Breakdown of Discipulus domi manet ut verba difficilia iterum discat et postea facilius scribat.
Questions & Answers about Discipulus domi manet ut verba difficilia iterum discat et postea facilius scribat.
Domi means at home.
It is the locative case of domus, domus (f.) – home, house.
Latin uses the locative with a few special nouns (especially cities, small islands, domus, rus) to mean in/at X without a preposition. So:
- domi = at home
- in domo = in the house (more literally: inside the building; slightly different nuance)
Both can be translated as at home, but domi is the natural, idiomatic form in this sort of sentence.
Here ut introduces a purpose clause.
- ut verba difficilia iterum discat et postea facilius scribat
= so that he may learn the difficult words again and afterwards write more easily
With a subjunctive verb, ut is usually translated as:
- so that
- in order that
- or often just to in smoother English.
So the structure is:
- Discipulus domi manet – The student stays at home
- ut ... discat et ... scribat – in order that he may learn ... and write ...
They are subjunctive because they depend on ut in a purpose clause.
In classical Latin:
- ut + subjunctive = purpose or result, depending on context.
- Here, the meaning is clearly purpose: he stays at home *so that he may learn... and (so that he may) write...*
Indicative (discit, scribit) would simply describe facts:
- Discipulus domi manet et verba difficilia iterum discit.
= The student stays at home and (indeed) learns the difficult words again.
Subjunctive shows intended result / purpose, not just what happens.
Both discat and scribat are present subjunctive.
In a purpose clause:
- With a present or future main verb (manet), Latin normally uses the present subjunctive to talk about an action that is at the same time or later than the main verb.
So:
- Discipulus domi manet ut discat.
Literally: The student stays at home that he *may learn.
English often uses *will or can here: so that he can/will learn.
Latin does not use the future (discet, scribet) in a purpose clause; the present subjunctive does the job of our English future in this context.
Verba is accusative plural neuter, from verbum, verbi (n.) – word.
- It is the direct object of discat: verba (object) discat (verb) = may learn the words.
- It is plural because the sentence means difficult words (more than one).
So:
- verbum difficile = a difficult word
- verba difficilia = difficult words
Difficilia is a 3rd-declension adjective from difficilis, difficile – difficult.
Form: difficilia = nominative/accusative neuter plural.
It is agreeing with verba:
- verba – neuter plural accusative
- difficilia – neuter plural accusative
In Latin, adjectives must agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case, so verba difficilia = difficult words.
Iterum is an adverb meaning again, a second time.
In the sentence it goes with discat and/or the whole idea of learning:
- ut verba difficilia iterum discat
= so that he may learn the difficult words again.
Adverbs in Latin have relatively free placement. You might also see:
- ut iterum verba difficilia discat
- ut verba difficilia discat iterum
All of these would mean essentially the same thing; the exact position can give a slight stylistic or emphasis nuance, but the core meaning again is clear.
Postea is an adverb meaning afterwards, later, after that.
Here it modifies scribat:
- et postea facilius scribat
= and afterwards he may write more easily.
So the time sequence is:
- He stays at home now.
- He learns the difficult words again.
- After that (postea) he will be able to write more easily.
Facilius is the comparative adverb of facile – easily (from facilis, facile – easy).
Adverbs:
- Positive: facile = easily
- Comparative: facilius = more easily
- Superlative: facillime = most/very easily
So facilius scribat = he may write more easily, i.e. with greater ease than before (after learning the difficult words).
You can say in domo manet, and it would usually be understood as he stays in the house / at home.
However:
- domi manet is the more idiomatic and common way to say he stays at home in classical Latin.
- in domo focuses a little more on the physical building; domi is the standard expression for the idea of being at home.
So both are possible, but domi manet is the best choice in a neutral sentence like this.
Only the noun discipulus needs to change; the verbs and other words stay the same.
- Discipulus (male student) → Discipula (female student).
So you would say:
- Discipula domi manet ut verba difficilia iterum discat et postea facilius scribat.
= The (female) student stays at home so that she may learn the difficult words again and later write more easily.
Latin verbs do not change their form to mark gender, so discat and scribat remain the same.
In classical Latin, purpose is normally expressed with ut + subjunctive, not a bare infinitive.
So:
- Discipulus domi manet ut verba difficilia iterum discat...
= The student stays at home to learn the difficult words again...
You would not normally say:
- ✗ Discipulus domi manet verba difficilia iterum discere...
That feels unclassical and strange, because manere (to stay) does not take an infinitive of purpose the way some verbs (like cupio discere, volo discere) do.
For purpose, stick with ut + subjunctive (or sometimes a relative clause, or ne for negative purpose) rather than an infinitive.