Learn Hardcore Latin: Hodie dies obscurus est.

hodie – today (originally from hoc die = on this day; now an adverb)
dies – day (nominative singular, 5th declension)
obscurus – dark, gloomy, shadowy, unclear (masculine nominative singular adjective)
est – is (3rd person singular present of sum, to be)

A very literal rendering would be: Today the day dark is.

Why does Latin say both hodie and dies? Isn’t that redundant?

It looks redundant from an English-speaker’s perspective, but in Latin the two words play different roles:

hodie is an adverb of time: it tells you when something happens (today).
dies is the subject: it tells you what is dark (the day).

So the structure is:

hodie – when?
dies – what?
obscurus est – what is said about it? (it is dark)

Natural English might compress this to Today is dark or It’s a dark day today, but Latin is perfectly happy to say both hodie and dies. It sounds normal, not clumsy.

Why doesn’t Latin use a preposition like on (as in on this day) with hodie?

Because hodie already contains that idea:

Historically hodie = hoc die = on this day (ablative of time without a preposition).
Over time, hoc die fused into the single adverb hodie.

Latin generally:

Uses the ablative without a preposition to express time when (e.g. eā nocte = on that night).
Or uses adverbs of time like hodie, heri, crās (today, yesterday, tomorrow) with no preposition.

So hodie already means on this day / today by itself.

What case is dies here, and how can I tell?

dies is nominative singular, used for the grammatical subject.

How to know:

The form dies can be:
- nominative singular (subject),
- or vocative singular (direct address),
- or nominative plural (in some contexts).

In this sentence:

dies is what is being described as obscurus by est.
That role (what the verb is about) is the subject, so nominative fits.
Nothing is being addressed (so it’s not vocative).
The adjective obscurus is singular, so dies must be singular as well.

Therefore: dies = nominative singular, subject of est.

Why is dies masculine when most 5th-declension nouns are feminine?

You’re right that most 5th-declension nouns are feminine (for example res, spes), but dies is a well‑known exception:

dies, diei is usually masculine.
It can be feminine in some special uses (especially appointment days or set times, e.g. constituta die – on the appointed day), but the regular default is masculine.

In your sentence, dies is taken as masculine, so its adjective is obscurus (masc.), not obscura (fem.).

Why does obscurus end in -us and not -a or -um?

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

gender
number
case

Here:

dies is masculine, singular, nominative.
So obscurus must also be masculine singular nominative.

Basic forms of the adjective are:

obscurus – masculine
obscura – feminine
obscurum – neuter

Since dies is masculine nominative singular, the matching form is obscurus.

What tense is est? Could the sentence mean “was dark” or “will be dark”?

est is:

3rd person singular
present tense
indicative mood

of the verb sum (to be), so it means is.

To say was or will be, you’d need a different form:

fuit or erat – was (perfect or imperfect past)
- Hodie dies obscurus fuit – Today the day was dark.
- Hodie dies obscurus erat – Today the day was (being) dark.
erit – will be (future)
- Hodie dies obscurus erit – Today the day will be dark. (contextually odd, but grammatically fine)

Can est be left out in this sentence, or is it required?

In Latin, forms of sum (to be) can often be omitted, especially in the present tense in simple “X is Y” statements. So:

Hodie dies obscurus est
Hodie dies obscurus

Both are grammatically possible.

However:

In clear, straightforward prose, especially for learners, including est is more standard and easier to understand.
Omitting est can sound more elliptical or poetic.

So yes, it can be left out, but for normal prose Latin, Hodie dies obscurus est is the safest form.

Is this word order normal? Could I say Dies hodie obscurus est or Dies obscurus est hodie instead?

All of these orders are grammatically correct in Latin. Word order is relatively flexible and often used for emphasis:

Hodie dies obscurus est.
- Putting hodie first highlights the time: As for today, the day is dark.
Dies hodie obscurus est.
- Starts with dies (the subject), which is a bit closer to English The day is dark today.
Dies obscurus hodie est.
- Focus can fall a bit more on obscurus (the quality of the day) and hodie as a side detail.
Dies obscurus est hodie.
- Ending with hodie can sound like an afterthought: The day is dark – today.

The basic informational structure (today / day / dark / is) doesn’t change; only the emphasis does.

How would you translate Hodie dies obscurus est into the most natural English?

Literal English gives something like:

Today the day is dark.

More natural English renderings would be:

It’s a dark day today.
Today is a dark / gloomy day.
Today the day is gloomy. (slightly more formal or poetic)

All keep the same core idea.

Does obscurus mean literally dark (no light), or can it also be metaphorical, like sad or gloomy?

obscurus has a fairly wide range of meanings:

Physical / visual:
- dark, dim, shadowy, not well lit
- e.g. locus obscurus – a dark place
Clarity / understanding:
- unclear, obscure, not easily understood
- e.g. oratio obscura – an obscure speech
Social status / fame:
- obscure, unknown, of low status
- e.g. homo obscurus – an obscure (not well-known) man

With dies, obscurus often suggests:

a gloomy, overcast day (physical weather), and/or
a gloomy day in mood or fortune (metaphorical).

Context would decide which nuance is stronger, but both are possible.

Could I use a different adjective instead of obscurus, like ater, tenebrosus, or tristis? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the adjective, and each option slightly changes the feel:

ater – black, dark, gloomy, often with a sinister or grim coloring.
- Hodie dies ater est. – Today is a black / grim day. (more intense, possibly tragic)
tenebrosus – full of darkness, shadowy, strongly physical or atmospheric.
- Hodie dies tenebrosus est. – Today the day is very dark / shadowy. (heavy clouds, deep shadows)
tristis – sad, gloomy (more about emotion/mood than light).
- Hodie dies tristis est. – Today is a sad day.

obscurus is somewhat neutral between physical dimness and general gloom; the others tilt more clearly toward sinister, heavily dark, or emotionally sad.

How would I say this in the plural, like “The days are dark today,” and is that even a natural idea?

Grammatically, the plural would be:

Hodie dies obscuri sunt. – Today the days are dark.

Breakdown:

dies – nominative plural (same form as nominative singular)
obscuri – masculine nominative plural, agreeing with dies
sunt – 3rd person plural of sum (are)

However, semantically it’s a bit odd, because hodie means today, a single day. Talking about several days on today doesn’t usually make sense.

A more natural plural idea would drop hodie and say something like:

Hi dies obscuri sunt. – These days are dark/gloomy.
Multi dies obscuri sunt. – Many days are dark.

How do I pronounce Hodie dies obscurus est in Classical and in Ecclesiastical Latin?

Approximate pronunciations:

Classical Latin:

hodie – HOH-dee-eh
- h as in English h
- o like o in hope (shorter)
- ie as two vowels: ee-eh
dies – DEE-ehs
obscurus – ob-SKOO-roos
- scu like skoo
est – est (as in English est of estuary)

Whole sentence (Classical):
HOH-dee-eh DEE-ehs ob-SKOO-roos est

Ecclesiastical Latin (church pronunciation):

hodie – O-dee-eh (often lighter h, sometimes almost silent)
dies – DEE-ehs
obscurus – ob-SKOO-roos (similar to Classical here)
est – est

Whole sentence (Ecclesiastical):
O-dee-eh DEE-ehs ob-SKOO-roos est