Breakdown of Mater queritur panem in foro nimium constare.
Questions & Answers about Mater queritur panem in foro nimium constare.
Because queritur comes from queror, queri, questus sum, which is a deponent verb.
A deponent verb:
- has passive forms
- but an active meaning
So queritur is morphologically passive-looking, but it means she complains, not she is complained.
This is very common in Latin, and it is something English speakers often have to get used to.
Panem is accusative because it is the subject of the infinitive constare in an indirect statement.
Latin often expresses that-clauses differently from English. Instead of saying:
- Mother complains that bread costs too much
Latin says, more literally:
- Mother complains bread to cost too much
In this construction:
- the subject of the infinitive goes into the accusative
- the verb itself becomes an infinitive
So:
- panis = bread
- panem = bread as the accusative subject of constare