Amicitia mihi carior est quam pecunia.

Because carus and its comparative carior regularly take the dative of the person concerned.

So:

• amicitia mihi cara est = friendship is dear to me
• amicitia mihi carior est = friendship is dearer to me / more valuable to me

Latin uses the dative where English often uses to:

• mihi = to me
• tibi = to you
• nobis = to us

So mihi does not mean that I am the subject. It means to me or in my opinion / from my point of view.

Carior is the comparative form of carus, which can mean dear, valuable, or costly depending on context.

Basic pattern:

• carus = dear, valuable
• carior = dearer, more valuable
• carissimus = dearest, most valuable

In this sentence, carior means something like more valuable or dearer.

This is a very common question. Comparative adjectives in Latin work differently from first-and-second-declension adjectives.

For comparatives:

• masculine nominative singular = carior
• feminine nominative singular = carior
• neuter nominative singular = carius

So the masculine and feminine nominative singular look the same.

That is why with feminine amicitia, the correct form is still carior, not some separate feminine nominative form.

Amicitia is nominative singular.

It is the subject of est, so it is the thing being described:

• Amicitia ... est = Friendship ... is

The adjective carior agrees with amicitia in number, gender, and case.

After quam in a comparison, Latin usually puts the second thing in the same case as the first thing being compared.

Here, amicitia is nominative, so pecunia is also nominative:

• Amicitia ... carior est quam pecunia
• literally: Friendship is dearer than money

So pecunia is not accusative here. It matches the case of amicitia.

Yes. Latin often expresses comparison in two ways:

1. Comparative adjective + quam

   • Amicitia mihi carior est quam pecunia

2. Comparative adjective + ablative of comparison

   • Amicitia mihi carior est pecuniā

Both mean the same thing: Friendship is more valuable to me than money.

This is useful because pecunia and pecuniā are different here:

• pecunia = nominative singular, used with quam
• pecuniā = ablative singular, used without quam

Quam introduces the second half of the comparison: than money.

So the structure is:

• carior = dearer / more valuable
• quam pecunia = than money

In other words, quam is the Latin word for than in this kind of comparison.

It can mean different things depending on context.

The adjective carus can mean:

• dear in an emotional sense
• valuable
• costly / expensive

In this sentence, because the comparison is between friendship and money, the most natural sense is dearer or more valuable, not more expensive.

So the sentence expresses value, not price.

No. Latin word order is relatively flexible.

This sentence is perfectly normal:

• Amicitia mihi carior est quam pecunia

But Latin could also rearrange the words, for example:

• Mihi amicitia carior est quam pecunia
• Amicitia carior mihi est quam pecunia

The basic grammar stays the same because the endings show the relationships between the words.

Still, the given order is very natural:

• Amicitia first for the topic
• mihi to show whose point of view it is
• carior est as the main statement
• quam pecunia to complete the comparison

Sometimes Latin does omit forms of esse (to be), especially in short sayings or poetry, but in a straightforward sentence like this, est is normally expressed.

So:

• Amicitia mihi carior est quam pecunia is the standard full form.

A learner should definitely understand and use the version with est first.

A quick breakdown is:

• Amicitia — nominative singular noun, friendship
• mihi — dative singular pronoun, to me
• carior — nominative singular comparative adjective, dearer / more valuable
• est — is
• quam — than
• pecunia — nominative singular noun, money, matching amicitia after quam

So the sentence structure is basically:

Subject + dative of reference + comparative adjective + is + than + comparison noun.