Magnus puer in horto ludit.

The big boy plays in the garden.

Breakdown of Magnus puer in horto ludit.

• in: in
• puer: the boy
• hortus: the garden
• ludere: to play
• magnus: loud

Questions & Answers about Magnus puer in horto ludit.

What is the grammatical role and form of each word in Magnus puer in horto ludit?

Here is a breakdown:

• Magnus

  • Dictionary form: magnus, -a, -um (big, great)
  • Form here: nominative singular masculine
  • Role: adjective describing puer, part of the subject

• puer

  • Dictionary form: puer, pueri (boy)
  • Form here: nominative singular masculine
  • Role: subject of the verb ludit

• in

  • Preposition meaning in / on / at
  • Here it governs the ablative (because it shows location, not motion)

• horto

  • Dictionary form: hortus, horti (garden)
  • Form here: ablative singular masculine
  • Role: object of the preposition in, expressing location: in the garden

• ludit

  • Dictionary form: ludo, ludere, lusi, lusum (to play)
  • Form here: 3rd person singular, present indicative active
  • Role: main verb: he plays / is playing

Why is it magnus puer and not magnum puer or magna puer?

In Latin, adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

• puer is:
  • masculine
  • singular
  • nominative (subject of the sentence)

So magnus must also be:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

Forms like:

• magnum = masculine/neuter accusative singular or neuter nominative singular
• magna = feminine nominative/ablative singular or neuter plural nominative/accusative

Those don't match puer, so magnus puer is the correct form.

Why is the word for “boy” puer and not something like puerus?

Puer belongs to the second declension, but it’s one of the nouns that end in -er in the nominative singular.

Its main forms are:

• Nominative singular: puer (boy – subject)
• Genitive singular: pueri (of the boy)
• Stem: puer-

So it behaves like puer, pueri or ager, agri (field), not like hortus, horti. There is no form puerus in standard Latin.

What case is horto, and why is it used here?

Horto is ablative singular of hortus, horti (garden).

It’s used because:

• The preposition in with the ablative expresses location: in, on, at a place.
• So in horto means in the garden, describing where the action happens, not motion into it.

If the sentence were about motion into the garden, you’d expect in + accusative (in hortum).

Why is it in horto and not in hortum?

Latin uses in with two different cases:

• in + ablative = location (where?)

  • in horto = in the garden (he is playing there)

• in + accusative = motion towards (into where?)

  • in hortum = into the garden (he moves into it)

Your sentence describes the place where he is playing, not movement into it, so it correctly uses in horto (ablative).

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

Classical Latin does not have separate words for “the” or “a/an” (no articles).

• puer can mean: boy / a boy / the boy
• horto in in horto can mean: in a garden / in the garden

Which English article you choose depends on context, not on any extra Latin word.

Does the word order Magnus puer in horto ludit matter? Could I change it?

Latin word order is fairly flexible because meaning is mostly shown by endings, not position.

Your sentence:

• Magnus puer in horto ludit is perfectly fine.

Other natural possibilities:

• Puer magnus in horto ludit
• In horto magnus puer ludit
• In horto ludit magnus puer

They all usually mean the same thing: A/the big boy is playing in the garden.

Differences in word order tend to affect emphasis or style, not basic meaning. For example:

• In horto at the start can emphasize the location.
• Magnus before puer can slightly stress the quality big/great.

What exactly is the form and meaning of ludit?

Ludit is from the verb ludo, ludere, lusi, lusum (to play).

Form:

• person: 3rd person
• number: singular
• tense: present
• mood: indicative
• voice: active

So ludit means:

• he plays / he is playing (or she/it plays, if the subject were feminine/neuter).

It agrees with puer (a singular subject), so we get:
Magnus puer ludit = The big boy plays / is playing.

Why isn’t there a word for “he” in the Latin sentence?

Latin usually leaves out subject pronouns (like he, she, they) because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• ludit already means he/she/it plays.
• The subject puer is stated, so adding is (he) in Latin would normally be unnecessary and can sound emphatic or stylistically odd.

So Latin prefers:

• Magnus puer ludit.
  not
• Magnus puer is ludit. (this is not normal Classical Latin)

Is horto singular or plural, and what is its dictionary form?

Horto is singular, ablative singular masculine.

Its dictionary form (nominative singular + genitive singular) is:

• hortus, horti (garden)

Main singular forms:

• Nominative: hortus – garden (subject)
• Genitive: horti – of the garden
• Dative: horto – to/for the garden
• Accusative: hortum – garden (object)
• Ablative: horto – by/with/from/in the garden (depending on context and prepositions)

In in horto, the ablative is used specifically for location.

How would the sentence change if I want to say “The big boys are playing in the garden”?

You must make the subject and the verb plural:

• Magnus puer → Magni pueri

  • magni = nominative plural masculine of magnus
  • pueri = nominative plural masculine of puer

• ludit (he plays) → ludunt (they play)

In horto stays the same (it’s still in the garden).

Full sentence:

• Magni pueri in horto ludunt.
  = The big boys are playing in the garden.

How would I say something like “The big boy runs into the garden” to show motion into the garden?

To show motion into a place, use in + accusative.

Change:

• the verb to a motion verb, e.g. currit (runs) from curro, currere, cucurri, cursum
• horto (ablative) → hortum (accusative)

Result:

• Magnus puer in hortum currit.
  = The big boy runs into the garden.

Here in hortum clearly means into the garden, not in the garden.

Can magnus puer also mean “great boy,” or only “big boy”?

Magnus can mean both physically big and great in the sense of important, impressive, remarkable, depending on context.

So:

• magnus puer can mean:
  • a big boy (large in size), or
  • a great boy (excellent, remarkable), if the context suggests character or reputation rather than size.

If you specifically want physically big, Latin also has adjectives like grandis (large, grown) or ingens (huge), but magnus by itself is often clear enough in simple sentences like this.