Breakdown of Bona disciplina magnum commodum discipulis dat.
discipulus
the student
bonus
good
magnus
great
dare
to give
Questions & Answers about Bona disciplina magnum commodum discipulis dat.
Why does bona end in -a?
Because bona is describing disciplina, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.
- disciplina is feminine, singular, nominative
- so the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative
- the feminine nominative singular form of bonus, -a, -um is bona
So bona disciplina means good discipline.
How do I know disciplina is the subject?
You know from both its case and the verb ending.
- disciplina is in the nominative singular, which is the case usually used for the subject
- dat means he/she/it gives, so the verb is 3rd person singular
- disciplina matches that singular verb
So disciplina is the thing doing the action: good discipline gives.
Why is magnum commodum in the accusative?
Because it is the direct object of dat.
The verb dare means to give, and what is being given here is :