Breakdown of Tonsor barbam avi diligenter curat.
Questions & Answers about Tonsor barbam avi diligenter curat.
Because tonsor is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.
- tonsor = barber
- dictionary form: tonsor, tonsōris (masculine)
In this sentence, tonsor is the person doing the action of curat.
Because barbam is the direct object: it is the thing the barber is caring for.
- barba = beard
- barbam = accusative singular of barba
Latin uses the accusative for the direct object, so barbam tells you what receives the action of curat.
Here avi is best understood as genitive singular:
- avus = grandfather
- avi = of the grandfather
So barbam avi means the grandfather’s beard or the beard of the grandfather.
A learner may notice that avi can also be dative singular in some contexts, but here the sense is possessive, so is the natural reading.