Mater atrium ornat, ut convivae laeti sint.

to be

Breakdown of Mater atrium ornat, ut convivae laeti sint.

• laetus: happy
• mater: the mother
• ut: so that

Questions & Answers about Mater atrium ornat, ut convivae laeti sint.

Why is mater the subject of the sentence?

Mater is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.

• mater = mother
• It is a third-declension noun
• Its nominative singular form is simply mater

So in Mater atrium ornat, mater is the one doing the action: she decorates.

Why is atrium in this form?

Atrium is the direct object of ornat, so it is in the accusative singular.

• atrium is a second-declension neuter noun
• Nominative singular: atrium
• Accusative singular: atrium

Because neuter second-declension nouns often have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular, the form does not change here. Its role is understood from the verb and sentence structure: it is the thing being decorated.

What does ut mean here?

Here ut introduces a purpose clause. In this sentence it means:

• so that
• in order that

So Mater atrium ornat, ut convivae laeti sint means that the mother decorates the atrium for the purpose of making the guests happy.