Learn Hardcore Latin: Prope deversorium est basilica vetusta, cuius parietes e marmore facti sunt. - Near the lodging there is an old basilica, whose walls are made of marble.

Prope deversorium est basilica vetusta, cuius parietes e marmore facti sunt.

Near the lodging there is an old basilica, whose walls are made of marble.

Breakdown of Prope deversorium est basilica vetusta, cuius parietes e marmore facti sunt.

Questions & Answers about Prope deversorium est basilica vetusta, cuius parietes e marmore facti sunt.

Why is deversorium after prope, and what case is it?

Prope means near or close to. When it is used as a preposition, it takes the accusative case.

So in prope deversorium, deversorium is accusative singular.

A detail that often confuses learners: deversorium is a neuter noun, and in many neuter nouns the nominative and accusative singular have the same form. So even though deversorium looks unchanged, its case here is accusative because prope requires it.

Why does the sentence say est basilica vetusta instead of putting basilica vetusta before est?

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. The sentence could have been arranged differently and still meant the same thing.

Here, Prope deversorium est basilica vetusta has the sense of Near the inn there is an old basilica. Putting est before basilica vetusta gives a natural there is / there exists feel.

So:

est basilica vetusta = there is an old basilica
basilica vetusta est would also be possible, but it would sound more like a simple statement about the basilica

In Latin, word order often reflects emphasis and style more than strict grammatical necessity.

Why is there no word for the or a?