Breakdown of Magistra dicit: "Hic liber facilis est, ille liber difficilis; tamen vos potestis multum discere."
Questions & Answers about Magistra dicit: "Hic liber facilis est, ille liber difficilis; tamen vos potestis multum discere."
Magistra means female teacher.
Grammatically:
- Form in the sentence: nominative singular feminine
- Dictionary form: magistra, magistrae (1st declension noun)
- Function: It is the subject of the verb dicit.
So Magistra dicit = The (female) teacher says or The teacher is saying.
Dicit is:
- present tense
- 3rd person singular
- from the verb dico, dicere, dixi, dictum = to say, tell, speak
Literal meaning: “she says / is saying”.
Depending on context, Latin’s present tense can sometimes be translated as English past (“she said”) in narrative, but on its own like this, the safest translation is present:
- Magistra dicit = The teacher says / is saying
The colon and quotation marks are editorial conventions, not original features of classical Latin.
- In ancient manuscripts, there were no quotation marks the way we use them.
- Modern editors use colon + quotation marks to show direct speech clearly.
So:
- Magistra dicit: Hic liber facilis est…
is direct speech: The teacher says: This book is easy…
If the sentence were in indirect speech, Latin would usually use accusative + infinitive, e.g.:
- Magistra dicit hunc librum facilem esse = The teacher says that this book is easy.
Both hic and ille are demonstrative pronouns/adjectives, like “this” and “that” in English.
In the sentence:
- hic liber facilis est = this book is easy
- ille liber difficilis = that book is difficult
Grammatically:
- hic = nominative masculine singular (from hic, haec, hoc)
- ille = nominative masculine singular (from ille, illa, illud)
- They agree with liber in gender, number, and case.
Nuance:
- hic = “this (near me / just mentioned / more immediate one)”
- ille = “that (further away / more distant / other one)”
When two things are contrasted, hic… ille… can also mean “the former… the latter…”.
Latin actually has two different words spelled liber:
liber, libri (masculine noun) = book
- 2nd declension: liber, libri, libro, librum…
- That’s the word in hic liber facilis est.
līber, lībera, līberum (adjective) = free
- 1st/2nd declension adjective.
- Would agree with a noun: vir liber = a free man.
They are distinguished in dictionaries by their genitive forms and by being labeled as noun vs adjective:
- liber, libri (n.) = book
- līber, lībera, līberum (adj.) = free
In this sentence, context and the presence of adjectives like facilis / difficilis make it clear that liber is a noun = book.
Facilis and difficilis are 3rd-declension adjectives of the type:
- facilis, facile = easy
- difficilis, difficile = difficult
This type has:
- -is for both masculine and feminine nominative singular
- -e for neuter nominative singular
So:
- facilis = masculine or feminine nominative singular
- difficilis = masculine or feminine nominative singular
They still agree properly with liber:
- hic liber facilis est
- liber: nominative masculine singular
- facilis: nominative masculine singular (same form as fem)
Same for ille liber difficilis.
Latin word order is much more flexible than English.
- hic liber facilis est
- hic liber est facilis
- facilis est hic liber
All of these are grammatically correct and basically mean:
“This book is easy.”
Typical points:
- The verb est (is) very often appears late in the clause, even at the end.
- Latin relies on endings (case, number, gender) rather than word order to show who is doing what.
So having est at the end is perfectly normal and often stylistically preferred.
Tamen is an adverb meaning “however,” “nevertheless,” “still.”
In the sentence:
- …ille liber difficilis; tamen vos potestis multum discere.
= …that book is difficult; however, you can learn a lot.
Placement:
- tamen is usually placed near the beginning of its clause, very often as the second word (after a conjunction or first word), though here it’s the first word in the new clause.
It marks a contrast with the previous idea:
Even though that book is difficult, nevertheless you can learn much.
Latin verb endings already show the person and number, so vos is not required for basic meaning.
- potestis = you (plural) can / are able
- vos potestis = you (plural) can, but with emphasis on you.
Using vos here suggests something like:
- “But you (for your part) can learn a lot,”
- or “you all, however, are able to learn a lot.”
So:
- vos = nominative plural of tu (“you”)
- It is used mainly for emphasis or contrast, not for basic grammar.
Potestis is a form of possum, posse, potui = to be able, can.
- vos potestis = you (plural) can / are able
In Latin, possum is normally followed by a present infinitive to express what someone can do:
- possum discere = I can learn
- potes discere = you (sing.) can learn
- potestis discere = you (pl.) can learn
So in vos potestis multum discere:
- potestis = you (pl.) can
- discere = to learn (present active infinitive of disco, discere)
- Together: “you can learn”
Multum is the accusative singular neuter of multus, -a, -um = much, many.
In vos potestis multum discere:
- Grammatically, multum can be seen as an internal object of discere.
- Semantically, it behaves almost like an adverb, meaning “a lot / much.”
So:
- multum discere = to learn much / to learn a lot
This is a common Latin pattern:
- multum laborare = to work a lot
- multum dormit = he/she sleeps a lot
You can think of multum here as “much (of learning)” or simply “a lot,” modifying the idea of learning.