Avia omnibus pacem optat.

the peace

Breakdown of Avia omnibus pacem optat.

• avia: the grandmother
• optare: to wish
• omnibus: everyone

Questions & Answers about Avia omnibus pacem optat.

What case is avia, and what is it doing in the sentence?

Avia is nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence: the person who is doing the wishing.

The dictionary form is avia, meaning grandmother. Since it is a first-declension noun, the -a ending here fits the nominative singular form.

So in this sentence, avia = grandmother as the subject.

Why is pacem used instead of pax?

Because pacem is the accusative singular form of pax.

• pax = nominative singular, used for the subject
• pacem = accusative singular, used for the direct object

With optat (wishes), Latin puts the thing being wished for in the accusative. So:

• pax = peace as a subject
• pacem = peace as the thing wished for

Here, grandmother is wishing peace, so Latin uses pacem.

What case is omnibus, and why?

Omnibus is dative plural here.

It tells you to whom or for whom the wish is directed. With optare, Latin often uses: