Plerique, qui in contione adsunt, oratorem libenter audiunt.

Plerique means most or very many. Here it is being used by itself, with no noun stated, so it means most people or most of them.

Grammatically, it is:

• nominative
• masculine
• plural

The masculine plural is normal when Latin refers to a group of people in a general way.

No. In plerique, the -que is just part of the word itself. It is not the separate enclitic -que meaning and.

So plerique is one vocabulary item, not pleri + que.

Qui is a relative pronoun, meaning who. It introduces the relative clause:

qui in contione adsunt = who are present at the meeting

It refers back to plerique. In other words, qui describes which people are being talked about.

Because qui is the subject of adsunt inside its own clause.

A very important Latin rule is that a relative pronoun gets:

• gender and number from its antecedent
• but case from its job in the relative clause

Here:

• antecedent = plerique → masculine plural
• job in the clause = subject of adsunt → nominative

So qui is correct. If it were the object inside the relative clause, you would expect a different case, such as quos.

In contione means in the assembly, at the meeting, or in the public gathering.

Contione is ablative because in takes the ablative when it means in or at a place.

So:

• in + ablative = location
• in + accusative = motion into

Here there is no movement; the people are already there. So Latin uses in contione.

Adsunt means are present or are in attendance.

It comes from adsum, adesse, a compound of sum. Literally it suggests be at or be near, but in sentences like this the natural meaning is be present.

It is:

• present tense
• third person plural

So qui in contione adsunt means who are present at the meeting.

Because oratorem is the direct object of audiunt.

The people are hearing or listening to the speaker, so the speaker is the thing affected by the verb.

So:

• audiunt = they hear / listen to
• oratorem = the speaker in the accusative singular

Libenter means gladly, willingly, or with pleasure.

It modifies audiunt, telling you how they listen:

• oratorem audiunt = they listen to the speaker
• oratorem libenter audiunt = they listen to the speaker gladly

It is an adverb.

Because Latin often leaves subject pronouns unstated when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

Here:

• adsunt = they are present
• audiunt = they hear / they listen

The -nt ending already tells you the subject is third person plural. So Latin does not need to add a separate word for they unless there is special emphasis.

The main clause is:

Plerique ... oratorem libenter audiunt
= Most people gladly listen to the speaker

Inside that main clause, Latin inserts a relative clause:

qui in contione adsunt
= who are present at the meeting

So the full structure is:

• Plerique = subject
• qui in contione adsunt = relative clause describing the subject
• oratorem = object
• libenter audiunt = verb phrase

A more stripped-down view is:

Plerique oratorem libenter audiunt
with qui in contione adsunt inserted after plerique.

They help the reader see that qui in contione adsunt is a separate relative clause, but punctuation in printed Latin is editorial, not something ancient authors used in the modern way.

So the commas are useful for reading, but the grammar itself is what really tells you the structure:

• plerique is the main subject
• qui ... adsunt is a clause describing that subject
• oratorem ... audiunt is the main statement about them