Breakdown of Discipuli in bibliotheca melius discunt, quia ibi tacent.
in
in
discipulus
the student
ibi
there
quia
because
Questions & Answers about Discipuli in bibliotheca melius discunt, quia ibi tacent.
What is the grammatical role of discipuli?
Discipuli is the subject of the sentence.
- It is nominative plural
- It means students or pupils
- It comes from the dictionary form discipulus, -i meaning student
The ending -i here tells you it is plural and, in this sentence, the students are the ones doing the actions: discunt and tacent.
Why is it in bibliotheca and not in bibliothecam?
Because in can take different cases depending on the meaning.
- in + ablative = in / inside / at a place, showing location
- in + accusative = into a place, showing motion toward it
Here the sentence means the students are studying in the library, not moving into the library, so Latin uses the ablative:
- in bibliotheca = in the library
- in bibliothecam would mean into the library
So bibliotheca here is ablative singular.
What does melius mean grammatically?
Melius is the of .