Learn Hardcore Latin: Dominus et servus sine verbo sedent; dominus pedes fessos spectat, servus autem silentium amat. - The master and the servant sit without a word; the master looks at his tired feet, but the servant loves the silence.

dominus: 2nd declension, nominative singular → “the master” as subject
servus: 2nd declension, nominative singular → “the slave/servant” as subject

In a normal Latin sentence, the nominative case (especially when used without a preposition) marks the subject, so dominus et servus together form the compound subject of sedent (“sit”).

Why is sedent plural when dominus and servus are each singular?

sedent is 3rd person plural present indicative of sedēre (“to sit”).

When two singular nouns are joined by et and act together as the subject (dominus et servus), Latin uses a plural verb. So:

dominus et servus sedent = “the master and the slave sit”
The verb agrees with the whole subject group, not with each noun individually.

Why is it sine verbo and not sine verbum?

sine always takes the ablative case in Latin.

verbum is nominative/accusative singular.
verbo is ablative singular → required after sine.

So sine verbo literally means “with‑out word” and idiomatically “without a word.” The preposition sine (“without”) is one of the standard ablative-taking prepositions.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in dominus, servus, silentium, etc.?

Latin has no articles (“a/an” or “the”). Nouns like dominus, servus, silentium, verbo, etc. can be translated as “a” or “the” depending on context:

dominus = “a master” or “the master”
silentium = “silence” or “the silence”

The choice of a/the in English is an interpretation made when translating; Latin itself leaves that to context.

What does autem mean here, and why does it come after servus instead of at the beginning of the clause?

autem is a postpositive conjunction/adverb: it almost never stands first in its clause. It usually comes second (or occasionally later).

Meaning here: “but”, “however”.
Word order: servus autem silentium amat
Literally: “the slave, however, loves silence.”

So Latin puts autem after servus, but in English we move “however/but” to the front of the clause.

Why isn’t there a Latin word for “his” in “the master looks at his tired feet”?

Latin often omits possessive pronouns when the possessor is obvious from context.

Subject of the clause: dominus
Object: pedes fessos (“tired feet”)

Since it is naturally understood that a person is looking at his own feet, Latin does not need suos (“his own”). If the author wanted to emphasize that the feet belong to him (and not someone else), they could say:

dominus suos pedes fessos spectat – “the master looks at his own tired feet.”

But in ordinary style, the possessive is simply left out.

What case is pedes fessos, and how can I tell it’s not the subject?

pedes fessos is accusative plural masculine:

pedes: from pēs, pedis (3rd declension); nominative or accusative plural both look like pedes.
fessos: from fessus, -a, -um; accusative plural masculine, agreeing with pedes.

We know it’s not the subject because the subject is already clearly dominus (nominative), and spectat (“looks at”) is a normal transitive verb that takes a direct object in the accusative. So:

dominus (nominative) = subject
pedes fessos (accusative) = direct object

Why does the adjective fessos come after pedes? Could it be fessos pedes instead?

Latin word order is much freer than English. Adjectives can come before or after the noun they modify.

pedes fessos and fessos pedes are both grammatically correct.
Putting the adjective after the noun is very common and can feel slightly more neutral.

Here, pedes fessos simply means “tired feet”; the post‑position of fessos is stylistically ordinary.

What case is silentium, and what is its function in servus autem silentium amat?

silentium is accusative singular neuter and acts as the direct object of amat (“loves”).

servus (nominative) = subject
amat = verb
silentium (accusative) = what he loves

So the structure is “The slave loves silence.”

Could silentium here mean “the silence” or “silence” in general?

Yes, it could be understood either way. Because Latin has no articles, silentium is just “silence” in a bare sense:

“The slave loves silence” (silence in general).
“The slave loves the silence” (a specific silence in the situation).

A translator chooses based on the larger context; grammatically, both are possible.

How do we know that servus (and not silentium) is the subject of amat, since neuter nominative and accusative look the same?

Neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative singular (silentium for both). But subject and object are distinguished by:

Case of the other noun:
- servus is clearly nominative singular, which strongly marks it as subject.
- silentium is then naturally taken as accusative (object).
Normal pattern of amo:
- amare normally takes a direct object in the accusative (“love something”).

So the default reading is:

servus = subject
silentium = direct object

and not the other way round.

Why is the first clause Dominus et servus sine verbo sedent and not Dominus et servus sedent sine verbo?

Both word orders are correct. Latin allows fairly free word order, and prepositional phrases like sine verbo can move around.

Dominus et servus sine verbo sedent – slight emphasis on “without a word”.
Dominus et servus sedent sine verbo – slightly more neutral arrangement.

Latin writers often position elements for rhythm, emphasis, or style, not strict syntactic necessity.

Why are dominus and servus repeated in the second part instead of just using pronouns like “he”?

Latin can use pronouns, but:

A 3rd person subject pronoun (is, ille, etc.) is usually omitted unless needed for emphasis or clarity.
Repeating the noun (dominus … servus autem …) is a clear way to show the change of subject between the two verbs spectat and amat.

So:

dominus pedes fessos spectat, servus autem silentium amat
makes it absolutely clear which verb belongs to which person, and also gives a stylistic balance to the sentence.