Debitum cras solvendum est.

to be

Breakdown of Debitum cras solvendum est.

• cras: tomorrow
• debitum: the debt
• solvendus: to be paid

Questions & Answers about Debitum cras solvendum est.

What is the basic grammatical structure of Debitum cras solvendum est?

The sentence has three main parts:

• debitum = the subject, the debt or what is owed
• cras = an adverb meaning tomorrow
• solvendum est = a gerundive + est construction, often called the passive periphrastic, expressing necessity or obligation

So the structure is basically:

The debt + tomorrow + must be paid

That is why the sentence is commonly understood as The debt must be paid tomorrow.

What case is debitum, and how can I tell?

Here debitum is nominative singular neuter, because it is the subject of est.

A beginner may wonder whether it could be accusative, since neuter singular nominative and accusative often look the same. In this sentence, the syntax shows it is nominative:

• est needs a subject
• solvendum agrees with debitum
• together they form debitum ... solvendum est = the debt is to be paid

So even though the form could also be accusative in another context, here it is functioning as the nominative subject.

What exactly is solvendum?