Would these two sentences be grammatically correct?

Question

I used a dictionary and read up on declensions but since I have zero knowledge on the language, I have no idea if I translated them correctly (most likely not). I was hoping someone could provide corrections and explain them to me. Thank you so much in advance!

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The sentences I'm trying to translate are:

1) An idle mind is the devil's workshop.

2) Idle minds are the devil's workshop.

I used the singular genitive for diabolus on both to indicate possession, the nominative (singular and plural) for mens since they're the object of the verb sum, nominative for inane and officina. Here are my attempts:

i) Mens inanis officina diaboli est.

ii) Inanes mentes officina diaboli sunt.

Answer 1

You are correct!

I am thoroughly impressed that you, a person with no knowledge of the language, was able to so successfully translate those sentences! Most novices fall into the trap of using Google Translate, which is inept when it comes to declensions and the sort, so your mastery of them for these purposes is laudable.

There are a few things I would adjust, but they are minor, and do not change the correctness of your translations.

Firstly, inanis most nearly means "empty" or "insane," which is not quite what you were going for, but still works. I would instead perhaps suggest the words deses, otiosus, reses, or ignavus.

Secondly, in Latin, adjectives often come after nouns, so inanes mentes would usually be mentes inanes. Thanks to declensions, however, this is not vital, so your translations still remain fully functional.

Again, these are nit-picky things, and I commend you on your success, and wish you luck in the future!