Questions & Answers about Aqua pura corpori salubris est.
What does each word mean, and what form is it in?
- aqua = water; nominative singular, feminine
- pura = pure; nominative singular, feminine, agreeing with aqua
- corpori = for the body / to the body; dative singular of corpus, corporis
- salubris = healthful, beneficial, wholesome; nominative singular here, describing aqua
- est = is
So grammatically, aqua pura is the subject, salubris is the predicate adjective, and corpori tells you for whom or for what the water is beneficial.
Why is corpori in the dative case?
Because Latin often uses the dative with adjectives like salubris to show the person or thing affected.
So corpori salubris est means literally something like:
- is healthful for the body
- is beneficial to the body
This is sometimes called the dative of reference or dative with adjectives.
A native English speaker may expect a preposition like for or to, but Latin can express that idea just by using the dative ending.
Why is salubris nominative, not dative to match corpori?