Hī flōrēs nōn sōlum pulchrī, sed etiam suāvēs sunt; propter hunc odōrem avia diū in hortō manēre vult.

Hī is the nominative masculine plural form of the demonstrative hic, haec, hoc = this / these.

It is used here because:

• flōrēs is masculine
• flōrēs is plural
• flōrēs is the subject

So hī flōrēs means these flowers.

A learner often expects one word to mean these in all situations, but in Latin the form changes to match the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

So here:

• hī = nominative masculine plural
• matching flōrēs

No, because flōrēs is the subject, not the direct object.

In this sentence, pulchrī and suāvēs are predicate adjectives after sunt. In Latin, predicate adjectives usually stay in the nominative, because they describe the subject.

So the structure is:

• Hī flōrēs ... sunt
• These flowers are ...

And the adjectives agree with the subject:

• flōrēs = nominative plural masculine
• pulchrī = nominative plural masculine
• suāvēs = nominative plural masculine/feminine

So:

• pulchrōs flōrēs would mean beautiful flowers as a noun phrase
• but flōrēs pulchrī sunt means the flowers are beautiful

That is the key difference.

That is true for many 1st/2nd declension adjectives, like pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum:

• masculine nominative plural = pulchrī

But suāvis, suāve is a 3rd declension adjective, and its forms are different.

Its nominative plural masculine/feminine is:

• suāvēs

So:

• pulchrī comes from a 1st/2nd declension adjective
• suāvēs comes from a 3rd declension adjective

Both are correct because they are just different kinds of adjectives.

In this sentence, suāvēs means something like sweet-smelling, pleasant-smelling, or fragrant, depending on context.

This is a very common Latin expression meaning:

• not only ... but also ...

So here:

• nōn sōlum pulchrī, sed etiam suāvēs sunt
• they are not only beautiful, but also fragrant

You can think of it as pairing two ideas:

1. nōn sōlum = not only
2. sed etiam = but also

Latin often uses this exact combination, and it is worth memorizing as a set phrase.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

The verb sunt means are, and Latin often places verbs:

• at the end of the clause
• or near the end

So:

• Hī flōrēs nōn sōlum pulchrī, sed etiam suāvēs sunt

is perfectly normal Latin word order.

English usually needs:

• These flowers are not only beautiful, but also fragrant

But Latin can save the verb until the end without causing confusion, because the endings already show what each word is doing.

Propter takes the accusative case, so the noun after it must be accusative.

The noun here is odōr, odōris = smell / scent / odor, which is masculine.

So the accusative singular is:

• odōrem

And the demonstrative adjective must agree with it:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative

That gives:

• hunc odōrem = this smell / this scent

So the whole phrase means:

• because of this smell

Here propter means because of.

So:

• propter hunc odōrem
• because of this smell

Latin prepositions can have more than one shade of meaning in different contexts, but in this sentence the causal meaning is the important one.

Also remember:

• propter
  • accusative

That is why you see hunc odōrem, not a nominative or ablative form.

Because in can take two different cases depending on the meaning:

• in + ablative = in / on with location
• in + accusative = into / onto with motion toward

Here the meaning is stay in the garden, not go into the garden.

So Latin uses the ablative:

• in hortō = in the garden

If the sentence meant Grandmother wants to go into the garden, then you would expect in hortum.

Because it depends on vult.

Vult means wants, and after verbs like want, Latin commonly uses an infinitive to express what someone wants to do.

So:

• avia ... manēre vult
• grandmother wants to remain / stay

Literally, the structure is:

• grandmother wants to stay

not

• grandmother stays wants

So manēre is the infinitive to stay / to remain, and vult is the main finite verb.

Diū is an adverb meaning:

• for a long time
• a long while
• long

So:

• avia diū in hortō manēre vult
• grandmother wants to stay in the garden for a long time

A learner might expect a noun phrase for time, but Latin often uses diū as a simple adverb.

Yes, here avia is the noun meaning grandmother.

A learner may hesitate because the sentence is about flowers and scent, but grammatically this is straightforward:

• avia = grandmother
• it is the subject of vult

So:

• avia ... vult
• grandmother wants ...

The context suggests that the pleasant smell of the flowers makes grandmother want to remain in the garden.

Because:

• vult is 3rd person singular
• avia is nominative singular

That makes avia the natural subject.

Meanwhile:

• flōrēs belongs to the first clause with sunt
• odōrem is after propter, so it cannot be the subject
• hortō is ablative after in

So the second clause is built like this:

• propter hunc odōrem = because of this smell
• avia = grandmother
• diū = for a long time
• in hortō = in the garden
• manēre = to stay
• vult = wants

The semicolon in modern printed Latin helps show that there are two closely connected clauses:

1. These flowers are not only beautiful, but also fragrant
2. because of this smell grandmother wants to stay in the garden for a long time

Ancient Latin manuscripts did not use punctuation the way modern editions do. So the semicolon is mainly a reading aid for us.

It tells you that the second clause explains a result or consequence of the first idea: the scent of the flowers makes grandmother want to remain in the garden.