Breakdown of Discipulus laetus epistulam accipit.
Questions & Answers about Discipulus laetus epistulam accipit.
The subject is identified mainly by case, not by position. Discipulus is nominative singular (the form used for the subject), so it’s the doer of the action. Epistulam is accusative singular, so it’s the direct object (the thing received).
-am is a common accusative singular ending for 1st-declension feminine nouns (dictionary form ends in -a, like epistula). Accusative is the case typically used for a direct object, so epistulam = (a/the) letter as the thing being received.
Laetus is an adjective in the nominative singular masculine to match discipulus (also nominative singular masculine). It describes the student. In Latin this can be read either as:
- attributive: the happy student receives the letter, or
- predicate/appositive-ish: the student, happy, receives the letter.
The form stays nominative because it agrees with the subject.
Latin adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case:
- discipulus = masculine, singular, nominative
- laetus = masculine, singular, nominative
So they match perfectly, signaling that laetus describes discipulus.
- discipulus is 2nd declension masculine (typical nominative singular -us)
- epistula (here epistulam) is 1st declension feminine (typical nominative singular -a)
Declensions matter because they determine the case endings, which show the grammatical roles (subject/object/etc.).
Accipit is present tense, 3rd person singular, active indicative: he/she/it receives. The subject discipulus is singular, so the verb is singular as well.
The verb is accipiō, accipere, accēpī, acceptum (3rd conjugation -iō verb).
accipit comes from the present stem accipi- plus the 3rd person singular ending -t.
Classical Latin has no articles. Whether you translate discipulus as a student or the student, and epistulam as a letter or the letter, depends on context.
Word order is flexible because endings show grammar. You could write Epistulam discipulus laetus accipit or Discipulus epistulam accipit laetus and still keep the core meaning. Changes mainly affect emphasis (what feels highlighted).
Grammatically laetus is an adjective, not an adverb. Latin often uses an adjective with the subject to express a state during the action: the student, happy, receives the letter. If you specifically wanted an adverb happily, you’d typically use laete.
It’s not required, but it’s very common. A frequent Latin default is SOV (subject–object–verb), so … epistulam accipit feels natural. But Latin can move the verb for style or emphasis.
You’d change each word to plural to keep agreement:
- Discipulī laetī epistulās accipiunt.
(discipulī nominative plural, laetī nominative plural masculine, epistulās accusative plural, accipiunt 3rd plural).