Breakdown of Magistra eum tacere iubet.
magistra
the female teacher
tacere
to be silent
iubere
to order
eum
it
Questions & Answers about Magistra eum tacere iubet.
Why is magistra in the nominative case?
Because magistra is the subject of the sentence: she is the one doing the ordering.
- magistra = the female teacher
- It is nominative singular, the normal case for the subject of a finite verb.
So in Magistra eum tacere iubet, the teacher is the person who iubet.
Why is it eum and not is?
Because eum is in the accusative case, and here it is the direct object of iubet.
- is = nominative, he
- eum = accusative, him
The teacher is ordering him, so Latin uses the accusative:
- magistra = the teacher
- eum = him
This is also part of a very common Latin pattern: after verbs like iubeo, the person ordered is put in the accusative.
Why is tacere an infinitive?
Because after iubeo Latin commonly uses this structure:
someone + accusative person + infinitive
So eum tacere iubet literally means something like:
- she orders him to be silent