Breakdown of Hodie magistra in schola discipulos docet.
in
in
discipulus
the student
magistra
the female teacher
hodie
today
Questions & Answers about Hodie magistra in schola discipulos docet.
Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in the Latin sentence?
Latin does not have separate words for “the” or “a/an” (articles).
Nouns like magistra, schola, discipulos can mean “teacher / the teacher / a teacher” depending on context.
So magistra can be translated as “the teacher” or “a teacher”, whichever makes better sense in English.
The meaning is carried by context and endings, not by articles.
How do we know that magistra is the subject and discipulos is the object?
Latin uses case endings to show a noun’s role in the sentence.
- magistra ends in -a, which here is the nominative singular ending of a 1st-declension noun → normally subject.
- discipulos ends in -os, which is the accusative plural ending of a 2nd‑declension masculine noun → normally direct object.
So even though discipulos comes right before the verb, the endings tell us:
magistra = the one doing the teaching; discipulos = the ones being taught.
What does the ending -os in discipulos tell us exactly?
The ending -os on discipulos indicates:
- case: accusative (direct object)