Agricola per hortum ambulat.

The farmer walks through the garden.

Breakdown of Agricola per hortum ambulat.

• hortus: the garden
• ambulare: to walk
• agricola: the farmer
• per: through

Questions & Answers about Agricola per hortum ambulat.

Why does Agricola end in -a even though it means "farmer," which is typically considered masculine in English?

Agricola is a first-declension noun that is actually masculine despite its -a ending. In Latin, most first-declension nouns are feminine, but a few, including agricola (farmer), nauta (sailor), and poeta (poet), are masculine in gender.

What is the function of per in this sentence?

Per is a preposition that means "through." It takes the accusative case in Latin. So, the word that follows per will be in the accusative (here it is hortum).

Why is hortum in the accusative case?

Since per requires the accusative case, hortum (the accusative form of hortus, meaning "garden") must be used. It's the direct object of the preposition per in this context, indicating the place through which the farmer walks.

Can I use in instead of per in this sentence to mean "the farmer walks in the garden"?

Using in would change the meaning. In hortum ambulat would imply "The farmer walks into the garden," focusing on entering it, whereas per hortum ambulat stresses passing or moving through the garden.

Why is ambulat used here, and what person and number is it?

Ambulat is the third-person singular present indicative form of ambulare ("to walk"). It means "he/she/it walks." In this sentence, it agrees with the subject agricola ("the farmer"), who is clearly singular.