Breakdown of Mater in foro nihil emit, quia panem nimium constare dicit.
Questions & Answers about Mater in foro nihil emit, quia panem nimium constare dicit.
Because in takes different cases depending on its meaning:
- in + ablative = in / on a place, with no motion
- in + accusative = into / onto a place, with motion toward it
So in foro means in the marketplace/forum. If the sentence meant into the forum, it would be in forum.
Nihil means nothing, and here it is the direct object of emit.
So the structure is:
- Mater = subject
- emit = verb
- nihil = object
Latin often says nihil emit for buys nothing, rather than using a separate negative with something.
Emit is 3rd person singular present active indicative of emo, emere, emi, emptum, meaning to buy.
So mater emit means mother buys or the mother buys.
A native English speaker may notice that emit looks like the English verb emit, but that is just a coincidence here. In this Latin sentence, comes from and means , not .