Breakdown of Puer sincerus veritatem sine metu dicit; puer dubius autem saepe tacet et matrem spectat.
puer
the boy
et
and
mater
the mother
saepe
often
spectare
to look at
dicere
to tell
sine
without
tacere
to be silent
veritas
the truth
autem
however
metus
the fear
sincerus
honest
dubius
doubtful
Questions & Answers about Puer sincerus veritatem sine metu dicit; puer dubius autem saepe tacet et matrem spectat.
Why is there no word for the or a in this sentence?
Latin has no articles. So puer can mean the boy or a boy, and veritatem can mean the truth. You decide from context which English article sounds right.
If the translation says his mother, where does his come from? I do not see it in the Latin.
Latin often leaves out a possessive word when it is obvious from the context. Matrem by itself means mother in the accusative case, but in a sentence like this it is natural to understand his mother. Latin does not always need to say suam matrem unless it wants extra clarity or emphasis.
Why do sincerus and dubius both end in -us?
They are adjectives describing puer, so they must agree with it in gender, number, and case. Here puer is masculine, singular, and nominative, so the adjectives are also masculine singular nominative: sincerus and dubius.
Why is the adjective after puer instead of before it?
Latin word order is much freer than English word order. Both puer sincerus and sincerus puer can mean the sincere boy. The endings show the grammar, so Latin does not depend on a fixed adjective position the way English often does.
Why is it veritatem and not veritas?
Because veritatem is the direct object of dicit. The boy says the truth, so truth must be in the accusative case. The dictionary form is veritas, but the accusative singular is veritatem.
What case is metu, and why is it used after sine?
Metu is ablative singular. The preposition sine means without, and it takes the ablative case. So sine metu means without fear.
Why is it metu and not metus here?
Because metus is a fourth-declension noun. Its dictionary form is metus, but its ablative singular is metu. This is a common form that learners need to recognize.
What does autem mean here?
Autem means something like however, but, or on the other hand. It marks a contrast between the first boy and the second boy.
Why is autem not the first word of its clause?
Because autem is usually postpositive. That means it normally comes after the first word or first phrase, not at the very beginning. So puer dubius autem is normal Latin word order.
Why is puer repeated in the second half instead of being left out?
Repeating puer makes the contrast clearer and more balanced: the sincere boy in the first clause, the doubtful boy in the second. Latin could omit it, but the repetition is stylistically neat and emphasizes the comparison.
What tense are dicit, tacet, and spectat?
They are all present indicative active, third person singular. They mean he says, he is silent, and he looks at. In this kind of sentence, the present tense often expresses a general or habitual action, not just something happening at one exact moment.
Why is saepe placed before tacet?
Saepe is an adverb meaning often. Latin adverbs can move around fairly freely, so its position is not strange. Here it most directly goes with tacet, though by sense it can color the whole second description.
Why is matrem in the accusative?
Because spectat takes a direct object. In English we say looks at his mother, but Latin does not need a separate word for at here. The verb spectat simply takes matrem as its object, so the accusative is used.
Does et mean the doubtful boy does both actions?
Yes. The subject puer dubius goes with both verbs: tacet and spectat. So the sense is the doubtful boy often keeps silent and looks at his mother. Latin commonly states one subject and then gives two verbs with it.
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