Famous Latin Mottos

Level 1

Five famous mottos, learned whole.

How It Works

LatinEnglishWhere you meet it
Carpe diem.Seize the day.a poem by Horace
Veni, vidi, vici.I came, I saw, I conquered.said of Julius Caesar
Tempus fugit.Time flies.clocks and sundials
E pluribus unum.Out of many, one.United States coins
Semper fidelis.Always faithful.the US Marine Corps

Veni, vidi, vici sounds like WAY-nee WEE-dee WEE-kee in classical Latin and VEH-nee VEE-dee VEE-chee in Church Latin. Carpe diem is KAR-peh DEE-em in both.

Latin does not need I in veni: the ending -i already means I did it. The word ego would only add stress.

Examples (5)

  1. Carpe diem.

    Seize the day.

    Carpe is a command. Diem is the thing seized, in the accusative.

  2. Veni, vidi, vici.

    I came, I saw, I conquered.

    Three verbs that each end in -i, which marks a past action.

  3. Tempus fugit.

    Time flies.

    Tempus is the subject and fugit the verb.

  4. E pluribus unum.

    Out of many, one.

    E is a short form of ex, out of, and takes the ablative.

  5. Semper fidelis.

    Always faithful.

    Fidelis is an adjective and has no noun here.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the object of carpe as a nominative.

    Carpe dies.
    Carpe diem.

    Dies is the nominative. Carpe acts on the day, so the accusative diem is needed.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Famous Latin MottosLevel 1

Learn This First

Mottos are short Latin lines English speakers already meet, so Latin words in English come first.

Words in This Pattern

veni, vidi, vicitempus fugitsemper fidelis