Ea saepe in bibliotheca libros legit.

She often reads books in the library.

Breakdown of Ea saepe in bibliotheca libros legit.

• in: in
• legere: to read
• liber: the book
• saepe: often
• bibliotheca: the library
• ea: the things

Questions & Answers about Ea saepe in bibliotheca libros legit.

What does ea mean here, and why is it used at all if Latin often drops the word for she?

Ea is the nominative feminine singular form of the pronoun is, ea, id, and here it functions as the subject of legit, so it means she (or that woman).
In Latin, subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.
When ea is included, it normally adds emphasis or contrast, something like “she, in particular, often reads books in the library” or “she (as opposed to someone else)…”.
So grammatically it’s not required, but it is allowed and slightly emphatic.

Could ea in this sentence ever mean they?

Not with legit.
Ea can be nominative neuter plural meaning they / those things, but then the verb would also have to be plural (legunt, not legit).
For they referring to a group of women, Latin would use eae, not ea.
So in this sentence, with a singular verb legit, ea must be she (feminine singular).

Why is the word order Ea saepe in bibliotheca libros legit instead of something like Ea legit libros in bibliotheca?

Latin word order is much more flexible than English because the endings show who is doing what.
A very typical Latin pattern is to put the verb at or near the end, so legit comes last.
The subject (ea) often appears near the beginning.
The adverb saepe naturally sits close to the verb it modifies, so before legit is normal.
Prepositional phrases like in bibliotheca often appear before the direct object (libros) to set the scene.
So this order is quite standard and sounds natural in Latin: [subject] [adverb] [place] [object] [verb].

What does saepe modify, and could it go in other positions?

Saepe is an adverb meaning often, and it modifies the verb legit (reads).
Latin adverbs are fairly mobile, so you could also see, for example:

• Ea libros saepe in bibliotheca legit.
• Ea in bibliotheca saepe libros legit.
• Saepe ea in bibliotheca libros legit.

All of these are correct; they all say she often reads the books in the library.
Shifting saepe can add very slight nuances of emphasis, but the basic meaning doesn’t change.

Why is it in bibliotheca and not in bibliothecam?

The preposition in takes:

• the ablative case when it means in / on (location, where something is), and
• the accusative case when it means into / onto (motion toward a place).

Here, she is in the library (a location), not going into the library, so bibliotheca is in the ablative singular: (in) bibliothecā.
If the sentence meant she often goes into the library, you would expect in bibliothecam with a verb of motion.

What exactly is bibliotheca grammatically?

Dictionary form: bibliothēca, bibliothēcae, f. – library (from Greek).
It is a first-declension noun.
In this sentence, bibliotheca is ablative singular after in (meaning in the library).
So you can parse it as: ablative singular feminine, object of the preposition in expressing location.

Why is libros in the accusative plural, and how do I know it goes with legit?

Libros is the accusative plural of liber, libri, m. – book.
The accusative case is the standard case for the direct object of a verb.
You can ask: She reads what? Answer: books – that’s the direct object, so it appears in the accusative: libros.
Its number (plural) is just telling you that she is reading more than one book.

How can I tell whether legit here means reads (present) or read / has read (perfect)?

The form legit is ambiguous: it can be

• present: 3rd person singular, he/she/it reads, or
• perfect: 3rd person singular, he/she/it read / has read,

because lego, legere, lēgī, lectus has lēgit as its perfect 3rd singular form, which is written the same way in most texts.
Context usually decides the tense.
With an adverb like saepe (often), a habitual, ongoing action is suggested, so the present meaning (she often reads) is the most natural interpretation here.
In a narrative about past events, the same form could easily be read as she often read.

How do you pronounce Ea saepe in bibliotheca libros legit in Classical Latin?

In a simple approximation of Classical pronunciation:

• Ea ≈ EH-ah (two separate vowels)
• saepe ≈ SIGH-peh (ae like eye)
• in ≈ in (as in in)
• bibliotheca ≈ bihb-lee-oh-TAY-kah (ch = k, th = tʰ, not like English think)
• libros ≈ LEE-brohs
• legit (present) ≈ LEH-git (short e in leg-)

So roughly: EH-ah SIGH-peh in bihb-lee-oh-TAY-kah LEE-brohs LEH-git.
(Church/Italianate pronunciation would be slightly different, e.g. saepe ≈ SEH-peh, bibliotheca with k or keh sound, etc.)

Can the words in this sentence be rearranged, and if so, does the meaning change?

Yes, they can be rearranged quite freely, as long as you keep logical groups together (e.g. in bibliotheca stays together).
All of the following are grammatical and basically mean the same thing:

• Saepe ea in bibliotheca libros legit.
• In bibliotheca ea saepe libros legit.
• Libros saepe ea in bibliotheca legit.

Latin relies on endings, not word order, to mark subject and object, so ea will still be the subject and libros the object.
Reordering tends to affect emphasis or style rather than core meaning.

Why is there no word for the in libros or bibliotheca?

Latin has no articles (no the, no a/an).
Nouns appear without a separate article word, and context tells you whether to translate them as a book, the book, some books, etc.
So libros can be books, the books, or some books, and in bibliotheca can be in a library or in the library, depending on what makes sense in the broader context.