Puer dicit verba blanda saepe maius solacium dare quam cibum multum.

Latin often does not use a separate word for English that after verbs like say, think, know, and hear.

Instead, it usually uses an accusative + infinitive construction:

• Puer dicit ... dare
• literally: The boy says ... to give
• naturally in English: The boy says that ... give

So the whole phrase verba blanda saepe maius solacium dare quam cibum multum is the content of what the boy says.

Because the sentence is using indirect statement after dicit.

In Latin indirect statement:

• the subject of the reported clause goes into the accusative
• the verb of the reported clause goes into the infinitive

So instead of a direct statement like:

• Verba blanda saepe maius solacium dant

you get indirect statement:

• Puer dicit verba blanda saepe maius solacium dare

So dare is exactly what we expect here.

It is plural.

The dictionary form is verbum, meaning word.
Its plural is verba, meaning words.

So:

• verbum = word
• verba = words

A learner may notice that verba ends in -a, which often looks singular in first-declension nouns, but verbum is a neuter second-declension noun, so -a is its regular neuter plural ending.

Because in Latin indirect statement, the subject of the infinitive is put in the accusative.

So in this sentence, verba blanda is the subject of dare, but it appears in the accusative because of the construction after dicit.

One important detail: with neuter plural nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are the same. So verba blanda looks the same in both cases. Its function here is accusative, even though the form does not visibly change.

Because blanda agrees with verba.

Since verba is:

• neuter
• plural

the adjective must also be:

• neuter
• plural

So we get:

• verba blanda = kind / soothing / gentle words

This is normal adjective agreement in Latin: adjectives match the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

Maius solacium is accusative singular, and it is the direct object of dare.

So the structure is:

• verba blanda = subject of dare
• dare = infinitive
• maius solacium = what is being given

In other words, the kind words are said to give greater comfort.

Because solacium is neuter singular.

The comparative adjective maior, maius means greater or more. Its forms include:

• maior for masculine/feminine
• maius for neuter

Since solacium is neuter, the adjective must be neuter too:

• maius solacium = greater comfort / more comfort

If the noun were masculine or feminine accusative singular, then a form like maiorem would be used instead.

Because it belongs to the same indirect-statement pattern, with an understood infinitive after quam.

The full sense is:

• verba blanda saepe maius solacium dare quam cibum multum [dare]

In English, we would say:

• kind words often give greater comfort than much food [does]

Since cibum multum is understood as the subject of an omitted dare inside indirect statement, it also appears in the accusative.

This is one of the trickier parts of the sentence.

Quam means than, and it introduces the second half of the comparison.

Here it compares:

• verba blanda ... dare with
• cibum multum [dare]

So the idea is:

• kind words give greater comfort
• than much food gives

It is not simply comparing comfort with food as two objects. It is comparing the amount of comfort given by one thing and by another.

Saepe is an adverb meaning often.

Here it most naturally modifies dare, so the sense is:

• kind words often give greater comfort

rather than:

• the boy often says

Latin word order is flexible, but placement helps. Since saepe is inside the infinitive clause and close to dare, it naturally goes with the giving, not the saying.

If Latin wanted to stress the boy often says, it might more clearly write:

• Puer saepe dicit ...

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses endings to show grammatical relationships.

English depends heavily on position:

• subject + verb + object

Latin can move words around more easily because case endings show what each word is doing.

So in this sentence:

• Puer is clearly the subject of dicit
• verba blanda is the subject of dare
• maius solacium is the object of dare

even though the words are not arranged the way English would usually arrange them.

A direct version would be something like:

• Verba blanda saepe maius solacium dant quam cibus multus.

That means:

• Kind words often give greater comfort than much food.

Comparing the two versions can help:

• Direct statement: verba blanda ... dant ... quam cibus multus
• Indirect statement after dicit: verba blanda ... dare ... quam cibum multum

So after dicit, the reported clause shifts into the accusative + infinitive pattern.