Omnes amicitiam bonam semper amant.

Everyone always loves good friendship.

Breakdown of Omnes amicitiam bonam semper amant.

• amare: to love
• bonus: good
• amicitia: the friendship
• semper: always
• omnes: everyone

Questions & Answers about Omnes amicitiam bonam semper amant.

Why is amicitiam used instead of amicitia?

Because amicitiam is the accusative singular form of amicitia (“friendship”), and Latin uses the accusative case for the direct object of a verb.

• amicitia = nominative singular (“friendship” as a subject)
• amicitiam = accusative singular (“friendship” as an object)

In Omnes amicitiam bonam semper amant, the people (understood from omnes) are doing the action, and amicitiam is what they love. So it must be in the accusative case.

What case and number is omnes, and what does it refer to?

Omnes here is nominative plural of omnis, omne (“all, every”).

In this sentence:

• It is nominative → it is the subject of the verb amant.
• It is plural → it matches the they in “they love”.

Since there’s no noun with it (like omnes homines), omnes is being used as a substantive adjective, meaning “all (people)” or “everyone” in the plural sense: “All (of them) always love good friendship.”

Why is the verb amant and not amat?

Amant is 3rd person plural present active indicative of amare (“to love”):

• amat = “he/she/it loves”
• amant = “they love”

Since omnes is plural (“all” → “they”), the verb must also be plural: omnes … amant = “they all love” or “all (people) love”.

Why is there no word for “they” in the Latin sentence?

Latin usually doesn’t need subject pronouns (like “I, you, he, she, they”) because the verb ending and often the nominative noun/pronoun already show who is doing the action.

• The subject is shown by omnes (nominative plural) and by the ending -nt in amant (3rd plural).
• So adding a separate “they” (e.g. ei) would usually be unnecessary or emphatic.

Hence Omnes … amant naturally means “They all love …” without a separate word for “they”.

What does semper mean exactly, and where does it usually go in the sentence?

Semper is an adverb meaning “always”.

Word order in Latin is flexible, and adverbs like semper can appear in several positions. Common spots:

• Before the verb: Semper amant = “they always love”
• After the verb: amant semper (slightly different emphasis)
• Between elements, as here: amicitiam bonam semper amant

In this sentence, semper most naturally is understood with the verb: “they always love”.

Position affects emphasis more than basic meaning; grammatically, semper can move around.

Why is bonam in that form, and why does it follow amicitiam?

Bonam is the accusative singular feminine form of bonus, -a, -um (“good”). It must agree with the noun it describes:

• amicitiam: accusative singular feminine
• bonam: accusative singular feminine

Latin adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case, so we get amicitiam bonam.

As for position:

• Latin often puts adjectives after the noun: amicitiam bonam

• It can also go before: bonam amicitiam

  Both are grammatically fine. Postposition (after the noun) is very common for simple descriptive adjectives.

Does amicitiam bonam mean “good friendship” or “a good friend”?

It means “good friendship”, not “a good friend”.

• amicitia = friendship (an abstract noun)
• “friend” is amicus (male) or amica (female)

So:

• amicitiam bonam = “good friendship”
• “a good friend” would be:
  • amicum bonum (accusative, male friend)
  • amicam bonam (accusative, female friend)

Why doesn’t Latin have a word for “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Latin has no articles like English “a/an” or “the”. Whether you translate it with “a” or “the” (or sometimes nothing) depends on context, not on a specific Latin word.

So amicitiam bonam can be translated:

• “good friendship”
• “a good friendship”
• “the good friendship”

The basic Latin phrase is the same; you choose the article in English according to the larger context.

What is the basic word order of this sentence, and how strict is Latin word order?

The order here is:

• Omnes (subject)
• amicitiam bonam (object + its adjective)
• semper (adverb)
• amant (verb)

A very literal breakdown: “All (people) friendship good always love.”

Latin word order is flexible compared to English; endings show grammar roles more than position does. The “default” or “neutral” pattern is often Subject – Object – Verb (SOV), but many variations are possible, especially for emphasis. For example, you could see:

• Omnes semper amicitiam bonam amant.
• Semper omnes amicitiam bonam amant.

All of these would still mean roughly the same thing, with only slight changes in emphasis.

How can I tell that amicitiam is the object and omnes is the subject, and not the other way around?

By the case endings:

• omnes is nominative plural → normal form for a subject.
• amicitiam is accusative singular → normal form for a direct object.

Because Latin marks grammatical roles with endings rather than strictly with word order, nominative tends to be the subject, and accusative tends to be the direct object, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

What are the principal parts and full present tense forms of amo, amare that give amant?

The verb amo (“I love”) has these main principal parts:

• amo, amare, amavi, amatum

The present indicative active forms are:

• 1st sing: amo – I love
• 2nd sing: amas – you love
• 3rd sing: amat – he/she/it loves
• 1st pl: amamus – we love
• 2nd pl: amatis – you (pl.) love
• 3rd pl: amant – they love

Our sentence uses amant, matching the plural subject omnes.

Does the Latin present tense amant mean “they always love”, “they are loving”, or “they do love”?

All of those English nuances are covered by the single Latin present tense:

• “they love”
• “they are loving”
• “they do love”

Context and adverbs (like semper, “always”) refine the sense. In this sentence, semper amant is naturally translated “they always love”, but grammatically it is just present tense with an adverb of frequency.