[*] 596. As in other languages, the Subject tends to stand first, the Predicate last. Thus,—
- “ Pausāniās Lacedaemonius māgnus homō sed varius in omnī genere vītae fuit ” (Nep. Paus. 1) , Pausanias the Lacedœmonian was a great man, but inconsistent in the whole course of his life.
[*] Note.--This happens because, from the speaker's ordinary point of view, the subject of his discourse is the most important thing in it, as singled out from all other things to be spoken of.
[*] a. There is in Latin, however, a special tendency to place the verb itself last of all, after all its modifiers. But many writers purposely avoid the monotony of this arrangement by putting the verb last but one, followed by some single word of the predicate.