Magister patri vinum non donat, sed matri panem donat.

The teacher does not give wine to father, but gives bread to mother.

Breakdown of Magister patri vinum non donat, sed matri panem donat.

• magister: the teacher
• pater: the father
• mater: the mother
• donare: to give
• panis: the bread
• vinum: the wine
• non: not
• sed: but

Questions & Answers about Magister patri vinum non donat, sed matri panem donat.

Why are patri and matri used instead of pater and mater?

Patri and matri are in the dative case. In Latin, the dative often marks the indirect object—the person receiving something. Here, the teacher is giving something to the father and mother, so pater (father) changes to patri and mater (mother) changes to matri.

Why is vinum in the same form as the nominative instead of something like vino?

Because vinum is a neuter noun of the second declension. In the neuter gender, the nominative and accusative singular forms are identical. In this sentence, vinum is the direct object (he is giving wine), so it must be in the accusative case, which looks the same as the nominative for neuter words.

Why does panem have a different ending from vinum?

The noun panis (bread) is a third-declension masculine noun, so its accusative singular form is panem. Unlike neuter second-declension nouns, the accusative singular ending of a third-declension masculine noun is -em.

Does non negate only the verb donat or the entire phrase about the wine?

Non generally negates the verb and its direct object together. The teacher does not give wine to the father. By placing non before donat, it clearly shows that the act of giving wine is being negated. In context, it means he’s simply not giving wine at all (to the father).

Why does the sentence repeat donat at the end after mentioning sed matri panem?

This repetition is a common Latin stylistic choice to maintain clarity and emphasize the contrasting actions: not giving wine to the father but giving bread to the mother. It can also help reinforce the parallel structure: “Magister patri vinum non donat, sed matri panem donat.”