Breakdown of Prope scholam parva bibliotheca est, ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant.
Questions & Answers about Prope scholam parva bibliotheca est, ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant.
Prope is a preposition that always takes the accusative case. It means near or next to in space (and sometimes in time).
So:
- schola = school (nominative, dictionary form)
- scholam = school (accusative, object of a preposition)
You get:
- prope scholam = near the school
Other common prepositions that take the accusative are ad (to, toward), per (through), post (after, behind), inter (among, between), etc.
In Latin, the subject is normally in the nominative case.
- bibliotheca: nominative singular (subject)
- parva: nominative singular feminine, agreeing with bibliotheca
- est: is, the third person singular of esse (to be)
So parva bibliotheca is “a small library,” and it’s the subject of est.
Latin often uses a simple Subject + est structure where English prefers “there is/there are”:
- parva bibliotheca est
Literally: a small library is
Idiomatic English: there is a small library
English adds the “dummy” word there; Latin doesn’t need anything extra. The existence is just expressed by est with the subject.
Latin does not have articles (a, an, the). Context decides whether we use a or the in English.
General guidelines:
- First mention of something, not yet known or specific to the listener: usually a
- parva bibliotheca est → there is a small library
- When it is clear or previously mentioned, we often use the
- Later, you might refer back to it as the small library
In this sentence, it sounds like the library is being introduced, so “there is a small library” is the most natural English. But grammatically, Latin itself doesn’t distinguish.
Ubi here is a relative adverb of place, meaning where.
- It introduces the clause ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant
- That whole clause describes the place (the library):
- a small library near the school, where the students like to read books…
Functionally, this is similar to English:
- “a small library … where the students like to read books”
You could also express it with a relative pronoun plus a preposition:
- parva bibliotheca est, in qua discipuli post scholam libros legere amant
(in qua = in which, referring back to bibliotheca)
So ubi is not a pronoun that agrees in gender/number/case; it is an adverb indicating place and introducing a relative clause.
Discipuli is nominative plural, from discipulus, discipuli (m.) = student, pupil.
Roles:
- It is the subject of amant.
- The clause ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant literally means:
- where the students love/like to read books after school
So:
- discipuli (they) → amant (they like) → legere libros (to read books)
Post is another preposition that always takes the accusative:
- Spatial: post murum = behind the wall
- Temporal: post cenam = after dinner
In this sentence:
- schola = school (nominative)
- scholam = school (accusative, object of post)
- post scholam = after school
So the accusative here comes from the preposition post, which can express either place (behind) or time (after). It’s not a “bare” accusative of time; it’s accusative governed by a preposition.
Legere is the present active infinitive of the verb lego, legere = to read.
- amant is a finite verb: third person plural, present: they love / they like
- legere is an infinitive: to read
In Latin, many verbs of liking, wanting, being able, etc. take an infinitive as their complement:
- amant legere = they like to read
- volunt legere = they want to read
- possunt legere = they are able to read
So legere doesn’t get its own subject ending because it depends on amant; the same subject (discipuli) is understood to be doing the reading.
The basic meaning of amo, amare is to love. But when followed by an infinitive, especially for regular activities, it often corresponds to English “to like doing X / to be fond of doing X”.
- puella cantare amat
Literally: the girl loves to sing
Natural English: the girl likes singing
In this sentence:
- discipuli … libros legere amant
Literally: the students love to read books
Natural English: the students like to read books
English tends to reserve “love to…” for stronger emotional emphasis, while Latin can use amo + infinitive quite normally for habits or preferences. Context decides whether love or like is the better translation.
Latin word order is flexible and is guided by emphasis and rhythm more than by strict rules. The grammatical roles are shown by endings, not by position.
In libros legere amant:
- libros (books) – accusative plural, direct object of legere
- legere (to read) – infinitive
- amant (they like) – main verb
Possible effects of this order:
- Putting libros first can emphasize what they like to read (books, not something else).
- Keeping legere amant together at the end gives a natural verb cluster.
Other perfectly correct orders include:
- discipuli libros post scholam legere amant
- discipuli post scholam legere libros amant
- discipuli amant post scholam libros legere
All would mean essentially the same thing; only nuance and emphasis shift slightly.
Yes, you can rearrange many parts without changing the basic meaning, as long as the endings stay the same. For example:
Parva bibliotheca prope scholam est, ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant.
– Moves prope scholam after parva bibliotheca; same meaning.Prope scholam est parva bibliotheca, ubi discipuli post scholam libros legere amant.
– Puts est earlier; still “Near the school there is a small library…”Prope scholam parva bibliotheca est, ubi discipuli libros post scholam legere amant.
– Moves libros before post scholam for a slightly different rhythm.
All of these still mean something like:
“Near the school there is a small library, where the students like to read books after school.”
The core meaning is preserved; the changes affect style and emphasis more than content.