Discipulus sorori librum legit.

to read

Breakdown of Discipulus sorori librum legit.

• discipulus: the student
• soror: the sister
• liber: the book

Questions & Answers about Discipulus sorori librum legit.

Which word is the subject of the sentence?

The subject is discipulus, meaning student. It is in the nominative case.

Why is sorori in the dative case?

In Latin, the dative case often indicates the indirect object of the sentence. Here, sorori (to the sister) is the person receiving the action indirectly (the student is reading to his sister).

Why is librum in the accusative case?

librum is the direct object (the thing being read). In Latin, the direct object typically takes the accusative case.

How do we know the sentence is in the present tense and not the perfect tense?

The form legit (short vowel e) is present tense: he reads. The perfect tense would be lēgit (with a long ē), usually pronounced differently and often translated as he read in the past tense.

Can the word order be changed in Latin?

Yes. Latin is an inflected language, so it can handle various word orders. You might see Sorori discipulus librum legit or Librum discipulus sorori legit, but the relationships between the words stay the same because of their cases. The standard arrangement here, however, highlights that the student is reading (a book) to his sister.