Breakdown of Sponsa cras sponso nubit.
cras
tomorrow
sponsa
the bride
sponsus
the bridegroom
nubere
to marry; become a wife
Questions & Answers about Sponsa cras sponso nubit.
Which word is the subject of the sentence?
The subject is sponsa.
You can tell because sponsa is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of a sentence. So sponsa is the person doing the action of nubit.
What case are sponsa and sponso?
- sponsa is nominative singular
- sponso is dative singular
So the structure is:
- sponsa = the bride, as subject
- sponso = to the bridegroom / to the fiancé, in the dative
- nubit = marries
This is one of those places where Latin uses a different construction from English.
Why is it sponso and not sponsum?
Because the verb nubere takes the dative, not the accusative.
In English, we say marry someone, so English treats the person as a direct object. But in Latin, nubere is used with a dative person:
- alicui nubere = to marry someone
So sponso nubit is correct, while sponsum nubit would not be the normal Classical construction.