Magister mihi liber Latinus dat.

The teacher gives me a Latin book.

Breakdown of Magister mihi liber Latinus dat.

• magister: the teacher
• liber: the book
• Latinus: Latin
• dare: to give

Questions & Answers about Magister mihi liber Latinus dat.

Why is "mihi" used instead of "ego"?

mihi is the dative form of the first-person pronoun, meaning "to me" or "for me". In Latin, an indirect object (the person who benefits from the action) is expressed with the dative case rather than the nominative (as in ego, which simply means "I").

Why is "Magister" in the nominative case?

Magister is the subject of the sentence. Latin uses the nominative case to mark the subject, so since the teacher is the one performing the action (giving the book), Magister stays in the nominative.

Why does "dat" appear at the end?

In Latin, word order is more flexible than in English because Latin relies on case endings to show each word’s function. While dat often appears at the end, it can be placed elsewhere, but the typical Latin sentence often ends with the verb.

Why does "Latinus" match "liber" in case and number?

Latinus is an adjective describing liber (meaning "Latin book"), so they must agree in gender, number, and case. Both liber and Latinus are masculine singular here, and traditionally one would expect them in the accusative if they are the direct object. However, the way they appear in this example reflects how Latin adjectives match their nouns.

Why is there no word for "a" or "the"?

Classical Latin doesn’t have articles like "a", "an", or "the". Whether it’s definite or indefinite is understood from context. In English, we rely on articles, but Latin relies on case endings and context to convey the same idea.