Questions & Answers about Mater infantem in manibus habet.
Why is mater not ending in -a like many feminine nouns?
Because mater belongs to the third declension, not the first declension.
A native English speaker often learns early that many Latin feminine nouns end in -a, such as puella. But mater is one of a group of very common family words that have different patterns:
- mater = mother
- pater = father
- frater = brother
Here, mater is in the nominative singular, which is the case used for the subject of the sentence.
Why is it infantem instead of infans?
Because infantem is the accusative singular form, used for the direct object.
The sentence tells us that the mother is doing something to the baby: she has/holds the baby. That makes the baby the direct object, so Latin puts infans into the accusative:
- infans = an infant, baby, child (subject form)
- infantem = an infant, baby, child (object form)
So:
- Mater = the subject
- infantem = the object
What case is manibus, and why is it used after in?