Inimici saepe odium augent, sed prudentes concordiam quaerunt.

Because inimici here is nominative plural, so it is the subject of augent.

• inimicus = enemy (singular)
• inimici = enemies (plural subject) or sometimes of the enemy depending on context

Latin endings can have more than one possible function, so you decide by the sentence as a whole. Here, since augent means they increase, we need a plural subject, so inimici naturally means enemies.

In Latin, an adjective can be used by itself as a noun if the noun is understood.

So prudentes literally means something like:

• wise people
• prudent people
• the wise

This is very common in Latin. The sentence does not need to say a separate noun such as homines (people), because prudentes can stand on its own.

Both are in the accusative singular because they are the direct objects of the verbs.

• augent = increase → what do they increase? odium
• quaerunt = seek → what do they seek? concordiam

Their dictionary forms are:

• odium, odii = hatred
• concordia, concordiae = harmony / agreement

In this sentence:

• odium is accusative singular
• concordiam is accusative singular

Latin often marks the object by its ending rather than by word order.

Because concordia is a first-declension noun, and its accusative singular ending is -am.

So:

• nominative singular: concordia
• accusative singular: concordiam

Since it is the direct object of quaerunt, it has to be in the accusative.

They are both present tense, third person plural, active voice, indicative mood.

• augent = they increase
• quaerunt = they seek

More specifically:

• augent comes from augeo, augere = to increase
• quaerunt comes from quaero, quaerere = to seek

Because both verbs are third person plural, they match plural subjects:

• inimici ... augent
• prudentes ... quaerunt

Latin does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So a word like inimici can mean:

• enemies
• the enemies

And concordiam can mean:

• harmony
• the harmony

English usually requires an article, but Latin does not. You supply it in translation if it makes the English sound natural.

Saepe means often, and it modifies the verb augent.

Latin word order is flexible, so saepe can be placed in different positions. Here it comes after the subject:

• Inimici saepe odium augent

This is a natural Latin order and emphasizes the frequency of the action. In English we also often put often before the main verb: Enemies often increase hatred.

Yes, the word order can change, and Latin often does this more freely than English because the endings show each word's role.

For example, these would still mean basically the same thing:

• Saepe inimici odium augent, sed prudentes concordiam quaerunt.
• Odium inimici saepe augent, sed concordiam prudentes quaerunt.

The case endings still show:

• inimici / prudentes = subjects
• odium / concordiam = objects

However, different word orders can give different emphasis or style.

Sed means but. It connects the two parts of the sentence and shows a contrast:

• Inimici saepe odium augent = one group does something negative
• sed prudentes concordiam quaerunt = another group does something positive

So sed highlights the opposition between:

• enemies and the wise
• hatred and harmony
• increase and seek

Yes. In Latin, abstract nouns such as hatred and harmony are often used in the singular, just as in English.

So:

• odium = hatred as a general idea
• concordia = harmony / agreement / concord as a general idea

The sentence is not talking about several separate hatreds or harmonies, but about those qualities in a broad sense.

A good way is to find the verbs first, then identify their subjects and objects.

1. Find the verbs:

   • augent
   • quaerunt

2. Ask who does each action:

   • who increases? inimici
   • who seek? prudentes

3. Ask what is affected by each action:

   • increase what? odium
   • seek what? concordiam

4. Notice the connector:

   • sed = but

So the structure is:

• Inimici | saepe | odium | augent
• sed
• prudentes | concordiam | quaerunt

This is a very useful method for reading Latin.

They are masculine plural in form here, but Latin masculine plural can sometimes refer to:

• a group of men, or
• a mixed group, depending on context

More specifically:

• inimici is masculine plural from inimicus
• prudentes could be masculine plural or feminine plural in form, depending on context, because third-declension adjectives often use the same form for masculine and feminine in the plural

If the sentence is just giving a general statement, English often translates them more generally as enemies and the wise.

A simple classroom-style pronunciation would be:

in-EE-mee-kee SAE-peh OH-dee-um OW-gent, sed proo-DEN-tes kon-KOR-dee-am KWAE-runt

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• v in restored classical pronunciation sounds like w, though many learners use an English v
• ae is often pronounced like ai in aisle in classical pronunciation
• qu sounds like kw

If you are using an ecclesiastical pronunciation system, some sounds will differ, but the grammar stays the same.