Pater dicit filio: "Aperi ianuam, quaeso, et deinde in lecto sede."

Father says to his son: "Open the door, please, and then sit on the bed."

Breakdown of Pater dicit filio: "Aperi ianuam, quaeso, et deinde in lecto sede."

• et: and
• in: on
• pater: the father
• filius: the son
• sedere: to sit
• dicere: to say
• aperire: to open
• ianua: the door
• lectus: the bed
• quaeso: please
• deinde: then

Questions & Answers about Pater dicit filio: "Aperi ianuam, quaeso, et deinde in lecto sede."

Why is filio in the dative case? In English we just say “to his son”; is that what’s happening here?

Yes. Filio is dative singular of filius (son) and it marks the person to whom the father is speaking.

Latin often uses the dative with verbs of saying, showing, giving, etc., to indicate the indirect object (the person affected or addressed). So:

• Pater dicit filio
  = The father says to his son.

You could think of the pattern:

• dicere alicui aliquid
  to say something to someone.

So:

• pater – nominative (subject)
• dicit – verb
• filio – dative (indirect object, “to the son”)

Using another case (like accusative filium) would change the meaning: pater filium dicit would suggest “The father calls the son (something) / says that the son (is) …”, which is a different construction.

What forms are Aperi and sede? Why is there no tu in the commands?

Aperi and sede are both 2nd person singular present active imperatives.

• Aperi – “Open!”
  from aperio, aperire (to open).
• sede – “Sit!”
  from sedeo, sedere (to sit).

Latin commands to you (singular) normally omit the subject pronoun tu because the imperative form itself already tells you it’s addressing “you”:

• Aperi ianuam – (You) open the door.
• In lecto sede – (You) sit on the bed.

You could say tu aperi ianuam to emphasize you in particular (e.g. “You open the door, not someone else”), but the unmarked, normal command just uses the imperative alone.

Why is it Aperi ianuam, not Aperi ianua or something else?

Because ianuam is the direct object of Aperi, so it must be in the accusative case.

• ianua – nominative singular (subject form): the door (as subject)
• ianuam – accusative singular (object form): the door (as object)

In this sentence, the door is the thing being opened, so:

• Aperi ianuam – Open the door.

If you had more than one door, it would change accordingly:

• Aperi ianuas – Open the doors. (accusative plural)

Is quaeso a special “please” word, or is it a verb form?

Quaeso is originally a verb form: 1st person singular present indicative active of quaero (to ask, to seek), meaning literally “I ask”.

Over time, it became a fixed polite word, used almost like English “please” or “I beg you”, often parenthetical:

• Aperi ianuam, quaeso
  Open the door, please / I ask (you).

Grammatically, you can analyze it as:

• Aperi ianuam, quaeso (te).
  Open the door, I ask (you).

Things to note:

• It doesn’t have to agree with anything; it just hangs there as a polite insert.
• It can appear in different places in the sentence, commonly after the imperative, but also before it:
  • Quaeso, aperi ianuam.
  • Aperi, quaeso, ianuam.

All of these are polite commands; the differences are about style and rhythm rather than grammar.

Why is in lecto in the ablative? How do I know when in takes accusative and when it takes ablative?

Latin in can take either the accusative or the ablative, and the case tells you the meaning:

• in + accusative → into, onto (movement toward)
• in + ablative → in, on (location, no movement)

In in lecto sede:

• lecto is ablative singular of lectus (bed),
• so in lecto means “on the bed / in the bed” (location),
• and sede is “sit” ⇒ sit (and stay) on the bed.

If you wanted to stress movement onto the bed, you could say:

• In lectum sede is not idiomatic, because sedeo means to be sitting rather than to sit down.
  You would more likely use considere or accumbere for the act of sitting/lying down.

But the basic rule is:

• in villam – into the house (acc.)
• in villa – in the house (abl.)

Could the word order in the commands be different, like Ianuam aperi or Sede in lecto? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order quite freely in Latin, especially in short commands.

All of these are grammatical and mean essentially the same thing:

• Aperi ianuam.
• Ianuam aperi.
• Aperi, quaeso, ianuam.
• Ianuam, quaeso, aperi.

Similarly:

• In lecto sede.
• Sede in lecto.

What changes is usually emphasis and rhythm, not the basic meaning. Very often, the imperative at the beginning feels punchier and more “command-like”, while placing the object first can highlight the object:

• Ianuam aperi – The door, open (it).

For a learner, it’s safe to keep to [verb] + [object] and [preposition] + [object], but you should know that Latin is flexible here.

Why is the verb dicit in the present tense? Can it still be translated as “said”?

Dicit is 3rd person singular present of dico (to say), so literally:

• Pater dicit filio – The father says to his son.

Latin often uses the present tense (“historical present”) in narrative contexts where English would use the past:

• Latin: Pater dicit filio: Aperi ianuam...
• English: The father *said to his son, “Open the door…”*

So depending on context, you might translate:

• Pater dicit filio – The father says to his son… (if it’s general or current)
• or – The father said to his son… (if it’s part of a past narrative).

Grammatically it is present, but translators often shift to past for natural English storytelling.

Why does Latin use direct speech here (Pater dicit filio: Aperi ianuam…) instead of some kind of “that” clause?

Latin has two main ways to report what someone says or orders:

1. Direct speech (as in this sentence):

   • Pater dicit filio: Aperi ianuam, quaeso…
     The father says to his son, “Open the door, please…”

   This keeps the exact words, using the imperative Aperi, sede.

2. Indirect speech / indirect command, which would change the structure and use the subjunctive:

   • Pater filio dicit ut ianuam aperiat et in lecto sedeat.
     The father tells his son to open the door and to sit on the bed.

Here:

• ut + subjunctive (aperiat, sedeat) reports the content of the command without directly quoting it.
• English often uses “to …” (to open, to sit) in such indirect commands.

In your sentence, the writer wants to present the spoken words themselves, so direct speech with the colon and the imperatives is the natural choice.

What exactly does deinde mean? Is it just “then”?

Deinde is an adverb that means “then, next, after that” in a temporal sense.

In this sentence:

• Aperi ianuam, quaeso, et deinde in lecto sede.
  Open the door, please, and then sit on the bed.

Deinde marks the order of actions: first open the door, after that sit on the bed.

You might also see similar adverbs:

• tum – then, at that time
• postea – afterward, later

All three can sometimes overlap in meaning, but deinde is very common for simple sequencing: first this, then that.

Why is it pater and not something like patrem or patri? How do I know which form to use?

Pater is nominative singular, used for the subject of the sentence:

• Pater dicit filio…
  The father says to his son…

If you changed the case:

• patrem – accusative singular (object)
  e.g. Puer patrem audit. – The boy hears the father.
• patri – dative singular (indirect object)
  e.g. Puer patri dicit. – The boy speaks to (his) father.

In your sentence, “the father” is the one doing the saying, so he must be in the nominative: pater.

Basic pattern to remember:

• Subject: nominative (pater dicit – the father says)
• Direct object: accusative (puer videt patrem – the boy sees the father)
• Indirect object: dative (puer patri dicit – the boy says to the father)

In English we say “on the bed”; can in lecto also mean “in the bed”? How precise is it?

Yes, in lecto can mean either “in the bed” or “on the bed”, depending on context. Lectus originally is a couch/bed, and in lecto describes being located at/in/on that piece of furniture.

Often:

• in lecto iacere – to lie in/ on bed
• in lecto sedere – to sit on the bed

If you needed to be very precise (for some reason), you could use additional words like:

• super lecto – literally on top of the bed (emphasizing “on”)
• in lecto – could be interpreted as either “in” or “on”, but usually the situation is clear from context (people don’t normally sit inside a bed).

So in lecto sede is perfectly natural for “sit on the bed.”