Hodie nobis cena paranda est.

to be

Breakdown of Hodie nobis cena paranda est.

• hodie: today
• cena: the dinner
• nobis: us

Questions & Answers about Hodie nobis cena paranda est.

What is the basic grammar pattern in cena paranda est?

This is the passive periphrastic, a very common Latin way to express necessity or obligation.

• paranda = a gerundive of parare (to prepare)
• est = is
• cena paranda est literally means something like dinner is-to-be-prepared

More natural English:

• dinner must be prepared
• dinner has to be prepared
• dinner needs to be prepared

So the sentence is not just saying that dinner is being prepared, but that it ought to be or has to be prepared.

Why is it cena, not cenam?

Because cena is the subject of the passive periphrastic, so it stands in the nominative case.

Compare:

• cenam parare = to prepare dinner
  Here cenam is the direct object, so it is accusative.

But in:

• cena paranda est

the idea is passive: dinner must be prepared.
Now dinner is the grammatical subject, so Latin uses the nominative:

• cena = dinner as subject

This is one of the biggest adjustments for English speakers: the thing that must be done becomes the subject in Latin.

What exactly is paranda?