Spectator delphinum supra euripum videt.

The spectator sees a dolphin counter above the central channel.

Breakdown of Spectator delphinum supra euripum videt.

• videre: to see
• supra: above
• euripus: the central channel in a circus
• spectator: the onlooker at a public event

Questions & Answers about Spectator delphinum supra euripum videt.

Why does spectator have no ending like -m? What case is it?

Spectator is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject of the sentence.

So in Spectator delphinum supra euripum videt, spectator is the person doing the seeing: the spectator sees.

Its dictionary form is also spectator, so here the nominative looks the same as the basic form you would learn in a vocabulary list.

Why is delphinum spelled with -um at the end?

Delphinum is the accusative singular form of delphinus, meaning dolphin.

In this sentence, it is the direct object of videt, so it is the thing being seen:

• spectator = the subject, the one who sees
• delphinum = the object, the one seen

A native English speaker often expects word order to show this, but in Latin the case ending is a major clue. The -um ending here tells you that delphinum is functioning as the object.

Why is euripum also in the accusative?

Because supra takes the accusative case here.

So supra euripum means above the channel/canal/strait or over the channel, and euripum is accusative because it is the object of the preposition .