Breakdown of Discipula rogat quot lineae in hoc codice scribendae sint.
esse
to be
in
in
discipula
the female student
rogare
to ask
Questions & Answers about Discipula rogat quot lineae in hoc codice scribendae sint.
What is the basic structure of this sentence?
The sentence has two main parts:
- Discipula rogat = The student asks
- quot lineae in hoc codice scribendae sint = an indirect question, literally how many lines are to be written in this notebook/book
So the whole sentence is:
- main clause: Discipula rogat
- subordinate clause: quot lineae ... sint
The subordinate clause is the thing being asked.
Why is discipula nominative?
Because discipula is the subject of rogat.
- discipula = the female student / schoolgirl
- rogat = asks
Since she is the one doing the asking, discipula is in the nominative case.
What exactly does quot mean, and why is it used here?
Quot means how many.
It is used when asking about the number of individual countable things. Here the countable things are lineae (lines), so quot lineae means how many lines.
A useful point: quot is indeclinable, so it does not change its form for case, gender, or number.