Breakdown of Post scholam discipuli domum venerunt, et magistra matri tuae nuntium misit.
Questions & Answers about Post scholam discipuli domum venerunt, et magistra matri tuae nuntium misit.
Scholam is in the accusative singular because the preposition post (“after”) in Latin always takes the accusative case.
- schola = nominative singular (“school” as the subject)
- scholam = accusative singular (used after post)
- scholā = ablative singular (used after some other prepositions, like cum scholā = “with the school”)
So post scholam literally means “after (the) school,” with scholam required by post.
Discipuli is nominative plural, from discipulus (“pupil, student”).
In Latin, the nominative is normally the case of the subject. The verb venerunt is 3rd person plural, so its subject must also be plural. Discipuli matches:
- discipuli: nominative plural → “the students”
- venerunt: 3rd person plural perfect → “(they) came”
No other noun in that part of the sentence is nominative, so discipuli must be the subject of venerunt.
Domum is the accusative singular of domus (“house, home”), used in a special way to mean “home(wards)”.
With certain place words in Latin, you normally do not use a preposition for motion towards. Instead you just use the accusative:
- domum = (to) home
- rūs → rūrem = to the country
- Names of cities and small islands (e.g. Rōmam = to Rome)
So domum venerunt literally is “they came home” without any preposition like ad.
Venerunt is 3rd person plural perfect active of venio (“to come”):
- veniunt = present tense → “they come / they are coming”
- venerunt = perfect tense → “they came / they have come”
The perfect tense in Latin describes a completed action in the past. In this sentence, venerunt means the coming home is finished by the time being referred to.
Latin can leave out a repeated subject when it is clearly understood from the previous context. But here the subject actually changes:
- First clause: discipuli domum venerunt → subject = discipuli (the students)
- Second clause: magistra … misit → subject = magistra (the teacher)
Because the person doing the action is different in the second clause, Latin normally names that new subject explicitly. Magistra is in the nominative singular, indicating she is the subject of misit.
Magistra (from magistra, -ae, “(female) teacher”) is in the nominative singular. The nominative case is used for the subject of the verb.
In the second clause:
- magistra = nominative singular → subject
- misit = 3rd person singular perfect → “she sent”
So magistra misit = “the (female) teacher sent.” The verb ending -it tells us the subject is he/she/it, and magistra matches in number and is nominative, so it must be the one doing the action.
Mater is “mother” in the nominative case (used for subjects).
Matri is the dative singular of mater, which usually expresses an indirect object — the person who receives something, or to/for whom something is done.
So in magistra matri tuae nuntium misit:
- magistra = subject (“the teacher”)
- nuntium = direct object (“a message”)
- matri = indirect object → “to (the) mother”
Therefore matri naturally translates as “to (your) mother” in English.
Tuae is the dative singular feminine form of tuus, tua, tuum (“your”).
It must agree with matri in:
- case: both are dative
- number: both are singular
- gender: mater is feminine, so tuae is feminine
So:
- matri (dative singular feminine) = “to (the) mother”
- tuae (dative singular feminine) = “your”
Together: matri tuae = “to your mother”.
In Latin, adjectives and possessives can come before or after the noun. Both tuae matri and matri tuae are possible. Word order is more flexible than in English; agreement in endings does the grammatical work.
Nuntium comes from nuntius, -i (“messenger; message”). Here it is accusative singular, so it is the direct object of misit.
- magistra (nominative) = subject → “the teacher”
- nuntium (accusative) = direct object → “a message”
- misit = “sent”
So magistra nuntium misit = “the teacher sent a message.”
The accusative is the normal case for something directly affected by the verb’s action.
Latin grammar makes a clear distinction between:
- what is sent (the direct object, accusative)
- who receives it (the indirect object, dative)
So:
- nuntium = the thing sent → accusative (direct object)
- matri tuae = the recipient → dative (indirect object)
English can use:
- “sent a message to your mother” (explicit “to”), or
- “sent your mother a message” (no “to,” but same idea)
Latin almost always shows this with cases, not word order or prepositions: magistra matri tuae nuntium misit = “the teacher sent a message to your mother.”
Yes. Latin word order is quite flexible because the endings, not the order, indicate the roles of the words.
Your alternative:
Post scholam domum discipuli venerunt
is grammatically fine and still means the same:
- post scholam = after school (post + accusative)
- domum = home(wards)
- discipuli = subject (nominative plural)
- venerunt = they came (perfect)
The usual tendency is to put the verb toward the end of the clause, but this is not a strict rule. Stylistic choices, rhythm, and emphasis often govern the exact order.
They are two main clauses joined into a single sentence by et (“and”):
- Post scholam discipuli domum venerunt
- magistra matri tuae nuntium misit
The comma simply marks the break between the two clauses. Latin manuscripts in antiquity didn’t consistently use punctuation, but in modern printed Latin we often use commas similarly to English to make the structure clearer.
So syntactically you have:
- Clause 1: “After school the students came home,”
- et: “and”
- Clause 2: “the teacher sent a message to your mother.”
Yes, both words exist, but they differ in gender:
- magister, magistrī = a male teacher
- magistra, magistrae = a female teacher
In this sentence the author chose magistra, so the teacher is explicitly female. If you wanted to say “the (male) teacher sent your mother a message,” you would write:
- magister matri tuae nuntium misit.