Discipulus neglegens saepe libros domi relinquit et verba nova neglegit.

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Breakdown of Discipulus neglegens saepe libros domi relinquit et verba nova neglegit.

• discipulus: the student
• liber: the book
• saepe: often

Questions & Answers about Discipulus neglegens saepe libros domi relinquit et verba nova neglegit.

Why is neglegens placed after discipulus? Does that change the meaning?

No, it does not change the basic meaning. Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

Here discipulus neglegens means a careless/negligent student. The adjective neglegens agrees with discipulus and describes it, whether it comes before or after it.

Latin often puts adjectives after nouns, though either order is possible:

• discipulus neglegens
• neglegens discipulus

Both can mean the same thing. The chosen order may affect emphasis slightly, but not the core grammar.

What exactly is neglegens here: an adjective or a participle?

In this sentence, neglegens functions as an adjective meaning careless, negligent, or neglectful.

Historically, it comes from a present participle, but for a learner it is best to understand it here simply as an adjective describing discipulus.

It is:

• nominative
• singular
• agreeing with discipulus

So discipulus neglegens = the careless student or a careless student.

How do we know discipulus is the subject?

We know because:

1. discipulus is in the , the normal case for the subject.