Breakdown of Puella fidelis est, et magistra fidem eius laudat.
Questions & Answers about Puella fidelis est, et magistra fidem eius laudat.
Because fidelis is a third-declension adjective, not a first-and-second-declension adjective like bona, bonus, bonum.
For many third-declension adjectives, the masculine and feminine nominative singular have the same form. So:
- fidelis puella = a faithful girl
- fidelis servus = a faithful slave
The neuter would be different:
- fidele
So fidelis agrees with puella in gender, number, and case, even though the ending is not the feminine -a that English speakers often expect at first.
Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show how words function.
So puella fidelis est and fidelis puella est can both mean the girl is faithful.
In this sentence, putting fidelis after puella is completely normal. Adjectives in Latin can come before or after the nouns they describe. Sometimes word order adds emphasis or style, but often it is simply a natural Latin arrangement.
Est means is.
It links the subject with the description :