Scriba orationem consulis diligenter conscribit.

The scribe carefully writes up the consul’s speech.

Breakdown of Scriba orationem consulis diligenter conscribit.

• diligenter: carefully
• oratio: the speech
• consul: the consul
• scriba: the scribe

Questions & Answers about Scriba orationem consulis diligenter conscribit.

How do I know who is doing the action in Scriba orationem consulis diligenter conscribit?

The subject is scriba, because it is in the nominative case, the case normally used for the doer of the action.

The verb conscribit is 3rd person singular, so it means he/she writes up / composes. That matches a singular subject, scriba.

So:

• scriba = the scribe
• conscribit = writes up / composes

Therefore, the scribe is doing the action.

Why does scriba end in -a if it means a man?

This is a very common beginner question. Scriba belongs to the first declension, which often has nouns ending in -a in the nominative singular. Many first-declension nouns are feminine, but not all of them.

Scriba is one of the important exceptions: it is a masculine noun, even though it looks like a typical first-declension feminine form.

So:

• form: first declension
• gender: masculine
• meaning: scribe

Latin grammatical gender does not always match the ending you might expect.

Why is orationem spelled that way, and what case is it?

Orationem is the accusative singular of oratio, orationis, meaning speech or .