Questions & Answers about In caelo multae nubes sunt, et pluvia lente cadit.
Why is caelo used instead of caelum in in caelo?
The basic noun is caelum (neuter, nominative singular), meaning sky or heaven.
Latin prepositions can take different cases. In has two main patterns:
- in
- accusative = into (movement toward)
- in
- ablative = in, on (rest in a place)
In this sentence, the idea is in the sky (location, not movement), so in takes the ablative case, and caelum becomes caelo (ablative singular).
So in caelo literally means in the sky.
What is the subject of sunt, and why is it plural?
The subject of sunt is multae nubes.
- nubes = clouds (here nominative plural, feminine)
- multae = many (adjective, nominative plural feminine, agreeing with nubes)
- sunt = they are / there are (third person plural of esse, to be)
Because nubes is plural (clouds), the verb sunt has to be plural as well.
So multae nubes sunt literally means many clouds are (which we translate more naturally as English ).