Learn Hardcore Latin: Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet. - Perhaps the student sits in the garden.

In English: “Perhaps the student is sitting in the garden.”
In Latin, fortasse is usually placed near the beginning of the sentence, but it can move:
- Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet.
- Discipulus fortasse in horto sedet.

All of these still mean something like “Perhaps the student is sitting in the garden.” The position changes emphasis slightly, but not the basic meaning.

Why is discipulus the subject of the sentence?

Latin shows the subject mainly by case endings, not by word order.

Discipulus ends in -us, which is the usual nominative singular ending for a masculine noun of the second declension.
The nominative case is normally used for the subject of a finite verb.

The verb sedet has a third-person singular ending (-t), so it matches discipulus:

discipulus = he (the student)
sedet = sits / is sitting

Because they agree in person and number, and discipulus is nominative, we identify discipulus as the subject.

Does discipulus mean “student” or “disciple,” and is there a difference in Latin?

The basic meaning of discipulus is “learner, pupil, student, disciple.”

In classical Latin (Cicero, Caesar, etc.), discipulus is most naturally “pupil” or “student.”
In later / Christian Latin, discipulus is very often used for “disciple” (for example, the disciples of Jesus).

In a simple textbook sentence like Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet, it will usually be taken as “student / pupil” unless the context clearly suggests “disciple.”

What is horto, and why doesn’t it look like the dictionary form hortus?

The dictionary form hortus is nominative singular and means “garden” as a subject.

In in horto, the word becomes horto because it is in the ablative singular:

hortus (nom. sg.) = garden (as subject)
hortum (acc. sg.) = garden (as direct object or direction into the garden)
horto (abl. sg.) = in / on / from the garden (location, separation, etc.)

The preposition in can take either:

ablative for location: in horto = in the garden (where?)
accusative for motion towards: in hortum = into the garden (where to?)

So here in horto uses the ablative because it describes where the student is sitting, not where he is going.

Why does in sometimes use the accusative and sometimes the ablative?

In is one of the prepositions that can govern two different cases with two different meanings:

in
- ablative = location (answering “where?”)
  - in horto = in the garden (he is already there)
in
- accusative = motion toward (answering “into where?”)
  - in hortum = into the garden (he is going there)

In Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet, we are talking about where he is sitting, so in takes the ablative, and we use horto.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in this Latin sentence?

Classical Latin has no separate words for “the” or “a / an.” Nouns appear without articles, and context decides how to translate them.

So discipulus can be:

“a student,”
“the student,”
in some contexts even “the pupil” (a specific one everyone knows about),

depending on what makes sense in English.

In Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet, good English versions could be:

“Perhaps the student is sitting in the garden.”
“Perhaps a student is sitting in the garden.”

Both are grammatically possible; context would decide.

Why is the verb sedet at the end? Can Latin word order be like English?

Latin word order is much freer than English because endings show grammatical roles.

The sentence Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet is in a very typical Latin order:

(adverb) subject – prepositional phrase – verb, with the verb at the end.

You could rearrange it:

Discipulus fortasse in horto sedet.
In horto discipulus fortasse sedet.

All still mean the same basic thing.

You can put the verb earlier:

Fortasse discipulus sedet in horto.

This is understandable Latin, but verb-final is the most neutral and common pattern in narrative prose.

What exactly does sedet mean? Is it “sits” or “is sitting”?

Sedet is the 3rd person singular present indicative of sedeo, sedēre (to sit):

sedet = “he/she/it sits” or “he/she/it is sitting.”

Classical Latin does not distinguish between:

simple present (he sits)
and present progressive (he is sitting)

The same form covers both meanings. Context determines how best to translate:

Here, good English options:
- “Perhaps the student sits in the garden.”
- “Perhaps the student is sitting in the garden.”

The second usually sounds more natural in modern English.

How do we know sedet is singular, and which person is it?

Latin present tense endings for -ēre verbs (like sedēre) are:

1st sg.: sedeō – I sit
2nd sg.: sedēs – you (sg.) sit
3rd sg.: sedet – he/she/it sits
1st pl.: sedēmus – we sit
2nd pl.: sedētis – you (pl.) sit
3rd pl.: sedent – they sit

Sedet has the -t ending, which marks 3rd person singular. Combined with discipulus (also singular), we get:

discipulus sedet = “the student (he) sits / is sitting.”

Could this sentence be plural, like “Perhaps the students are sitting in the garden”? How would that look in Latin?

To make it plural, you need to change both the subject and the verb (and possibly translations of articles in English):

Singular:
- Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet.
- Perhaps the student is sitting in the garden.
Plural:
- Fortasse discipulī in horto sedent.
  - discipulī = nominative plural of discipulus (students)
  - sedent = 3rd person plural present (they sit / are sitting)

The rest — fortasse and in horto — stays the same.

Is there any agreement of gender or number between discipulus and other words here?

In this sentence:

discipulus is masculine, singular, nominative.
sedet is 3rd person singular, which agrees in number (singular) with discipulus.
horto is masculine, singular, ablative, but it does not need to agree with discipulus; it just agrees with the preposition in by taking the right case (ablative).

So the main agreement here is:

subject (discipulus) ←→ verb (sedet): both singular.

How would I pronounce Fortasse discipulus in horto sedet in classical Latin?

Using a Classical Latin pronunciation:

Fortasse: for-TAS-seh
- for as in English “for”
- tas with short a (like “tuss” in “tussle,” but with a as in “cup”)
- double ss pronounced clearly (no lengthening of the vowel)
discipulus: dis-KI-poo-loos
- c before i is hard k in classical Latin: dis-KI
- u as in “put,” oos for -us
in: in (like English “in”)
horto: HOR-toh
- h is pronounced
- o is a short o (like “off”)
sedet: SEH-det
- both e short (like “set”)

Stress:

for-TAS-se
dis-CI-pu-lus (stress on CI)
IN
HOR-to
SE-det

So spoken smoothly:
for-TAS-se dis-CI-pu-lus in HOR-to SE-det.