Poeta carmen breve scribere vult.

to write

Breakdown of Poeta carmen breve scribere vult.

• velle: to want
• brevis: brief
• poeta: the poet

Questions & Answers about Poeta carmen breve scribere vult.

Why does poeta end in -a if it means a male poet?

Because poeta is a first-declension noun, and many first-declension nouns end in -a in the nominative singular. Even though that ending is often associated with feminine nouns, some first-declension nouns referring to professions or roles can be masculine, especially ones borrowed from Greek.

So in this sentence:

• poeta = the poet
• it is masculine in meaning
• but it still has the first-declension ending -a

Its basic forms are:

• poeta = nominative singular
• poetae = genitive singular

How do I know poeta is the subject?

You know because poeta is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.

Also, the verb vult means he/she wants and is third person singular, so it matches a singular subject. In this sentence, poeta is the noun in the nominative, so it is the one doing the wanting.

So:

• poeta = subject
• vult = main verb
• poeta vult = the poet wants

Why is carmen not the subject?