Breakdown of Serva puero aquam tepidam affert.
puer
the boy
aqua
the water
afferre
to bring
tepidus
lukewarm
Questions & Answers about Serva puero aquam tepidam affert.
Why is serva the subject?
Because serva is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.
Here, serva means slave woman, maidservant, or female servant. The ending -a shows it is nominative singular for a first-declension noun.
So serva is the one doing the action of affert.
Why is puero not the direct object?
Because puero is in the dative singular, not the accusative.
The dative case often marks the indirect object: the person to whom something is given, shown, said, or brought.
So in this sentence:
- puero = to the boy
- aquam tepidam = the thing being brought
That is why puero is not the direct object.
Why are aquam and tepidam both in the accusative?