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Hospes panem edere cupit, sed vinum hodie deest.

Hospes panem edere cupit, sed vinum hodie deest.
The guest wants to eat bread, but wine is lacking today.
FromLesson 13inHardcore Latin
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Questions & Answers about Hospes panem edere cupit, sed vinum hodie deest.

What does hospes mean grammatically here, and what case is it in?

Hospes is the subject of cupit. It’s in the nominative singular.
It’s a 3rd-declension noun: nominative hospes, genitive hospitis. It can be masculine or feminine depending on context (guest/host).

Why is panem in the accusative case?

Panem is the direct object of edere (to eat), so it takes the accusative.
Dictionary form is panis, panis (m.), and panem is its accusative singular.

Why do we have edere (an infinitive) instead of a finite verb like edit?

Because cupit (wants/desires) commonly takes a complementary infinitive in Latin:
cupit edere = wants to eat.
So edere depends on cupit and doesn’t carry tense/person on its own.

What verb is edere from, and is it irregular?

Edere is the present active infinitive of edo (to eat). It has some irregular/quirky forms. Common principal parts are:
edo, edere, edi, esum.
(Some forms can look like forms of sum; see the separate question on that.)

Is there any reason the sentence uses edere instead of comedere?
Both can mean to eat. Edo/edere is the basic verb; comedo/comedere often suggests eat up/consume, but it can also be a neutral synonym. The choice here is just a normal, simple way to say to eat.
What tense and person is cupit?

Cupit is 3rd person singular, present indicative active of cupio, cupere:
(he/she/the guest) wants/desires.

Why is vinum nominative—shouldn’t it be accusative as another object?

Because vinum is not an object here; it’s the grammatical subject of deest.
With desum/deesse (to be lacking / to be absent), the thing that is missing is typically the subject (nominative).

How does deest work—what verb is it, and what does it usually take?

Deest is 3rd person singular, present indicative of desum, deesse, defui (to be lacking / be absent).
Common pattern:

  • Missing thing = nominative (subject): vinum deest
  • Person affected = dative (often expressed, sometimes omitted): mihi vinum deest (I lack wine / wine is lacking to me)
Should there be a dative like hospiti with deest?

It depends on how explicit you want to be. Latin often includes the dative with deest, e.g. hospiti vinum hodie deest (the guest doesn’t have wine today / wine is lacking for the guest today).
In your sentence, the dative is simply left implicit; the context makes it clear whose situation is being described.

What part of speech is hodie, and where can it go in the sentence?

Hodie is an adverb meaning today. It’s flexible in position:

  • vinum hodie deest
  • hodie vinum deest
    Both are normal; placement can shift emphasis slightly.
Why does Latin not use words for a/the here?
Latin has no articles like English a/an/the. Definiteness is usually inferred from context, or sometimes indicated by word order or demonstratives (like hic, ille, is), if needed.
Is the word order significant in Hospes panem edere cupit?

Latin word order is flexible, but it’s not random. Here, panem is placed before edere cupit, which keeps the object tightly connected to the infinitive phrase (panem edere = to eat bread).
A more “straight” order like hospes cupit panem edere is also possible.

I’ve seen forms like esse that can mean to eat—is that related to edere?

Yes. The verb edo has some forms that resemble forms of sum (to be). For example, an infinitive esse can appear meaning to eat in some authors/contexts, but it can obviously be ambiguous with esse (to be).
Using edere avoids confusion and is very common/clear.

What are the declensions/genders of the nouns hospes, panis, and vinum?
  • hospes, hospitis: 3rd declension, masculine or feminine
  • panis, panis: 3rd declension, masculine
  • vinum, vini: 2nd declension, neuter