Solitudo silvae aviae grata est.

to be

Breakdown of Solitudo silvae aviae grata est.

• silva: the forest
• avia: the grandmother
• gratus: pleasing

Questions & Answers about Solitudo silvae aviae grata est.

What is the grammatical role of each word in Solitudo silvae aviae grata est?

Here is the most likely analysis:

• solitudo — nominative singular, feminine; the subject. It means solitude.
• silvae — genitive singular, feminine; it modifies solitudo and means of the forest.
• aviae — dative singular, feminine; it means to/for the grandmother.
• grata — nominative singular, feminine; a predicate adjective meaning pleasing, dear, welcome.
• est — is, 3rd person singular present of sum.

So the structure is basically:

The solitude of the forest is pleasing to the grandmother.

Why is solitudo the subject, not aviae?

Because solitudo is in the nominative case, which is the normal case for the subject.

aviae is not nominative here; it is best understood as dative singular, because grata est often means is pleasing to someone, and that someone goes in the dative.

This is one place where Latin works differently from English. English often says:

• The grandmother likes the solitude of the forest.

Latin here says:

• The solitude of the forest is pleasing to the grandmother.

So in Latin, the thing liked is the subject.