Mater irata est, sed patientiam servare conatur.
Mother is angry, but she tries to keep her patience.
Breakdown of Mater irata est, sed patientiam servare conatur.
esse
to be
mater
the mother
sed
but
conari
to try
Questions & Answers about Mater irata est, sed patientiam servare conatur.
Why is it irata and not iratus?
Because irata has to agree with mater.
- mater = mother, a feminine noun
- irata = angry, feminine singular nominative
In Latin, adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case. Since mater is feminine singular nominative, the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative: irata.
If the subject were masculine, you would get iratus instead.
What exactly is irata est doing grammatically?
Irata est means is angry.
This is:
- irata = an adjective, angry
- est = is
So it works like She is angry in English.
A beginner might wonder whether this is some kind of tense like a perfect passive, because Latin often uses participle + est. But here irata is simply being used as an adjective describing the subject, not as a passive verb form.
So the structure is basically:
- Mater = Mother
- irata est = is angry
Why is there no word for the or her before mater?