Breakdown of Discipuli diu in bibliotheca manent, quia discere volunt etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum quae facilia sunt.
Questions & Answers about Discipuli diu in bibliotheca manent, quia discere volunt etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum quae facilia sunt.
Discipuli is:
- nominative
- masculine
- plural
It comes from discipulus, discipuli (student, pupil).
In Latin, the nominative plural is the standard form for the subject of a sentence. Since manent (they remain) is 3rd person plural, the subject must also be plural — that is discipuli. So discipuli manent = the students remain / stay.
Because Latin normally drops the article (a/the), we supply the in English from context.
Diu is an adverb meaning for a long time.
- It modifies the verb manent: diu manent = they remain for a long time / they stay a long time.
- It does not describe the students (so it’s not an adjective); it describes how long they remain, which makes it an adverb.
Latin often uses a single adverb like diu where English might use a phrase: for a long time.
Bibliotheca here is:
- ablative
- singular
- feminine
The preposition in with the ablative usually expresses location: in, on, at (where something is). So:
- in bibliotheca = in the library (location).
- If it were motion into the library, Latin would use in + accusative: in bibliothecam = into the library.
So diu in bibliotheca manent = they stay in the library for a long time.
Manent is:
- 3rd person plural
- present tense
- active
- indicative
from maneo, manere, mansi, mansum.
Its core meaning is to remain, stay rather than to wait. So:
- manent = they remain / they stay (right now, generally, or habitually).
Latin often uses the present tense both for what is happening now and for repeated/habitual actions, so diu manent can be:
- they stay a long time
or - they (usually) stay a long time.
If you want “wait,” a better verb is exspectare.
Discere volunt is literally they want to learn.
- volunt = they want (3rd plural of volo).
- discere = present active infinitive of disco (to learn).
In Latin, verbs like volo (I want), possum (I can), debeo (I must/ought) are commonly followed by an infinitive:
- volunt discere = they want to learn
- possunt discere = they can learn
- debent discere = they must learn.
So discere is the complementary infinitive completing the sense of volunt.
Quia is a subordinating conjunction meaning because.
It introduces a reason clause:
- Discipuli diu in bibliotheca manent, quia discere volunt…
= The students stay in the library for a long time, *because they want to learn…*
Everything after quia (discere volunt etiam ea…) is the cause or reason for the main clause: they stay because they want to learn…
Ea here is:
- accusative
- neuter
- plural
of the pronoun is, ea, id.
It is the direct object of discere:
- discere ea volunt = they want to learn those things / these things.
Because it’s neuter plural and very general, the best translation is things:
- etiam ea quae difficilia sunt
= even the things that are difficult.
Latin uses the neuter to refer to indefinite or general “things” without specifying gender.
Here ea doesn’t refer to a specific group of people or objects with known gender; it’s a general “things”: topics, subjects, matters to be learned. For such abstract or unspecific “things,” Latin very often uses neuter plural:
- ea (neuter plural) = things
- bona (neuter plural of bonus) = good things
- mala (neuter plural of malus) = bad things.
So ea quae difficilia sunt = the things that are difficult.
Quae difficilia sunt is a relative clause describing ea.
Breakdown:
- quae: relative pronoun, nominative neuter plural, referring back to ea (things which…).
- difficilia: nominative neuter plural of difficilis (difficult), agreeing with quae.
- sunt: are.
So:
- ea = the things
- quae difficilia sunt = which are difficult
Together: ea quae difficilia sunt = the things that are difficult.
Grammar pattern: [antecedent] + [relative clause]
= ea + quae difficilia sunt.
Difficilia is:
- nominative
- neuter
- plural
of the adjective difficilis, difficile (difficult).
It has to agree with the subject of its clause:
- The subject of sunt in quae difficilia sunt is quae.
- Quae refers to ea, which is neuter plural.
- Therefore difficilia must also be neuter plural nominative, agreeing in gender, number, and case.
So the structure is:
quae (subject) difficilia (predicate adjective) sunt (verb).
Logically, we might expect:
- etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum ea quae facilia sunt.
Latin often leaves out words that are obvious from context. Here, ea is understood from the earlier phrase:
- etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum (ea) quae facilia sunt
= even the things that are difficult, not only (the things) that are easy.
So quae facilia sunt really stands for ea quae facilia sunt, but ea is omitted as an ellipsis to avoid repetition.
Non solum literally means not only.
There is a very common Latin pattern:
- non solum … sed etiam …
= not only … but also ….
Here the order is a bit different:
- etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum quae facilia sunt
= even the things that are difficult, not only the things that are easy.
So instead of “not only easy things but also difficult ones,” the author has flipped the emphasis:
- “even the difficult things, not only the easy ones.”
The key idea is still contrast: easy vs. difficult.
Non solum marks what is not the limit; etiam (here placed earlier) highlights that difficult things are included as well, even them.
Both quae are:
- nominative
- neuter
- plural
relative pronouns.
ea quae difficilia sunt
- ea = things (accusative neuter plural; object of discere).
- quae = those things which… (subject of sunt in the relative clause).
- Together: the things which are difficult.
(ea) quae facilia sunt
- ea is understood.
- quae again is the subject of sunt, referring to (understood) ea.
- the (things) which are easy.
In both cases, quae agrees with its (explicit or implied) antecedent ea in gender (neuter) and number (plural), and it’s nominative because it’s the subject of the verb sunt.
Latin word order is quite flexible, and the verb sum (to be) is often placed late or at the end of the clause.
- quae difficilia sunt
- quae facilia sunt
both follow a common Latin pattern: [subject] – [complement] – [verb].
It could also be written as:
- quae sunt difficilia
- quae sunt facilia
without changing the meaning. The choice here is mostly stylistic, and end-position for sunt is very normal Latin.
Yes, Latin allows quite a bit of reordering, as long as endings still show the roles. For example, you might see variants like:
- Diu discipuli in bibliotheca manent, quia etiam ea discere volunt quae difficilia sunt, non solum quae facilia sunt.
- Discipuli in bibliotheca diu manent, quia volunt discere etiam ea quae difficilia sunt, non solum quae facilia sunt.
The core relationships stay the same because of the endings:
- discipuli = subject
- manent / volunt = verbs
- ea = object of discere
- quae…sunt = relative clauses describing ea.
Different orders can slightly shift emphasis, but the basic meaning remains:
The students stay in the library for a long time because they want to learn even the difficult things, not only the easy ones.