Auriga calcar habet.

Auriga is the subject, and calcar is the direct object.

• auriga is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject.
• calcar is the direct object, so it is in the accusative singular.

One small complication: calcar is a neuter noun, and in Latin neuter nouns often have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular. So here the form calcar could look like either case by itself. In this sentence, the normal meaning and word order make it clear that auriga is the one who has something, and calcar is the thing had.

Because auriga is a masculine noun of the first declension.

English speakers often expect nouns ending in -a to be feminine in Latin, and many are. But some first-declension nouns referring to male professions or roles are masculine, such as:

• agricola — farmer
• nauta — sailor
• poeta — poet
• auriga — charioteer

So the ending tells you the declension, not always the natural gender.

Habet is the third-person singular present active indicative of habēre, meaning to have.

So habet means he has, she has, or it has, depending on the subject.

Because the subject here is auriga, the sense is the charioteer has.

Here calcar is accusative singular, because it is the direct object of habet.

Its dictionary form is also calcar, because the dictionary usually gives the nominative singular first. For this noun, the nominative singular and accusative singular are identical.

That happens because calcar is a third-declension neuter noun:

• nominative singular: calcar
• accusative singular: calcar

So even though the job of the word changes, the form does not.

Latin normally does not use articles.

So Auriga calcar habet can mean:

• the charioteer has a spur
• a charioteer has a spur
• the charioteer has the spur

Context tells you which English article makes the most sense.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order, because Latin uses endings to show how words function in the sentence.

Putting the verb at the end is very common in Latin, especially in simple textbook sentences. So Auriga calcar habet is a very natural Latin order.

English usually prefers:

• The charioteer has a spur

Latin often prefers:

• Auriga calcar habet

If the author wanted to emphasize a different word, the order could change.

You would typically see them something like this:

• auriga, aurigae m. — charioteer
• calcar, calcaris n. — spur
• habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum — have

These dictionary entries help you identify:

• the noun’s declension
• the noun’s gender
• the verb’s main principal parts

In a classical pronunciation, approximately:

AU-ri-ga KAL-car HA-bet

A few useful points:

• au sounds like the ow in cow
• c is always hard, like k
• the stress is on:
  • AUriga
  • KALcar
  • HAbet

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

OW-ri-ga KAL-kar HA-bet