Breakdown of Discipula de epistula matris diu cogitat.
mater
the mother
discipula
the female student
de
about
diu
for a long time
Questions & Answers about Discipula de epistula matris diu cogitat.
How do I know that discipula is the subject?
Because discipula is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.
Also, the verb cogitat means he/she/it thinks / is thinking, so it matches a singular subject. Since discipula means female student, it is the person doing the thinking.
Why is it de epistula and not de epistulam?
Because the preposition de takes the ablative case.
So:
- epistula = nominative singular
- epistulam = accusative singular
- epistulā = ablative singular
In normal spelling, the long vowel is often not marked, so you may simply see epistula, but here it is functioning as ablative singular after de.
So de epistula means about the letter.
Why is matris in that form?
Matris is the genitive singular of mater, meaning of the mother.
Latin often shows possession or close relationship by using the genitive:
- epistula matris = the letter of the mother
- more naturally in English: or