Word
Parva avis super saxum stat, altera ad nidum volat.
Meaning
A small bird stands on a rock; another flies to the nest.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Parva avis super saxum stat, altera ad nidum volat.
parvus
small
ad
to
stare
to stand
alter
another
Questions & Answers about Parva avis super saxum stat, altera ad nidum volat.
Why is it parva avis and not parvum avis?
Because parva has to agree with avis in gender, number, and case.
- avis = nominative singular
- it is usually feminine
- so the adjective must also be feminine nominative singular
That gives parva avis = small bird.
Even though avis and parva belong to different declension patterns, agreement is what matters.
Is avis really feminine? I thought nouns ending in -is might be something else.
Yes, avis is normally feminine in Latin.
A noun’s ending does not always tell you its gender automatically. Avis is a third-declension noun, and third-declension nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. So you usually learn the gender as part of the vocabulary.
Here, the feminine adjective parva confirms that avis is being treated as feminine.
What exactly does altera mean here?
Altera means the other one or the second one.
It is feminine nominative singular, and it stands for the other bird. Latin often leaves out a noun when it is easy to understand from context, so:
- = one bird