Questions & Answers about Innocens veritatem timere non debet.
What is innocens here? Is it an adjective or a noun?
It is originally an adjective, meaning innocent, but here it is being used substantively—that is, as a noun-like word.
So innocens means an innocent person or the innocent person.
Latin does this very often: an adjective can stand by itself when the noun is understood.
What case is innocens, and how do we know it is the subject?
Innocens is nominative singular, which is the normal case for the subject of the sentence.
We know it is the subject because:
- debet is third person singular
- innocens is singular and fits as the doer of the verbal idea
- veritatem is accusative, so it is not the subject
So innocens is the one who ought not to fear.
Is innocens masculine or feminine?
It could be either masculine or feminine.
The form innocens is the same for both genders in the nominative singular. Latin often leaves this unspecified unless the context makes it clear.
So depending on context, it could mean:
- an innocent man
- an innocent woman
- more generally, an innocent person