Questions & Answers about Puer etiam nunc dormit.
Why is puer the subject of the sentence?
Puer is in the nominative singular, which is the case Latin normally uses for the subject of a sentence.
Here, puer means the boy or simply boy, and the verb dormit is third-person singular (he/she/it sleeps), so they match naturally:
- puer = boy (subject)
- dormit = sleeps / is sleeping
So puer dormit means the boy sleeps.
What form is dormit?
Dormit is:
- present tense
- indicative mood
- active voice
- third-person singular
It comes from the verb dormire, meaning to sleep.
So dormit means he sleeps, she sleeps, it sleeps, or in context the boy sleeps / is sleeping.
Why does Latin use just dormit instead of something like is sleeping?
Latin often uses the simple present tense where English might use either:
- sleeps