Word
Mater infantem in lecto ponit, et infans statim dormit.
Meaning
Mother puts the baby in bed, and the baby immediately sleeps.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Mater infantem in lecto ponit, et infans statim dormit.
in
in
et
and
mater
the mother
dormire
to sleep
Questions & Answers about Mater infantem in lecto ponit, et infans statim dormit.
Why is it mater in the first clause, but infantem there and infans later?
Because the noun changes form depending on its job in the sentence.
- mater = mother as the subject of ponit
- infantem = the baby/child as the direct object of ponit
- infans = the baby/child again, but now as the subject of dormit
So:
- Mater infantem ponit = The mother puts the baby
- infans dormit = the baby sleeps
Latin shows these roles with case endings, not mainly by word order.
What case is infantem, and why is it used here?
infantem is accusative singular.
It is used because the baby is the direct object of ponit: the mother is putting the baby somewhere.
A very common beginner pattern is:
- subject in the nominative
- direct object in the accusative
So here:
- mater = nominative subject
- infantem = accusative object