Breakdown of Post cenam omnes de via disputant; ego autem opinor gelu cras minus futurum esse.
ego
I
esse
to be
via
the road
de
about
Questions & Answers about Post cenam omnes de via disputant; ego autem opinor gelu cras minus futurum esse.
Why is it post cenam, with cenam in the accusative?
Because post is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means after.
So:
- cena = dinner, supper
- cenam = accusative singular
- post cenam = after dinner
This is just the normal construction after post.
Why does Latin use omnes for everyone?
Omnes literally means all or all people. Here it is being used substantively, meaning everyone.
Grammatically, it is nominative plural, the subject of disputant. Latin often uses a plural expression where English might prefer a singular collective word like everyone.
So:
- omnes disputant = everyone is discussing / all are discussing
What case is omnes, and how do we know it is the subject?
Here omnes is nominative plural, because it is the subject of disputant (they discuss).
The verb disputant is 3rd person plural, so it needs a plural subject. Omnes fits that perfectly.
Although omnes can also be accusative plural in other contexts, here the sentence structure makes nominative plural the correct interpretation.