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Magistra suadet ut singuli non solum verba, sed etiam sensum orationis cognoscant.

Magistra suadet ut singuli non solum verba, sed etiam sensum orationis cognoscant.
The teacher advises that each student understand not only the words, but also the meaning of the speech.
FromLesson 47inHardcore Latin

Questions & Answers about Magistra suadet ut singuli non solum verba, sed etiam sensum orationis cognoscant.

Why is magistra in the nominative case?
Magistra is the subject of the main verb suadet. The nominative is the case Latin normally uses for the subject of a sentence. So magistra is the one doing the advising.
Why does Latin use suadet ut ... cognoscant here instead of an infinitive?
After verbs of advising, urging, or recommending, Latin often uses ut plus the subjunctive to express what someone is advised to do. So suadet ut ... cognoscant means something like she advises that ... should know / understand. English may prefer an infinitive in some situations, but Latin commonly uses this clause structure.
Why is cognoscant in the subjunctive?

It is subjunctive because it is inside an ut clause dependent on suadet. This is a clause of advice or recommendation, not a plain statement of fact. The teacher is not saying that they already know; she is recommending that they know or understand.

Also, cognoscant is:

  • present subjunctive
  • active
  • third person plural
What exactly does ut mean here?
Here ut introduces the content of the advice. In this sentence it is best understood as that or so that in the sense required by English grammar after a verb like advise. It is not the comparative as or the temporal when that ut can mean in other contexts.
What is singuli, and why is it plural if it means each?

Singuli means one each, each individually, or simply each when referring to members of a group. It is a distributive word, and distributives in Latin are normally plural. So even though English uses the singular idea each, Latin uses the plural form singuli when talking about several people considered one by one.

In this sentence, singuli is nominative plural and is the subject of cognoscant.

Why is there no noun after singuli?
Latin often lets an adjective stand by itself when the noun is obvious from context. This is called a substantive use of the adjective. So singuli can mean each person, each student, or each one, depending on the context. Here the noun is understood rather than stated.
What case is verba, and what is it doing?

Verba is accusative plural neuter from verbum. It is one of the direct objects of cognoscant. In other words, it is one of the things that the people are supposed to know or understand.

Because verbum is neuter, its nominative and accusative plural are both verba, so you identify its case from its function in the sentence.

How do sensum orationis work together grammatically?

Sensum is accusative singular, and it is the second direct object of cognoscant. Orationis is genitive singular and depends on sensum. So the phrase means the sense of the speech/discourse/sentence.

Grammatically:

  • sensum = the thing understood
  • orationis = of the speech/discourse, specifying what sense is meant
How does non solum ... sed etiam ... work?

This is a very common correlative pair in Latin meaning not only ... but also ....

Here it links two objects:

  • non solum verba
  • sed etiam sensum orationis

So the structure emphasizes that understanding should go beyond just the words themselves and include the meaning as well.

Why is cognoscant plural?
Because its subject is singuli, which is grammatically plural. Even though the idea is each individual, Latin still treats singuli as plural, so the verb must also be plural: cognoscant.
What does cognoscant mean here exactly?
The verb cognoscere can mean to get to know, to learn, to recognize, or to understand, depending on context. In this sentence, with verba and sensum orationis as its objects, it has the sense of know/understand rather than merely become acquainted with.
Why is the word order different from normal English word order?

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show how the words function. This lets Latin arrange words for emphasis.

In this sentence:

  • Magistra comes first to establish who is speaking or acting.
  • non solum ... sed etiam ... frames the contrast neatly.
  • cognoscant comes at the end, which is very natural in Latin for the verb of a subordinate clause.

So the order is not random; it helps highlight the contrast between the words and the sense.

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