Nomen militis est Marcus, sed multi eum timidum vocant.

Because militis is the genitive singular form of miles, meaning of the soldier.

So:

• miles = soldier
• militis = of the soldier

In Nomen militis est Marcus, the phrase nomen militis literally means the name of the soldier, or more naturally in English, the soldier’s name.

Militis is in the genitive case.

The genitive is often used to show:

• possession
• relationship
• description

Here it shows possession: the soldier’s name.

So Latin uses the genitive where English often uses ’s or of.

Marcus is nominative because it goes with est in a sentence of identification.

Latin often uses the nominative for both sides of an X is Y statement:

• Nomen ... est Marcus = The name ... is Marcus

Even though English might make learners think of possession, Latin is really structuring this as:

• The name is Marcus

So nomen and Marcus are both nominative.

Because the sentence is specifically talking about the soldier’s name, not directly identifying the soldier.

Compare:

• Miles Marcus est = The soldier is Marcus
• Nomen militis est Marcus = The soldier’s name is Marcus

Those are different ideas. The Latin sentence focuses on the name itself.

Not as much as in English. Latin word order is relatively flexible because the endings show the grammar.

So this sentence could be rearranged in several ways and still mean roughly the same thing, for example:

• Marcus nomen militis est
• Nomen est Marcus militis
  though some orders sound more natural than others

The given order is clear and natural enough, with Marcus placed at the end for emphasis.

Multi means many or many people.

It is actually an adjective, but here it is being used substantively, meaning it stands on its own like a noun.

So:

• multi literally = many
• in context = many people or many men

Latin often does this with adjectives when the noun is understood.

Eum is the accusative singular masculine form of the pronoun is, ea, id, meaning him.

It refers back to Marcus or to the soldier mentioned earlier.

It is accusative because it is the direct object of vocant:

• vocant eum = they call him

So the form changes because Latin marks grammatical function with case endings.

Because vocare can take:

• a direct object
• plus a predicate accusative

In English, we do the same thing with verbs like call:

• They call him timid
• They call him a coward
• They call him Marcus

In Latin:

• eum = the person being called something
• timidum = what they call him

So eum timidum vocant means they call him timid.

Because it agrees with eum, which is accusative.

After verbs like vocare when you say call someone something, Latin usually puts that second word in the accusative too.

So:

• eum = accusative masculine singular
• timidum = accusative masculine singular

They match because timidum describes eum.

If it were nominative, timidus, that would not fit this construction.

Vocant is:

• 3rd person plural
• present tense
• active voice
• from vocare = to call

So it means:

• they call

The subject is not stated explicitly, but it is understood from the verb ending. In this sentence, multi is that subject:

• multi ... vocant = many call

Because Latin often leaves out a noun when it is obvious from context.

So multi by itself can mean:

• many people
• many men
• many of them

The exact English wording depends on context. Here, many people is a natural translation.

Sed means but.

It connects the two clauses and shows contrast:

• His name is Marcus
• but many call him timid

So sed signals that the second idea contrasts with the first.

Because it is the masculine singular pronoun him, and the most natural masculine singular person already mentioned is the soldier, whose name is Marcus.

Latin often uses a pronoun like this to refer back to someone already introduced. So:

• Marcus is introduced
• then eum = him, meaning Marcus

This is very normal Latin style.