Infans nihil ex ampulla bibere vult, quia aquam calidam potius petit.

to drink

Breakdown of Infans nihil ex ampulla bibere vult, quia aquam calidam potius petit.

• aqua: the water
• petere: to ask for
• quia: because

Questions & Answers about Infans nihil ex ampulla bibere vult, quia aquam calidam potius petit.

Why is bibere used instead of a form like bibit?

Because vult (wants) is followed by an infinitive in Latin, just as wants is followed by to + verb in English.

So:

• bibere vult = wants to drink
• bibit would mean drinks

If the sentence had bibit, it would no longer mean wants to drink.

What is the subject of the sentence, and how do we know?

The subject is infans (the infant / baby / child).

We know this because:

• infans is nominative singular
• vult and petit are both third-person singular verbs

So the sentence is about one infant who both wants and asks for.

Does infans tell us whether the child is male or female?

No. Infans does not by itself tell you the child’s sex.

It can refer to:

• a baby boy
• a baby girl
• an infant in a general sense

So English may translate it as the baby, the infant, or the child, depending on context.