Nuntius discipulis dicit verbum bonum.

The messenger tells the students a good word.

Breakdown of Nuntius discipulis dicit verbum bonum.

• discipulus: the student
• bonus: good
• nuntius: the messenger
• verbum: the word
• dicere: to tell

Questions & Answers about Nuntius discipulis dicit verbum bonum.

Why is discipulis in the dative case?

In Latin, when you use the verb dicit (meaning "he/she says" or "he/she tells"), the person receiving the message is typically in the dative. So discipulis (meaning "to the students") appears in the dative case because it’s the indirect object: it tells us to whom the messenger speaks.

Why are verbum and bonum both in the accusative case?

Verbum ("word") is the direct object of dicit and therefore is placed in the accusative case. Bonum ("good") describes verbum, so it must agree with verbum in case, number, and gender. Since verbum is neuter singular accusative, bonum is also neuter singular accusative.

Is nuntius in the nominative case because it’s the subject?

Yes, exactly. Nuntius ("messenger") is the one performing the action of telling, so it must appear in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence.

Why doesn’t word order matter as much in Latin as in English?

Latin relies heavily on case endings rather than word position to convey meaning. The endings on nouns and adjectives show whether they are subject (nominative), direct object (accusative), indirect object (dative), and so on. This allows for more flexibility in how words can be arranged in a sentence compared to English, which typically depends on word order to show these relationships.