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Avus, qui in horto sedet, fabulam de familia sua narrat; memoria eius adhuc clara est.

Avus, qui in horto sedet, fabulam de familia sua narrat; memoria eius adhuc clara est.
Grandfather, who is sitting in the garden, tells a story about his family; his memory is still clear.
FromLesson 15inHardcore Latin
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Questions & Answers about Avus, qui in horto sedet, fabulam de familia sua narrat; memoria eius adhuc clara est.

What is qui, and why is it qui?
Qui is the relative pronoun meaning who. It refers back to avus, so it matches avus in gender and number: masculine singular. It is nominative because, inside its own clause, it is the subject of sedet: qui in horto sedet = who is sitting in the garden.
Why is it in horto and not in hortum?

With in, Latin uses:

  • ablative for location: in horto = in the garden
  • accusative for motion toward: in hortum = into the garden

Here the grandfather is already sitting there, so Latin uses the ablative: horto.

Why is fabulam in the accusative?
Fabulam is the direct object of narrat. It is the thing being told. Since fabula is a first-declension noun, its accusative singular form is fabulam.
Why does de go with familia in this form?
The preposition de takes the ablative case. So familia here is ablative singular, and de familia sua means about his family. This is a very common Latin pattern: de + ablative.
Why is it sua in de familia sua?
Sua is the reflexive possessive adjective, meaning his own, her own, or their own. It refers back to the subject of its clause, which here is avus. So de familia sua means about his own family, that is, the grandfather’s family.
Why is it eius in memoria eius instead of sua?

This is an important Latin distinction.

In memoria eius adhuc clara est, the subject of the clause is memoria, not avus. Because suus, sua, suum normally refers to the subject of its own clause, using sua here would make the possession point back to memoria itself, not to the grandfather.

So Latin uses eius for his here: memoria eius = his memory.

Why is it clara and not clarus?

Clara agrees with memoria. Since memoria is feminine singular, the adjective must also be feminine singular. So:

  • memoria clara = clear memory

Even though the memory belongs to a man, the adjective agrees with memoria, not with the grandfather.

Does Latin have no word for the or a in this sentence?
Correct: classical Latin has no articles like English the or a/an. So avus can mean the grandfather or a grandfather, depending on context. The same is true for horto, fabulam, and familia.
Does sedet mean sits or is sitting?

It can mean either, depending on context. Latin has one present tense form here, sedet, where English often uses either:

  • he sits
  • he is sitting

In this sentence, is sitting is a natural translation, but sits is not grammatically wrong.

Is the word order fixed in this sentence?

No, Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships. This sentence could be rearranged in different ways and still mean the same basic thing. However, the given order is natural and clear:

  • Avus introduces the main subject
  • qui in horto sedet adds extra information about him
  • fabulam de familia sua narrat gives the main action
  • memoria eius adhuc clara est adds a further statement about him

So the order is meaningful and stylistic, but not as rigid as in English.

How do we know that eius means his here and not her or its?
By itself, eius can mean his, her, or its. Latin does not mark the gender of the possessor in this form. We know it means his here from the context, because the sentence is about avus, the grandfather.
What is the function of adhuc?
Adhuc means still, up to now, or even now. In this sentence, it modifies the idea of clara est: his memory is still clear. It shows that the clarity of his memory continues into the present.