Magister discipulis narrat: “Mens bona te fortem facit.”

Because magister is in the nominative singular, which is the case typically used for the subject of a sentence.

So in Magister discipulis narrat, magister means the teacher and is the one doing the action of narrat = tells / relates.

Discipulis is dative plural, not nominative. The dative case is often used for the indirect object, especially with verbs of giving, showing, or telling.

So:

• magister = the teacher
• discipulis = to the students
• narrat = tells

That gives: The teacher tells the students...

Narrat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from narrare, meaning to tell, relate, recount.

So narrat means he/she tells, or in this sentence, the teacher tells.

Latin normally does not use articles like English the and a/an.

So magister can mean:

• a teacher
• the teacher

and mens can mean:

• a mind
• the mind

Which one sounds best depends on context and the given translation.

Mens is nominative singular. Inside the quotation, it is the subject of facit.

So in Mens bona te fortem facit:

• mens bona = the good mind
• facit = makes
• te = you
• fortem = brave

The structure is: A good mind makes you brave.

Because bona has to agree with mens.

Since mens is:

• nominative
• singular
• feminine

the adjective must also be:

• nominative
• singular
• feminine

So we get bona.

If it were bonam, that would be accusative feminine singular, which would not match the role of mens here.

Because mens is a feminine noun in Latin. Adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• mens = feminine singular nominative
• bona = feminine singular nominative

Even though English nouns like mind are not grammatically feminine, Latin nouns have grammatical gender.

Because te is the accusative form of you (singular), while tu is the nominative form.

Compare:

• tu = you, as the subject
• te = you, as the object

In Mens bona te fortem facit, you are being acted on by the verb facit, so Latin uses te.

Because after facere meaning to make, Latin often uses:

• the object
• plus a predicate accusative describing what that object is made to be

So in te fortem facit:

• te = the object, you
• fortem = what you are made, brave

This is like saying: it makes you brave.

So fortem agrees with te in function and is also in the accusative.

Not necessarily. Fortem can be:

• masculine accusative singular
• feminine accusative singular

The form is the same for both.

Since te just means you and does not show grammatical gender here, fortem can work for either a male or female person being addressed.

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

English depends heavily on word order:

• The good mind makes you brave

Latin can rearrange the words more freely:

• Mens bona te fortem facit
• Bona mens te fortem facit
• Te mens bona fortem facit

These all basically mean the same thing, though the emphasis may shift slightly.

Yes. Bona mens and mens bona are both grammatically correct.

Latin often changes word order for style or emphasis rather than basic meaning. A learner should mainly focus on the endings:

• mens / bona both nominative singular feminine
• therefore they belong together

So both word orders can mean a good mind.

The colon is just punctuation introducing direct speech in this sentence.

So:

• Magister discipulis narrat: = The teacher tells the students:
• Mens bona te fortem facit. = the words being spoken

This is a punctuation choice in the printed sentence, not a special piece of Latin grammar.

It is direct speech, because the exact words are given:

Mens bona te fortem facit.

If it were an indirect statement, Latin would normally use a different construction, often an accusative + infinitive pattern rather than a quoted sentence.

So this sentence is simpler: the teacher directly says the words.

Facit literally means makes or does, from facere.

In this sentence it means makes in the sense of causes someone to become something:

• te fortem facit = makes you brave

This is a very common use of facere.

Te is singular: you addressed to one person.

If the sentence were speaking to more than one person, Latin would use vos instead.

So:

• te = you (one person)
• vos = you (more than one person)

Here it is shown by punctuation: the quotation marks and the full stop make it clear.

The quoted sentence is:

Mens bona te fortem facit.

That entire clause is what the teacher is saying to the students.