Breakdown of Lucia quoque in bibliotheca libros veteres legit.
in
in
legere
to read
liber
the book
vetus
old
Questions & Answers about Lucia quoque in bibliotheca libros veteres legit.
Why is the word order Lucia quoque in bibliotheca libros veteres legit so different from normal English word order?
Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses endings to show what each word is doing in the sentence.
In English, we usually need a fixed order like:
- subject + verb + object
But in Latin, the endings already tell you:
- Lucia = the subject
- libros veteres = the direct object
- in bibliotheca = a prepositional phrase
- legit = the verb
So Latin can move words around for emphasis or style. This sentence is perfectly normal Latin, even though it does not match the most natural English order exactly.
A very literal rearrangement into English order would be:
- Lucia quoque legit libros veteres in bibliotheca.
But the original Latin order is fine and natural.
What does quoque mean, and why is it placed after Lucia?
Quoque means also or too.
In Latin, quoque often comes after the word it emphasizes. So:
- Lucia quoque = Lucia too / Lucia also
That is why it is not placed before Lucia, as English would usually do.
Compare:
- Lucia quoque = Lucia too
- libros quoque = the books too
- =