Magistra monet avaritiam et invidiam bonos mores perdere.

The teacher warns that greed and envy destroy good character.

Breakdown of Magistra monet avaritiam et invidiam bonos mores perdere.

• et: and
• magistra: the female teacher
• bonus: good
• monere: to warn

Questions & Answers about Magistra monet avaritiam et invidiam bonos mores perdere.

What is the basic structure of this sentence?

The main clause is Magistra monet = The teacher warns/advises.

After that comes an indirect statement, a very common Latin construction:

• avaritiam et invidiam = the subject of the indirect statement
• bonos mores = the object inside that indirect statement
• perdere = the infinitive verb

So the whole sentence works like:

The teacher warns [that greed and envy destroy good morals].

In Latin, that that-clause is often expressed with accusative + infinitive instead of a separate word meaning that.

Why are avaritiam et invidiam in the accusative, not the nominative?

Because in an indirect statement, Latin usually puts the subject in the accusative case and the verb in the infinitive.

So even though avaritia and invidia are logically the things doing the destroying, they appear as:

• avaritiam
• invidiam

not as nominatives avaritia and invidia.

This feels strange to English speakers, because in English we would say:

• greed and envy destroy...

with a normal subject.

But Latin often says, after verbs like monet, dicit, putat, scit, etc.:

• [accusative subject] + [infinitive verb]