Servae mensam in triclinio ad cenam instruunt.

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Breakdown of Servae mensam in triclinio ad cenam instruunt.

• mensa: the table
• cena: the dinner
• ad: for

Questions & Answers about Servae mensam in triclinio ad cenam instruunt.

Why is servae the subject here?

Because instruunt is third person plural: they set/prepare. The form servae can, in theory, mean several things:

• nominative plural = female slaves / maidservants
• genitive singular = of the female slave
• dative singular = to/for the female slave

But only nominative plural fits naturally with the plural verb instruunt. So here servae is the subject: the female slaves / maidservants.

What case is mensam, and what does it do in the sentence?

Mensam is accusative singular of mensa.

It is the direct object of instruunt, so it answers the question What are they setting/preparing?
Answer: the table.

This is very typical in Latin: the thing directly affected by the verb goes into the accusative.

Why is it in triclinio and not in triclinium?