Breakdown of Mater pannum humidum capit et mensam tergit.
et
and
mater
the mother
mensa
the table
capere
to take
Questions & Answers about Mater pannum humidum capit et mensam tergit.
Why is it mater and not matrem here?
Mater is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.
- mater = mother as the one doing the action
- matrem would mean mother as a direct object
In this sentence, the mother is doing the actions of capit and tergit, so mater must be nominative.
Why are pannum and mensam both in -am / -um forms?
They are both direct objects, so they are in the accusative case.
The sentence has two actions:
- capit = takes
- tergit = wipes
So:
- pannum humidum is what the mother takes
- mensam is what the mother wipes
In Latin, direct objects are usually put in the accusative.
Why does humidum end in -um?
Humidum is an adjective modifying pannum, so it has to agree with it in:
- gender