Bonos cives concordiae favere decet.

good

Breakdown of Bonos cives concordiae favere decet.

• civis: the citizen
• concordia: the harmony
• favere: to favor

Questions & Answers about Bonos cives concordiae favere decet.

Why is bonos cives in the accusative, not boni cives in the nominative?

Because decet often works with an accusative + infinitive pattern.

In this sentence:

• bonos cives = the people for whom something is fitting
• concordiae favere = the action that is fitting

So the structure is essentially:

• bonos cives = it befits good citizens
• concordiae favere = to favor harmony

A very literal rendering would be:

• It is fitting for good citizens to favor harmony.

So even though good citizens may feel like the “subject” in English, in Latin they are actually in the accusative with decet.

What is the subject of decet here?

The grammatical subject is the infinitive phrase:

• concordiae favere = to favor harmony

So the sentence is built like this:

• Bonos cives = accusative person affected
• concordiae favere = subject infinitive
• decet = is fitting / befits

In other words, Latin is saying:

• To favor harmony befits good citizens.

That sounds awkward in English, so we usually translate more naturally as:

• It is fitting for good citizens to favor harmony
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