Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Latin grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Scelus grave est.
Why is grave used here instead of gravis?
Because scelus is neuter singular, and the adjective has to agree with it.
The adjective is gravis, grave = serious / heavy / severe.
Its nominative singular forms are:
- masculine/feminine: gravis
- neuter: grave
Since scelus is a neuter noun, Latin uses grave.
What case is scelus, and how can I tell?
Here scelus is nominative singular, because it is the subject of est.
With a sentence like X est Y, the thing being described is normally in the nominative, and the describing adjective is also nominative:
- scelus = the subject
- grave = predicate adjective describing the subject
A beginner might notice that scelus could also look like an accusative form, because many neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative. But in this sentence, the verb est shows that scelus is functioning as the subject, so nominative makes sense.
What kind of noun is scelus?