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Questions & Answers about Pugna incipit.
Why is pugna in that form?
Pugna is nominative singular, the form normally used for the subject of the sentence.
In Pugna incipit, pugna is the thing doing the action of the verb: the battle begins.
It is the nominative singular of the noun pugna, pugnae (battle, fight), a first-declension noun.
Why does incipit mean begins rather than begin?
Because incipit is a third-person singular verb form.
The ending -it tells you the subject is he, she, it, or a singular noun like pugna. So:
- incipio = I begin
- incipis = you begin
- incipit = he/she/it begins
Since pugna is singular, Latin uses the singular verb: incipit = begins.
What is the dictionary form of incipit?
The dictionary form is incipiō.
More fully, you might see it listed as:
incipiō, incipere, incēpī, inceptum = begin, start
In the sentence, incipit is the present active indicative, third-person singular form of incipiō.
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