Magister eam vocat.

The teacher calls her.

Breakdown of Magister eam vocat.

• magister: the teacher
• vocare: to call
• eam: it

Questions & Answers about Magister eam vocat.

How can we tell who is doing the action and who is receiving it in Magister eam vocat?

Latin shows who does what to whom mainly by word endings (cases), not by word order.

• magister is in the nominative case (subject form) → it is the doer of the action.
• eam is in the accusative case (direct object form) → it is the one receiving the action.
• vocat is the verb, meaning calls.

So, regardless of word order, the endings tell us:

• magister = the teacher (subject)
• eam = her (object)
• vocat = calls

Therefore: The teacher calls her.

Where is the word the in this Latin sentence?

Latin has no word for English articles the, a, or an.

The bare noun magister can be translated as:

• the teacher
• a teacher
• sometimes just teacher

Which English article you choose depends on context, not on any separate Latin word. So Magister eam vocat can be:

• The teacher calls her, or
• A teacher calls her, depending on the situation you imagine.

Why is it eam and not ea in this sentence?

Because eam is the accusative form, needed for a direct object.

The pronoun ea (she / that woman) changes its ending depending on its role:

• ea = nominative singular feminine (used as subject: she)
• eam = accusative singular feminine (used as direct object: her)

In Magister eam vocat:

• eam is receiving the action calls → it must be in the accusative → therefore eam, not ea.

How do we know that eam means her and not him?

Because eam is the feminine form of the pronoun.

From the pronoun is, ea, id (he, she, it), the accusative singular forms are:

• eum = him (masculine, object)
• eam = her (feminine, object)
• id = it (neuter, object)

So:

• Magister eum vocat → The teacher calls him.
• Magister eam vocat → The teacher calls her.

Exactly what does the form vocat tell us about the verb?

The ending of vocat packs in a lot of information:

• It is 3rd person → he / she / it (or a named subject like magister)
• It is singular → just one doer
• It is present tense → happening now or generally
• It is active voice → the subject is doing the action
• It is indicative mood → a plain statement

It comes from the verb vocare = to call.

So vocat on its own means he/she/it calls or is calling.

In English we say calls, is calling, or does call. Which one does vocat mean?

Latin present tense covers all of these basic English present forms.

So Magister eam vocat can be translated as:

• The teacher calls her (simple present)
• The teacher is calling her (progressive)
• The teacher does call her (emphatic)

Usually we just write The teacher calls her, unless the context clearly needs one of the other English forms.

Can the word order change in Magister eam vocat?

Yes. Latin word order is flexible, because endings show function. All of these are grammatically correct and still mean The teacher calls her:

• Magister eam vocat (fairly neutral; pronoun in the middle)
• Magister vocat eam
• Eam magister vocat
• Eam vocat magister
• Vocat magister eam
• Vocat eam magister

The differences are usually in emphasis, not in basic meaning. For example:

• Eam magister vocat can place extra emphasis on eam (it’s *her that the teacher calls*).

If I want to say He calls her instead of The teacher calls her, how would I change the Latin?

You can replace magister with a pronoun, or drop the subject entirely (since the verb ending already shows he):

1. With an explicit pronoun:

   • Is eam vocat. → He calls her.

2. Without any stated subject (very normal in Latin):

   • Eam vocat. → He calls her (or she/it calls her, depending on context).

The verb vocat stays the same, because it already means he/she/it calls.

How would this sentence change if the teacher were female?

You would change the noun magister (male teacher) to magistra (female teacher). The verb and object pronoun stay the same:

• Magister eam vocat. → The (male) teacher calls her.
• Magistra eam vocat. → The (female) teacher calls her.

The verb vocat does not change with the gender of the subject; only with person and number (e.g., vocant for they call).

How would I say The teacher calls herself instead of The teacher calls her?

You need the reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object are the same person.

• Magister eum vocat. → The teacher calls him. (some other male)
• Magister eam vocat. → The teacher calls her. (some other female)
• Magister se vocat. → The teacher calls himself. (same person)

For a female teacher:

• Magistra se vocat. → The teacher calls herself.

The reflexive se is used for himself / herself / itself when it refers back to the subject.