Avia in horto cantans a puella libenter auditur.

Grandmother, singing in the garden, is gladly heard by the girl.

Breakdown of Avia in horto cantans a puella libenter auditur.

• in: in
• puella: the girl
• hortus: the garden
• avia: the grandmother

Questions & Answers about Avia in horto cantans a puella libenter auditur.

Why is avia in the nominative, even though in English the grandmother may feel like the person being acted on?

Because auditur is passive: is heard.

In a passive sentence, the person or thing receiving the action becomes the grammatical subject, so it goes in the nominative case.

• avia = the grandmother → nominative singular
• auditur = is heard

So Latin is structured like:

• The grandmother ... is heard by the girl.

Even though the grandmother is the one being heard, she is still the subject of the passive verb.

Why does Latin use a puella instead of just puella?

Because with a passive verb, the person doing the action is often expressed with a/ab + ablative. This is called the personal agent.

So:

• a puella = by the girl

Here:

• puella is ablative singular
• a means by

This shows clearly that the girl is the one doing the hearing.

Compare:

• puella audit = the girl hears
• avia a puella auditur = the grandmother is heard by the girl

What is , and how does it work in the sentence?