Breakdown of Heri avia puero tunicam longam et calceos calidos dabat.
puer
the boy
et
and
longus
long
dare
to give
Questions & Answers about Heri avia puero tunicam longam et calceos calidos dabat.
What does each word in Heri avia puero tunicam longam et calceos calidos dabat literally mean?
Word-by-word:
- Heri – yesterday (adverb of time)
- avia – grandmother (nominative singular, subject)
- puero – to the boy / for the boy (dative singular, indirect object)
- tunicam – tunic (accusative singular, direct object)
- longam – long (accusative singular feminine, describing tunicam)
- et – and
- calceos – shoes (literally “shoes/boots,” accusative plural, direct object)
- calidos – warm (accusative plural masculine, describing calceos)
- dabat – was giving / used to give / gave repeatedly (3rd person singular, imperfect tense of do, dare)
So: Yesterday grandmother was giving the boy a long tunic and warm shoes.
Why is puero in the dative case and not puerum?
Latin normally puts the indirect object (the person who receives something) in the dative case.
- puero is dative singular: “to the boy / for the boy.”
- If it were accusative (puerum), it would usually mean the boy is the direct object, the thing directly affected by the verb.
With the verb do, dare (to give), the pattern is:
- Subject (nominative) – the giver: avia
- Direct object (accusative) – what is given: tunicam longam et calceos calidos