Breakdown of Magistra discipulam cras versus clara voce recitare iubet.
magistra
the female teacher
discipula
the female student
cras
tomorrow
vox
the voice
Questions & Answers about Magistra discipulam cras versus clara voce recitare iubet.
How do I know magistra is the subject and discipulam is not?
Because the endings show their jobs in the sentence.
- magistra is nominative singular, which is the normal case for the subject.
- discipulam is accusative singular, which often marks a direct object.
So magistra is the one doing the ordering, and discipulam is the person being ordered.
This is one of the biggest differences from English: Latin often shows grammatical function by case endings, not mainly by word order.
Why is discipulam accusative instead of discipula?
Because after iubet the person who is ordered is put in the accusative.
So:
- discipula = a female student, as a subject
- discipulam = the female student, as an object
In this sentence, the teacher is ordering the student, so Latin uses discipulam.
Why is recitare an infinitive? Why is there no separate word for to?
Latin uses the infinitive after iubet to express the action being ordered.
So:
- recitare = to recite
Unlike English, Latin does not need a separate word meaning to before the verb here. The infinitive form itself already carries that meaning.