Dux necessitati cedit.

the general

Breakdown of Dux necessitati cedit.

• cedere: to yield
• necessitas: the necessity; need

Questions & Answers about Dux necessitati cedit.

What case is dux, and how do we know it is the subject?

Dux is nominative singular. In this sentence, it is the subject because:

• it is the form a noun usually takes when it is doing the action
• the verb cedit is third person singular, so it matches a singular subject
• there is no other nominative noun present

Dux comes from dux, ducis and is a third-declension noun.

Why is necessitati in the dative case?

Because cedere commonly takes the dative of the person or thing one yields to.

So Latin says, literally, something like:

• the leader yields to necessity

not:

• the leader yields necessity

That is why the noun is necessitati rather than an accusative form such as necessitatem.

Why isn’t necessitati the direct object?

Because cedit here is not being used as a transitive verb with a direct object. Instead, cedere means to yield to, to give way to, or to submit to, and the thing yielded to is put in the dative.

So:

• necessitati = to necessity
• not a direct object, but a dative complement