Bona socia honorem non sibi tantum quaerit, sed etiam amicis.

Because bona agrees with socia in gender, number, and case.

• socia = feminine, singular, nominative
• so the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative: bona

So bona socia means a good companion / a good ally / a good friend (female) depending on context.

Socia is nominative singular, so it is the subject of the sentence.

The verb is quaerit = she seeks or she looks for, which is third person singular. That matches a singular subject, and socia is the nominative noun that fits.

So bona socia is the person doing the action.

Because quaerere normally takes a direct object, and the direct object goes in the accusative.

• honor = honor
• honorem = honor, as the thing being sought

So in this sentence, the good companion is seeking honor.

Quaerit comes from quaerere, which often means:

• to seek
• to look for
• to aim at
• to try to gain

In this sentence, it does not mean merely physically searching around. It has the sense of seeking to obtain or pursuing honor.

Because sibi is dative, while se would be accusative or ablative.

Here the idea is for herself, not herself as a direct object. Latin uses the dative for this idea:

• sibi = for herself / for himself / for itself

So:

• non sibi tantum quaerit = she does not seek it for herself alone

Because sibi is a reflexive pronoun, and reflexive pronouns normally refer back to the subject of the clause.

The subject here is bona socia, so sibi means for herself.

If Latin wanted to refer to some other person, it would normally use a different pronoun, not the reflexive one.

Because it is parallel to sibi and shows the person for whom something is sought.

• sibi = for herself
• amicis = for friends

This is often called the dative of advantage or dative of reference.

So the sentence means that she seeks honor not only for herself but also for her friends.

This is a very common Latin pattern meaning:

• not only ... but also

In this sentence:

• non sibi tantum = not for herself alone / not only for herself
• sed etiam amicis = but also for her friends

So the structure is balancing two ideas:

1. not only herself
2. but also her friends

Tantum means only or so much / so far only, depending on context. Here it means only.

With non, it gives the sense:

• non sibi tantum = not only for herself

Latin often uses tantum where English uses only.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

This sentence is arranged in a natural and elegant way:

• Bona socia — the subject first
• honorem — the thing sought
• non sibi tantum ... sed etiam amicis — the balanced contrast
• quaerit — the verb at the end, a very common Latin placement

The order helps emphasize the contrast between sibi and amicis.

Latin has no articles. It does not have separate words for the, a, or an.

So bona socia could mean:

• a good companion
• the good companion
• a good friend
• the good friend

The exact choice in English depends on context.

Here it means for friends, because it is a dative dependent on the idea of seeking something for someone's benefit.

The form amicis could also be ablative plural in another sentence, but here the sense and structure show that it is dative:

• sibi and amicis are paired
• both answer the question for whom?

So amicis here is best understood as for her friends.

Yes. Socia is a feminine noun. It refers to a female companion, ally, or associate.

If the subject were masculine, you would expect:

• bonus socius

So the sentence specifically describes a female subject.

Yes. Even if the basic meaning stays the same, several natural English translations are possible, for example:

• A good companion seeks honor not only for herself but also for her friends.
• A good ally seeks honor not just for herself, but for her friends as well.
• A good friend does not seek honor only for herself, but also for her friends.

The exact English wording depends on how you choose to translate socia, quaerit, and the emphasis of non ... tantum ... sed etiam.