Pater et mater cum familia in villa laeti sunt.

Father and mother are happy with the family in the villa.

Breakdown of Pater et mater cum familia in villa laeti sunt.

• esse: to be
• laetus: happy
• in: in
• familia: the family
• et: and
• villa: the villa
• pater: the father
• mater: the mother
• cum: with

Questions & Answers about Pater et mater cum familia in villa laeti sunt.

Why is pater and mater used with the plural verb sunt?

Even though each word in Latin can be singular or plural, here we have two subjects: pater (father) and mater (mother). Because there are two people, the verb must agree in the plural, so we use sunt (they are) instead of est (he/she/it is).

Why is the adjective laeti in the masculine plural form?

Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case. Since we have two subjects, pater and mater, which are masculine and feminine but combined into a plural mixed group, Latin defaults to the masculine plural for the adjective. Hence, laeti instead of laetus, laeta, or laetae.

What case is familia in and why?

Familia appears after cum (“with”), which takes the ablative case. In classical spelling, it would often be written as familiā (with a long ā) to reflect the ablative, but in many texts you might see it just as familia. Either way, it's in the ablative case.

Does Latin always put cum before the noun as it does here?

Typically, cum comes before its object in Latin. You might occasionally see different word orders in poetry or for stylistic reasons, but the standard arrangement for “with someone” is cum + [ablative noun].

Why do we say in villa instead of adding an article like "in the villa"?

Latin doesn't have articles like “the” or “a.” Instead, it relies on context and case endings to convey meaning. So where English might use “in the villa,” Latin just uses in villa (in the ablative case), literally “in villa,” without any article.