21.02.04: Note on word order

21.02.04: Note on word order

The word order in Latin is flexible i.e. the words do not always read from left to right as they do in English. Very often the verb goes to the end of the sentence:

[i]

Haec puella discipula EST. This girl IS a pupil.

Vesta dea EST. Vesta IS a goddess.

[ii]

In a construction which is called the predicate nominative e.g. This girl IS a pupil [X = Y], using a linking verb such as is, the order of the words will often be the same as in English:

Haec puella EST discipula.

Vesta EST dea.

Both [i] and [ii] are correct.