Sol oriens per fenestram in cubiculum lucet.

The rising sun shines through the window into the bedroom.

Breakdown of Sol oriens per fenestram in cubiculum lucet.

• in: into
• per: through
• sol: the sun
• lucere: to shine

Questions & Answers about Sol oriens per fenestram in cubiculum lucet.

What is oriens, and why is it used instead of a finite verb like oritur?

Oriens is the present participle of orior, meaning rising.

So sol oriens means the rising sun or the sun, rising.

Latin often uses a participle where English might use:

• an adjective: the rising sun
• or a clause: the sun which is rising

If you used oritur, you would have two finite verbs:

• Sol oritur et lucet = The sun rises and shines
• Sol oriens ... lucet = The rising sun ... shines

So oriens is describing sol, not serving as the main verb.

Why is sol in the nominative case?

Because sol is the subject of lucet.

The verb lucet means shines or gives light, and the thing doing that action is the sun. In Latin, the subject of a sentence is normally in the nominative case.

So:

• sol = nominative singular, sun
• lucet = shines

Does oriens agree with sol?