Questions & Answers about Iecur in corpore est.
What case is iecur, and why?
Iecur is nominative singular, because it is the subject of est.
The full dictionary form is iecur, iecoris n. It is a neuter noun. In this sentence, iecur is the thing being talked about, so it appears in the nominative.
Why is it corpore and not corpus?
Because in here means in / inside / within in the sense of location, and with that meaning it takes the ablative case.
So:
- corpus = nominative or accusative singular
- corpore = ablative singular
Since the sentence describes where something is, Latin uses in + ablative:
- in corpore = in the body
What is the difference between in corpore and in corpus?
This is a very common Latin pattern:
- in + ablative = location: in, on, inside
- in + accusative = motion toward / into
So:
- in corpore est = it is in the body
- in corpus would suggest movement into the body