Tertia hora discipuli iam fessi sunt, sed magister adhuc docet.

At the third hour the students are already tired, but the teacher is still teaching.

Breakdown of Tertia hora discipuli iam fessi sunt, sed magister adhuc docet.

• esse: to be
• discipulus: the student
• magister: the teacher
• sed: but
• docere: to teach
• iam: already
• fessus: tired
• hora: the hour
• tertius: third
• adhuc: still

Questions & Answers about Tertia hora discipuli iam fessi sunt, sed magister adhuc docet.

Why does tertia hora mean at the third hour even though there is no word for at?

Latin often uses the ablative case to express time when something happens, without a preposition.

Tertia hora is an example of the ablative of time when, meaning at the third hour.

• hora is a first-declension noun:
  
  • nominative singular: hora
  • ablative singular: hora (same form)
• tertia is an adjective agreeing with hora in gender, number, and case.

Because of its function in the sentence (telling when the action happens), tertia hora is understood as an ablative of time: at the third hour / by the third hour.

How can I tell that tertia hora is not the subject (the third hour) but this ablative of time?

Formally, tertia hora could be nominative or ablative (same endings), so the difference comes from context and meaning.

1. The rest of the sentence already has clear subjects:

   • discipuli (subject of fessi sunt)
   • magister (subject of docet)

2. The phrase at the beginning fits naturally as a time expression, not as an additional subject.
   Latin frequently opens sentences with adverbial or temporal expressions:

   • prima luce – at first light
   • illo die – on that day
   • tertia hora – at the third hour

3. If tertia hora were a subject, we would expect it to be matched with a verb about the hour (for example, tertia hora est longa, the third hour is long), which we do not have here.

So by role in the sentence, not by form alone, we identify tertia hora as an ablative of time.

What exactly is being said about tertia hora in Roman terms? What time is the third hour?

Romans divided the daylight into twelve variable hours from sunrise to sunset.

• prima hora – first hour after sunrise
• secunda hora – second hour
• tertia hora – third hour, roughly mid‑morning

If you imagine sunrise at about 6:00 a.m., then:

• tertia hora ≈ 9:00 a.m.

The exact clock time varied with the season, but the idea is: by mid‑morning, the students are already tired, but the teacher still teaches.

What is iam doing in discipuli iam fessi sunt?

iam is an adverb. Here it means already, indicating that a state has been reached earlier than one might expect or by a certain point in time.

• discipuli fessi sunt – the students are tired
• discipuli iam fessi sunt – the students are already tired (by this time / by the third hour)

Other common uses of iam:

• With present: iam venit – he is coming now / he is already coming
• With perfect: iam venit – he has already come
• With negatives: iam non venit – he no longer comes / he does not come anymore

So iam adds the nuance of already or by now.

What is the difference between iam and adhuc in this sentence?

They contrast nicely:

• iam in discipuli iam fessi sunt
  
  • means already: by this time (the third hour) the students are tired.
• adhuc in magister adhuc docet
  
  • means still or up to this very moment: the teacher continues teaching and has not yet stopped.

So the contrast is:

• students: already tired (iam)
• teacher: still teaching (adhuc)

A few patterns:

• iam vs adhuc:
  • iam fessus est – he is already tired
  • adhuc docet – he is still teaching
• Negative contrast:
  • iam non docet – he no longer teaches
  • adhuc non docet – he is not yet teaching

Why is it discipuli iam fessi sunt instead of something like discipuli sunt iam fessi? Does word order matter here?

Latin word order is flexible, and several arrangements are possible:

• discipuli iam fessi sunt
• discipuli fessi iam sunt
• iam discipuli fessi sunt
• discipuli sunt iam fessi, etc.

The core structure is:

• discipuli – subject (nominative plural)
• fessi – predicate adjective (nominative plural, agreeing with discipuli)
• sunt – verb to be
• iam – adverb modifying fessi sunt

Meaning does not change significantly with different orders; word order mainly affects emphasis and rhythm.

In your sentence, beginning with tertia hora (time), followed by discipuli iam fessi sunt and then sed magister adhuc docet, gives a smooth, natural flow: time → state of students → contrasting action of teacher.

What is fessi grammatically, and how does it relate to discipuli?

fessi is an adjective:

• dictionary form: fessus, fessa, fessum – tired, weary
• fessi here is:
  • masculine
  • nominative
  • plural

It is a predicate adjective linked to the subject discipuli by the verb sunt:

• discipuli – nominative plural, subject
• fessi – nominative plural, describing the subject
• sunt – linking verb (they are tired)

In English, this corresponds to: the students are tired (adjective used with to be).

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case, fessi matches discipuli:

• discipuli – masculine, nominative, plural
• fessi – masculine, nominative, plural

Why is it discipuli iam fessi sunt and not discipuli iam fessus sunt or discipulus iam fessus sunt?

All of these elements must agree and be consistent:

• discipuli – nominative plural
• therefore any adjective describing them must also be plural: fessi, not fessus.
• the verb must also be plural: sunt (they are), not est (he/she/it is).

So:

• discipuli iam fessi sunt – correct:
  
  • students (plural) + tired (plural) + are (plural)
• discipuli iam fessus sunt – incorrect: plural subject + singular adjective
• discipulus iam fessus sunt – incorrect: singular subject + plural verb

Latin is strict about agreement in these cases.

Why is magister singular when discipuli is plural? Is that just style?

Yes. The sentence deliberately contrasts:

• discipuli – plural (the students, many individuals)
• magister – singular (the teacher, one person)

This contrast helps express the idea:

• Many students are already tired,
• but one teacher is still teaching.

Grammatically:

• magister – nominative singular, subject of docet
• docet – 3rd person singular present, he/she teaches or he/she is teaching

So the singular form magister…docet is fully consistent and meaningful.

Why is docet translated as is teaching and not just teaches?

Latin has only one present tense, which can cover both:

• simple present: he teaches
• progressive present: he is teaching

docet by itself simply means he/she teaches or he/she is teaching, depending on context.

In this sentence, adhuc (still) suggests a continuing ongoing action, so English naturally uses the progressive:

• magister adhuc docet → the teacher is still teaching

But grammatically, it is just the regular present indicative of docere:

• doceo – I teach
• doces – you teach
• docet – he/she/it teaches

How does sed work here? Could we use another word like autem?

sed is a coordinating conjunction meaning but. It introduces a strong contrast between the two clauses:

• students are already tired
• but the teacher is still teaching

autem also can mean something like but / however, but:

• sed usually marks a clear, straightforward contrast.
• autem is often weaker and frequently appears second in its clause (postpositive).

For example:

• discipuli iam fessi sunt, sed magister adhuc docet.
  A plain, direct but.
• discipuli iam fessi sunt, magister autem adhuc docet.
  Also possible, with autem in second position, giving more of an on the other hand / however feel.

In a simple learner sentence, sed is the most straightforward choice.

Why are there no words for the or a (like the students, the teacher) in the Latin?

Latin has no articles (no the, a, or an). Nouns appear without them:

• discipuli can mean students, the students, or some students.
• magister can mean teacher or the teacher.

When translating into English, you choose the or a based on:

• context
• what sounds natural in English

In a typical classroom context, we would say:

• the students are already tired, but the teacher is still teaching

So English inserts the, but Latin expresses the idea with pure nouns and context.