Breakdown of In officina vicinus scuta non facit, sed mensas parvas ponit.
Questions & Answers about In officina vicinus scuta non facit, sed mensas parvas ponit.
Because in can take either the ablative or the accusative, depending on the meaning.
- in + ablative = in / on / at a place, with no motion
- in + accusative = into / onto a place, with motion toward it
Here, in officina means in the workshop, so it describes location, not movement. That is why officina is ablative.
Then Latin would use in with the accusative instead of the ablative.
So:
- in officina = in the workshop
- in officinam = into the workshop
That is a very common Latin pattern to learn early.
Latin usually does not use articles like English the or a/an.
So vicinus can mean:
- the neighbor
- a neighbor
- sometimes just neighbor, depending on context