Si tibi venia opus est, veritatem statim dicere debes.

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Breakdown of Si tibi venia opus est, veritatem statim dicere debes.

• dicere: to tell
• veritas: the truth
• debere: must

Questions & Answers about Si tibi venia opus est, veritatem statim dicere debes.

Why is tibi used here?

Tibi is the dative singular of tu, meaning to you or for you.

In the expression alicui opus est + ablative, the person who has the need is put in the dative. So:

• tibi opus est = you need
• literally, something like there is need for you

So Si tibi venia opus est means If you need pardon/forgiveness.

Why is it venia opus est instead of a verb meaning need?

Latin often uses the idiom opus est to express need.

The pattern is:

• alicui aliqua re opus est = someone needs something

So here:

• tibi = the person who needs
• venia = the thing needed
• opus est = is needed

This is a very common Latin construction, even though it feels less direct than English need.

What case is venia here?

Here venia is ablative singular, used with opus est.

That may be confusing because venia looks the same in both the nominative singular and ablative singular. But in this sentence, its function is ablative, because opus est normally takes the thing needed in the ablative.