Parva avis super murum volat.

The little bird flies over the wall.

Breakdown of Parva avis super murum volat.

• parvus: little
• murus: the wall
• avis: the bird
• volare: to fly

Questions & Answers about Parva avis super murum volat.

Why is parva used here instead of parvus or parvum?

Because parva has to agree with avis.

In Latin, adjectives match the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, avis is feminine, singular, nominative, so the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative: parva.

So:

• parvus = masculine
• parva = feminine
• parvum = neuter

What case is avis, and how do we know?

Avis is nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence: the bird is the one doing the flying.

A good way to see that is through the verb:

• volat = he/she/it flies

So the sentence needs a singular subject, and avis fills that role.

If avis is feminine, does that mean the bird is female?

Not necessarily. In Latin, grammatical gender and biological sex are not always the same thing.

Avis is a grammatically feminine noun, but it can still refer to a bird in general, not specifically a female bird.