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Questions & Answers about Puella est laeta.
Why does the adjective laeta come after the noun puella?
In Latin, word order is more flexible than in English because meaning is primarily conveyed through inflection (endings on words). Adjectives often follow the nouns they modify, though this can vary. Puella est laeta is completely normal word order, but you might also see laeta puella est.
Why is puella in the nominative case?
Puella is the subject of the verb est. In Latin, the subject takes the nominative case. If you changed the case, the sentence would no longer say “the girl is happy” but could mean something else such as “for the girl,” “to the girl,” etc., depending on the case used.
What exactly does est mean?
Est is the third-person singular form of the verb esse, meaning “to be.” It corresponds to “is” in English. Other forms of esse include sum (“I am”), es (“you are”), sunt (“they are”), and so on.
Why does the adjective laeta end in -a?
Laeta is a first/second declension adjective in the feminine singular nominative form. It matches puella in gender (feminine), number (singular), and case (nominative). Latin requires agreement in these categories between nouns and their modifying adjectives.
Are there any articles like “the” in Latin?