deed

The exact choice in English depends on context.

Because the ending -us does not always mean a noun is masculine or second declension.

Facinus is a third-declension neuter noun. Its nominative singular happens to end in -us, but that is just part of this noun’s form.

Its genitive is facinoris, which shows the stem facinor-.

So learners should not assume:

• -us = always masculine
• -us = always second declension

Latin has several nouns that break those expectations.

Because neuter nouns often have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.

For facinus:

• nominative singular = facinus
• accusative singular = facinus

So the form by itself could be either subject or object. In this sentence, we know it is the object because:

1. reus is clearly a nominative subject
2. negat is a transitive verb and naturally takes a direct object
3. the meaning fits: the accused denies the crime

Reus often means the accused, the defendant, or more broadly a person involved in a legal case as the accused party.

Depending on context, it can also suggest the guilty party or the person charged. In a simple learning sentence like this, the accused or the defendant is usually the safest translation.

So it is a legal word, not just an ordinary word for man or person.

Facinus often suggests not just a neutral legal crime, but a deed, outrage, villainy, or wicked act. It can carry a strong negative tone.

So in different contexts it might be translated as:

• crime
• wicked deed
• outrage
• villainy

In a basic sentence like this, crime is a simple and reasonable translation, but the Latin word can feel stronger than that.

Usually it would be understood as the accused denies the crime, meaning denies the charge or denies involvement in the deed.

Latin often expresses this kind of idea more compactly than English. English sometimes prefers to expand it:

• The defendant denies the crime
• The defendant denies the accusation
• The defendant denies having committed the crime

The exact English wording depends on what sounds most natural in context.

Reus is a second-declension masculine noun.

Its basic singular forms are:

• nominative: reus
• genitive: rei
• dative: reo
• accusative: reum
• ablative: reo

In this sentence it is nominative singular, so it is the subject.

Yes. It is a fully complete and normal Latin sentence.

It has:

• a subject: reus
• a direct object: facinus
• a finite verb: negat

Latin does not need an article, and it often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you the person and number. So nothing is missing here.