Ea epistulam accipit et matri ostendit.

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Breakdown of Ea epistulam accipit et matri ostendit.

• mater: the mother
• epistula: the letter
• accipere: to receive

Questions & Answers about Ea epistulam accipit et matri ostendit.

What does ea mean here, and why isn’t it illa?

Ea is the feminine nominative singular of the demonstrative is, ea, id, meaning she / that woman (often just she in context). Latin has several words that can translate she/that:

• ea (from is, ea, id) is very common and often relatively neutral, frequently used almost like a plain she.
• illa (from ille, illa, illud) is more strongly that (over there) and can feel more pointed or contrastive (that woman, as opposed to another).

So ea is chosen when the writer just needs a straightforward she referring back to someone already known.

Why is it epistulam and not epistula?

Epistulam is accusative singular, because it is the direct object of accipit (she receives a letter).

• epistula = nominative singular (a letter as the subject)
• epistulam = accusative singular (a letter as the object)

How do I know matri means to her mother (or to the mother)?

Matri is dative singular of (). The dative commonly expresses an : . With (), Latin regularly uses: