Avia in horto ambulat.

Grandmother walks in the garden.

Breakdown of Avia in horto ambulat.

• hortus: the garden
• ambulare: to walk
• avia: the grandmother
• in: at

Questions & Answers about Avia in horto ambulat.

What does each Latin word in Avia in horto ambulat correspond to in English?

Word for word:

• avia – grandmother (literally “grandmother,” feminine, singular, subject form)
• in – in (here: “in, inside” indicating location)
• horto – garden in the ablative case, so together in horto = in the garden
• ambulat – walks / is walking

So a natural translation is: “Grandmother walks in the garden” or “Grandmother is walking in the garden.”

How can I tell that avia is the subject of the sentence?

From its ending and its position:

• avia ends in -a, which here is nominative singular, typically used for the subject of a verb.
• ambulat has the 3rd person singular ending -t, meaning “he/she/it walks.” The most natural singular noun to match that ending in the sentence is avia.
• Latin word order is flexible, but subject–(other stuff)–verb is very common, so the first word is often the subject.

So the form avia (not, say, aviam or aviae) tells you it’s the subject: the grandmother is doing the walking.

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

Classical Latin has no separate words for “the” or “a/an”. Articles simply don’t exist as a separate part of speech.

• avia can mean:
  • “a grandmother”
  • “the grandmother”
  • even “grandmother” in a more general sense

English must choose an article; Latin leaves it to context. So Avia in horto ambulat can be translated as:

• The grandmother walks in the garden or
• A grandmother walks in the garden
  depending on the context you imagine.

Why does horto end in -o instead of -us like hortus?

hortus is the dictionary form (nominative singular): “(the) garden” as a subject.

Latin nouns change their endings depending on their grammatical role (case):

• hortus – nominative singular: garden (as subject)
• hortum – accusative singular: garden (as direct object or motion towards)
• horto – ablative singular: often used after certain prepositions, including in when it means “in/on” (location)

In in horto, the preposition in (meaning “in, on” in a static sense) requires the ablative case, so hortus becomes horto.

What is the difference between in horto and in hortum?

The preposition in can take two different cases with different meanings:

• in

  • ablative (in horto)
    – usually means “in / on” (location)
    – Avia in horto ambulat = Grandmother walks in the garden.

• in

  • accusative (in hortum)
    – usually means “into / onto” (motion towards)
    – Avia in hortum ambulat = Grandmother walks into the garden.

So horto (ablative) = in the garden; hortum (accusative) = into the garden.

What tense and person is ambulat, and how should I translate it?

ambulat is:

• verb: ambulo, ambulare – “to walk”
• present tense
• 3rd person singular
• active voice, indicative mood

So it means “he walks / she walks / it walks” or “he/she/it is walking.”

Latin’s present tense usually covers both:

• simple present: she walks
• present continuous: she is walking

So Avia in horto ambulat can be translated as:

• Grandmother walks in the garden or
• Grandmother is walking in the garden.

How can I tell that ambulat means “she walks” and not “I walk” or “they walk”?

From the verb ending:

• ambulo – I walk (1st person singular, ending -o)
• ambulas – you (sing.) walk (2nd person singular, ending -s)
• ambulat – he/she/it walks (3rd person singular, ending -t)
• ambulamus – we walk (1st person plural, -mus)
• ambulatis – you (pl.) walk (2nd person plural, -tis)
• ambulant – they walk (3rd person plural, -nt)

Because ambulat ends in -t, it must be he/she/it – here, matching avia = she.

Why is there no word for “she” in the Latin sentence?

Latin often leaves out subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.) because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

• ambulat already tells you “he/she/it” is doing the action.
• Putting ea (= “she”) before it is usually unnecessary unless you want to emphasize it, like she (as opposed to someone else) walks in the garden.

So “she” is implied by the -t ending in ambulat and the presence of avia.

Can the word order be different, or must it be Avia in horto ambulat?

Latin word order is relatively flexible. All of these are possible and mean essentially the same thing:

• Avia in horto ambulat.
• In horto avia ambulat.
• Avia ambulat in horto.
• Ambulat avia in horto.

The endings (nominative avia, ablative horto, verb ambulat) carry the grammar, so changing the order usually affects only emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

A common default is Subject – Other elements – Verb, which is why textbooks often give Avia in horto ambulat.

How would I say “The grandmothers walk in the gardens”?

You need to make both the subject and the location plural, and change the verb to 3rd person plural:

• avia → aviae (nominative plural: grandmothers)
• horto → hortis (ablative plural after in: in the gardens)
• ambulat → ambulant (3rd person plural: they walk)

So:

• Aviae in hortis ambulant.
  = The grandmothers walk in the gardens / Grandmothers are walking in the gardens.

How would I say “Grandmother does not walk in the garden”?

Add the negative particle non before the verb:

• Avia in horto non ambulat.
  = Grandmother does not walk in the garden / Grandmother is not walking in the garden.

Position of non is usually immediately before the word it negates; with verbs, you normally put non right before the verb.

How do you pronounce Avia in horto ambulat in Classical Latin?

In Classical pronunciation (approximate with English sounds):

• avia – ˈa.wi.a → roughly AH-wee-ah
  
  • v is pronounced like English w
• in – in (like English “in” but with a pure short i)
• horto – ˈhor.to → HOR-to (both vowels short; h pronounced)
• ambulat – ˈam.bu.lat → AHM-boo-laht

Stress rule: stress the second-to-last syllable if it is long or heavy; otherwise the third-to-last. Here:

• Á-via
• HÓR-to
• ÁM-bu-lat

So the whole sentence is roughly:

Á-wi-a in HÓR-to ÁM-bu-lat.