Breakdown of Serva pannum humidum capit et parietem sordidum tergit.
et
and
serva
the female servant
capere
to take
paries
the wall
Questions & Answers about Serva pannum humidum capit et parietem sordidum tergit.
Why is serva the subject of the sentence?
Because serva is in the nominative singular, which is the case Latin normally uses for the subject of a verb.
- serva = female slave / maidservant
- nominative singular ending: -a
So serva is the person doing the actions: capit and tergit.
Why does serva mean a female servant, not a male one?
Because Latin distinguishes grammatical gender here:
- servus = a male slave/servant
- serva = a female slave/servant
So the -a ending here is not just a random ending; it shows this is the feminine form of the noun.
Why are pannum and parietem in different forms from serva?
They are in the accusative singular, because they are the direct objects of the verbs.
The servant is doing two actions:
- she takes the cloth
- she wipes the wall
So:
- pannum = the thing being taken
- parietem = the thing being wiped
Latin marks direct objects with the accusative case.