Puer in horto clavem quaerit, sed eam non invenit.

in

Breakdown of Puer in horto clavem quaerit, sed eam non invenit.

• puer: the boy
• hortus: the garden
• non: not

Questions & Answers about Puer in horto clavem quaerit, sed eam non invenit.

Why is puer in the nominative case here?

Because puer is the subject of the sentence: the person doing the actions (quaerit and invenit). In Latin, the subject is typically in the nominative case.

---

What does in horto mean grammatically, and why is horto not hortus?

In horto is a prepositional phrase meaning in the garden. The preposition in (when it means location, not motion) takes the ablative case, so hortus becomes hortō (ablative singular).

---

How do I know that clavem is the direct object, and why is it clavem?

Clavem is the direct object of quaerit (he is searching for something). Direct objects are usually in the accusative case. The noun clāvis (key) is 3rd declension, and its accusative singular is clāvem.

---

Why does the sentence use eam—what is it referring to, and what case is it?

Eam means her/it (feminine singular) and refers back to clavem (the key). It is accusative singular feminine, because it is the direct object of (he does not find it).Latin often uses a pronoun like this instead of repeating the noun.