Subject
A Latin sentence can consist of just one word — a verb.
- laborat.
- He or she is working.
- cadit.
- He, she or it is falling.
- redit.
- He, she or it returns.
One–word sentences like these don’t tell us who is working, what is falling, who returns: they assume that we already know who or what the sentence is about.
The person or thing that the sentence is about is called the subject of the sentence.
Subject + verb
These sentences consist of two words: the subject (a noun), followed by a verb.
- femina laborat.
- The woman is working.
- aqua cadit.
- Water is falling.
- Quintus redit.
- Quintus returns.
In Latin, the subject of a sentence is in the nominative case.