Puella codicem quaerit, sed is in cista latet.

The girl looks for the book, but it is hidden in the chest.

Breakdown of Puella codicem quaerit, sed is in cista latet.

• in: in
• puella: the girl
• sed: but
• quaerere: to look for

Questions & Answers about Puella codicem quaerit, sed is in cista latet.

Why does puella mean the girl here and not girl in general?

Latin usually does not have words for the or a/an. So puella can mean girl, a girl, or the girl, depending on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the girl because we are talking about a specific person doing the action.

Also, puella is in the nominative singular, which tells you it is the subject of the sentence.

Why is it codicem and not codex?

Because codicem is the accusative singular form of codex.

Latin changes noun endings to show what job a word is doing in the sentence:

• codex = nominative, usually the subject
• codicem = accusative, usually the direct object

Since the girl is searching for the book, the book is the thing affected by the verb, so Latin uses the accusative: codicem.

What exactly does quaerit mean here?

Quaerit is the 3rd person singular present active indicative of quaerere.

Here it means she is looking for, she seeks, or she searches for.

Because the subject is , we understand as .