Breakdown of Discipulus epistulam ab amico accipit.
amicus
the friend
discipulus
the student
epistula
the letter
accipere
to receive
Questions & Answers about Discipulus epistulam ab amico accipit.
Why is discipulus the subject?
Because discipulus is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of the sentence.
- discipulus = student
- nominative singular ending: -us for a second-declension masculine noun
So discipulus is the student, the one doing the action of receiving.
Why is epistulam spelled with -am at the end?
The ending -am shows that epistulam is accusative singular. The accusative case is commonly used for the direct object, the thing directly affected by the verb.
Here, the student is receiving a letter, so epistulam is the direct object.
- nominative: epistula = letter
- accusative: epistulam = letter as the object of the verb
Why do we say ab amico for from a friend?
Latin often uses the preposition ab or a to mean from, especially with a person or source. That preposition takes the ablative case, so amicus becomes amico.
- amicus = friend
- amico = ablative singular, used after ab
So:
- ab amico = from a friend