Breakdown of Discipuli scriptorem viventem libenter audiunt.
discipulus
the student
audire
to listen to
libenter
gladly
scriptor
the writer
Questions & Answers about Discipuli scriptorem viventem libenter audiunt.
How do I know discipuli is the subject here?
Because discipuli is nominative plural, and the verb audiunt is also plural: they hear / they listen.
A beginner may notice that discipuli could also, in some contexts, be genitive singular, meaning of the student. But here that would not make good sense syntactically. The sentence needs a subject for audiunt, and discipuli fits perfectly as the students.
So here:
- discipuli = students, nominative plural, the subject
Why is scriptorem ending in -em?
Because scriptorem is accusative singular, the form used for the direct object.
The students are doing the action, and the writer is the one being heard or listened to. So:
- discipuli = the students
- scriptorem = the writer / author
The base form is scriptor. Its accusative singular is scriptorem.
What exactly is viventem?