Spiritus in corpore manet.

The subject is spiritus.

You can tell because:

• manet is third-person singular
• so it needs a singular subject
• spiritus fits as the nominative singular

So the basic structure is:

• spiritus = subject
• manet = verb
• in corpore = prepositional phrase

Here spiritus is nominative singular.

Its dictionary form is:

• spiritus, spiritūs = spirit, breath

It is a fourth-declension masculine noun.

A point that often confuses learners: spiritus can look the same in more than one form when written without macrons. For example, it can be:

• nominative singular
• genitive singular
• nominative plural

But in this sentence, because manet is singular and spiritus is functioning as the subject, it must be nominative singular.

Corpore is ablative singular of corpus, corporis (body).

It is ablative because it comes after the preposition in in the sense of location:

• in corpore = in the body

With in, Latin usually works like this:

• in + ablative = in/on somewhere, showing location
• in + accusative = into/onto somewhere, showing motion toward

So here the idea is not movement into the body, but being in the body.

Because this sentence describes where something is, not where it is going.

Compare:

• in corpore = in the body → location → ablative
• in corpus = into the body → motion toward → accusative

That location-vs.-motion contrast is one of the most important things to learn about in.

Manet is from the verb maneo, manēre, meaning remain, stay, or abide.

Here it is:

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

So grammatically it means:

• he/she/it remains
• or more literally, remains

Since the subject is spiritus, the full sense is the spirit remains.

No. There is no direct object.

That is because manet here is intransitive. It does not take an object in this sentence.

So:

• spiritus is the subject
• manet is the verb
• in corpore tells you where the action/state applies

Nothing in the sentence is being directly acted upon.

Because Latin has no articles.

Latin does not have separate words for:

• the
• a
• an

So a noun like spiritus can mean, depending on context:

• the spirit
• a spirit
• simply spirit

Likewise in corpore can mean in the body or in a body, depending on context. English has to choose an article, but Latin usually leaves that to context.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because Latin uses endings to show grammatical function.

This sentence is arranged as:

• Spiritus = subject
• in corpore = prepositional phrase
• manet = verb

That order is perfectly natural in Latin. Also, Latin often likes to place the verb at or near the end.

Other orders could also be possible, such as:

• In corpore spiritus manet
• Spiritus manet in corpore

The meaning would stay basically the same, though the emphasis might shift slightly.

In a classical-style pronunciation, you could say it roughly as:

SPI-ri-tus in COR-po-re MA-net

A few helpful points:

• spiritus has stress on SPI
• corpore has stress on COR
• manet has stress on MA

A rough English-friendly pronunciation would be:

SPEE-ree-toos in KOR-po-reh MAH-net

If you are learning ecclesiastical pronunciation, the exact sound may vary a little, but the spelling is still straightforward enough for beginners.