Senex clamat: “Caelum manet triste, sed nos manemus in insula.”

(The old man shouts: “The sky remains sad, but we remain on the island.”)

Breakdown of Senex clamat: “Caelum manet triste, sed nos manemus in insula.”

• in: on
• sed: but
• nos: we
• insula: the island
• senex: the old man
• caelum: the sky
• manere: to remain
• clamare: to shout
• tristis: sad

Questions & Answers about Senex clamat: “Caelum manet triste, sed nos manemus in insula.”

Why is senex in the nominative case?

Senex is the subject of the verb clamat, so it appears in the nominative case to indicate that it’s the one doing the shouting.

Why do we have both manet and manemus in the same sentence?

These are different forms of the verb manēre (to remain). Manet is third-person singular (“he/she/it remains”), referring to caelum (“the sky”), while manemus is first-person plural (“we remain”), referring to nos (“we”).

What part of speech is triste and why is it used here?

Triste is a neuter singular adjective (the nominative form agrees with the neuter noun caelum). It describes caelum as being gloomy or sad.

Why is in insula used instead of just insula?

In plus the ablative (insulā → in insulā, spelled in insula) expresses location, meaning “on the island” or “in the island,” whereas using insula alone could be ambiguous or suggest a different grammatical construction.

Is nos necessary if manemus already indicates “we”?

Latin doesn’t require explicit subject pronouns because the verb form usually shows who is acting. However, nos can be used for emphasis or clarity—here indicating “we remain” with a bit of emphasis on ourselves.