Piscatio amicis placet, et hodie piscantur.

Because placeo, placere works differently from English to like.

In Latin, the thing that is pleasing is the grammatical subject, and the person who likes it goes in the dative case.

So:

• piscatio placet amicis = fishing is pleasing to the friends
• natural English: the friends like fishing

That is why Latin uses amicis rather than a nominative form like amici.

Placet is singular because its subject is piscatio, and piscatio is singular.

So the structure is:

• piscatio = fishing
• placet = pleases / is pleasing
• amicis = to the friends

Even though amicis is plural, it is not the subject. The subject is piscatio, so the verb must be singular.

If the subject were plural, you would expect placent instead.

Piscatio is a noun meaning fishing or the activity of fishing.

Here it names the activity itself, much like English fishing in a sentence such as Fishing is fun.

So in this sentence, piscatio is the thing that pleases the friends.

Latin usually does not need an explicit subject pronoun, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• piscantur = they fish / they are fishing

The ending -ntur shows that the subject is they.

From context, the most natural understood subject is the friends mentioned earlier.

Piscantur is:

• present tense
• third person plural
• indicative mood
• from the verb piscor, piscari

So it means they are fishing or they fish.

Because of hodie, the most natural translation here is they are fishing today.

Because piscor, piscari is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs use passive-looking forms but have active meanings.

So although piscantur looks like a passive form, it does not mean they are being fished. It means they are fishing.

This is something Latin learners have to get used to: form and meaning do not always match in deponent verbs.

Yes. Hodie means today, and it is an adverb.

Adverbs in Latin often have fairly flexible placement, so you could see it in different positions depending on emphasis or style. For example:

• et hodie piscantur
• et piscantur hodie
• hodie et piscantur would be much less natural here, but Latin word order is generally flexible

In this sentence, hodie simply tells you when they are fishing.

Et means and, joining the two ideas:

• piscatio amicis placet = fishing pleases the friends
• hodie piscantur = today they are fishing

So the sentence links a general preference with a present action:

• they like fishing,
• and today they are fishing.

Yes, that is a very natural way to understand it.

• piscatio amicis placet expresses a general fact or ongoing preference: the friends like fishing
• et hodie piscantur gives a specific present situation: and today they are fishing

So the sentence moves from what they generally enjoy to what they are doing now.

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show each word’s role.

For example, these would express the same basic meaning:

• Piscatio amicis placet
• Amicis piscatio placet
• Placet amicis piscatio

The same is true for the second clause to some extent:

• hodie piscantur
• piscantur hodie

The choice of order can affect emphasis, but the basic grammar stays the same.

Grammatically, amicis is not the subject of piscantur. The subject of piscantur is simply understood from the verb ending: they.

But in terms of meaning, readers naturally connect that they with the friends already mentioned.

So:

• first clause: amicis = to the friends
• second clause: piscantur = they are fishing

Latin does not repeat amici in the nominative, because the subject can be understood from context. English often does the same: The friends like fishing, and today are fishing would be awkward, so we say and today they are fishing.

Yes. The Latin present tense can often be translated either as a simple present or as a progressive present, depending on context.

So piscantur could mean:

• they fish
• they are fishing

Here, because of hodie, English usually prefers they are fishing today, since it sounds more natural for an action happening on this particular day.

The main dictionary forms are:

• piscatio, piscationis — fishing
• amicus, amici — friend
• placeo, placere, placui — to please
• hodie — today
• piscor, piscari, piscatus sum — to fish

Knowing these base forms helps you recognize how the sentence is built:

• piscatio = nominative singular
• amicis = dative plural
• placet = third person singular present
• piscantur = third person plural present deponent