Puer sororem rogat: "Quando cum amicis in horto ridebimus?"

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Breakdown of Puer sororem rogat: "Quando cum amicis in horto ridebimus?"

• amicus: the friend
• puer: the boy
• hortus: the garden

Questions & Answers about Puer sororem rogat: "Quando cum amicis in horto ridebimus?"

Why is sororem in the accusative case, and how do I know who is asking whom in Puer sororem rogat?

In Latin, the verb rogo (to ask) normally takes the person you ask as a direct object in the accusative case.

• puer – nominative singular: the subject, the one doing the asking (the boy).
• sororem – accusative singular: the object, the one being asked (his sister).

So Puer sororem rogat literally means The boy asks (his) sister.

Latin relies mainly on case endings (nominative, accusative, etc.) to show who does what to whom.
Word order can change for emphasis, so both Puer sororem rogat and Puer rogat sororem mean the same thing; the endings, not the position, tell you the roles.

Why is there no word for his or his own before sororem?

Latin often leaves out possessive adjectives (like his, her, their) when it is obvious from context whose relative is meant.

• sororem by itself can mean (his) sister / (her) sister / (their) sister, depending on who the subject is.
• Because the subject is puer (the boy), the natural reading is his sister.

If Latin wants to emphasize or contrast the possessive, it can add suam:

• Puer suam sororem rogat – The boy asks his own sister (as opposed to someone else’s).