Breakdown of Si debitum diu manet, amicitia saepe laborat.
Questions & Answers about Si debitum diu manet, amicitia saepe laborat.
Si means if and introduces the condition: Si debitum diu manet = If a debt remains for a long time.
This is a straightforward, real-condition sentence in the present tense. Latin often uses the present indicative after si when stating a general truth or something presented as a normal possibility.
Debitum is a neuter singular form meaning a debt, something owed, or an obligation depending on context.
In this sentence it is the subject of manet, so it means something like the debt or a debt. Because Latin has no word for the or a, the context supplies that.
It comes from the verb debeo = I owe. So debitum is literally that which is owed.
Because debitum is being used as a noun derived from a participial form, and in this expression the neuter singular is the normal dictionary form for a debt / something owed.
A learner may expect a word more obviously marked as a noun, but Latin often uses participles or adjectives substantively, meaning as nouns. So debitum can function as an ordinary noun.