Fistula aquam recipit.

the water

Breakdown of Fistula aquam recipit.

• recipere: to take in
• fistula: the water pipe

Questions & Answers about Fistula aquam recipit.

Why is aquam spelled with -am instead of aqua?

Because aquam is in the accusative singular, the case used for the direct object of the verb.

• aqua = water as a dictionary form / nominative singular
• aquam = water as the thing being received

In Fistula aquam recipit, the pipe is doing the action, and the water is what gets received, so Latin uses aquam.

How do I know which word is the subject?

The subject is fistula.

There are two main clues:

• fistula is in the nominative singular, the normal case for the subject
• recipit is third person singular, so it matches a singular subject

So fistula is the pipe / tube / channel, and it is the thing that receives.

What form is recipit?

Recipit is:

• third person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from the verb recipio, recipere, recepi, receptum, meaning receive, take back, , or similar things depending on context.