Breakdown of Nova magistra honesta esse dicitur.
esse
to be
magistra
the female teacher
novus
new
dicere
to say
Questions & Answers about Nova magistra honesta esse dicitur.
Why is magistra in the nominative, not the accusative?
Because dicitur is passive: she is said.
With verbs of saying in Latin, you often get two patterns:
- Active: aliqui novam magistram honestam esse dicunt = people say that the new teacher is honest
- Passive: nova magistra honesta esse dicitur = the new teacher is said to be honest
In the passive version, the person being talked about becomes the subject of the sentence, so magistra is nominative.
This is different from the English habit of thinking of say with a that-clause. Latin often prefers this personal passive + infinitive structure.
Why are nova and honesta also nominative?
Because they both agree with magistra.
Magistra is:
- nominative
- singular
- feminine
So both adjectives must match it:
- nova = new, nominative singular feminine
- honesta = honest, nominative singular feminine
This is standard adjective agreement in Latin: adjectives agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.
Why is esse used here?