Nauta in ripa stat et gubernaculum naviculae puero parvo ostendit.

the boy

Breakdown of Nauta in ripa stat et gubernaculum naviculae puero parvo ostendit.

• et: and
• in: on
• nauta: the sailor

Questions & Answers about Nauta in ripa stat et gubernaculum naviculae puero parvo ostendit.

Why is nauta a first-declension noun even though it means sailor, a male person?

Some Latin nouns for jobs or roles that were traditionally done by men are masculine in meaning even though they use first-declension endings. Nauta is one of these.

So in this sentence:

• nauta = the sailor
• it is nominative singular, the subject of the sentence

This is a very common thing for English speakers to notice, because in Latin, declension and gender are related but not identical. A noun can have first-declension forms and still be masculine.

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What case is nauta, and how do we know it is the subject?

Nauta is in the nominative singular, which is the case usually used for the subject.

We know it is the subject because it is the person doing the actions:

• stat = stands
• ostendit = shows

So nauta is the one who stands and shows.

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Why does Latin use in ripa here?

In with the ablative often shows location: in / on a place.

So:

• in ripa = on the riverbank or