Tacete; magister enim in bibliotheca legit.

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Breakdown of Tacete; magister enim in bibliotheca legit.

• legere: to read
• magister: the teacher
• tacere: to be silent

Questions & Answers about Tacete; magister enim in bibliotheca legit.

What form is tacete?

Tacete is the 2nd person plural present imperative of tacēre, meaning to be quiet, to be silent, or to keep quiet.

So it means be quiet! or be silent! when speaking to more than one person.

Compare:

• tace = be quiet! (to one person)
• tacete = be quiet! (to more than one person)

Why is tacete plural?

The ending -te shows that the command is addressed to you all rather than to one person.

Latin often makes this distinction very clearly:

• singular command: tace
• plural command: tacete

So the speaker is telling a group of people to be quiet.

What does enim mean here?

Enim usually means for, indeed, or you see. In this sentence it gives the reason for the command:

• Tacete = Be quiet
• magister enim in bibliotheca legit = for the teacher is reading in the library

So enim connects the two ideas: Be quiet, for the teacher is reading in the library.