Album subolem et tribum civis ostendit.

Ostendit is 3rd person singular of ostendere.

It can mean either:

• shows or is showing — present tense
• showed or has shown — perfect tense

That is a very common feature of Latin -it forms in the 3rd singular: the same spelling can be present or perfect. You usually tell which one is meant from context.

Because it is 3rd singular, the subject is he, she, it, or a singular noun such as civis.

Both subolem and tribum are accusative singular forms.

That makes them natural direct objects of ostendit. In other words, they are the things being shown.

• subolem = accusative singular of suboles
• tribum = accusative singular of tribus

Since they are joined by et, they work together as coordinated objects: X and Y.

Because tribus, tribus is a 4th-declension feminine noun.

In Latin, grammatical gender and ending do not always line up the way an English speaker might expect. A feminine noun can absolutely have an accusative singular in -um if its declension calls for that form.

So:

• nominative singular: tribus
• accusative singular: tribum

This is normal for that noun.

Subolem is the accusative singular of suboles, subolis, a 3rd-declension feminine noun.

A learner may expect the dictionary form to appear in the sentence, but Latin changes endings according to case. So the basic pattern is:

• dictionary form: suboles
• object form: subolem

That -em ending is a very common accusative singular ending in the 3rd declension.

This is a good question because civis is potentially ambiguous.

It can be:

• nominative singular: a citizen / the citizen
• genitive singular: of a citizen

So the form by itself does not tell you everything.

You decide from syntax and context:

• If civis is the subject, then it goes with ostendit: the citizen shows / showed
• If another subject is understood, civis could be possessive: of a citizen

This is very normal in Latin. Sometimes only the larger context makes the function completely clear.

Yes.

Civis is a noun of common gender, so it can mean:

• a male citizen
• a female citizen

Latin often leaves that unspecified unless something else in the sentence makes it clear.

Because a learner will naturally wonder whether album is the adjective white, and if so, what it agrees with.

If album were an adjective modifying subolem or tribum, there is a problem:

• subolem is feminine accusative singular
• tribum is feminine accusative singular
• an adjective agreeing with them would normally be albam, not album

So album does not agree with either nearby noun.

That means one of two things is likely true:

1. Album is not being used as the adjective white
2. The sentence has an irregular or mistaken form if white was intended

A careful learner is absolutely right to notice this.

Yes.

Latin also has the neuter noun album, which can mean something like a white tablet, notice-board, or list.

So grammatically, album could stand on its own as a separate accusative singular noun. In that case, it would be another object of ostendit.

That is often the easiest grammatical way to explain the form album as written.

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

English depends heavily on position:

• subject + verb + object

Latin depends much more on endings. Because the endings show each word’s job, Latin can move words around for emphasis, rhythm, or style.

So a sentence with objects before the verb, and even with the subject placed late, is perfectly normal Latin.

In this sentence, the important thing is not the order by itself, but the forms:

• accusatives for objects
• a 3rd singular verb
• civis interpreted from context

Et connects subolem and tribum.

So those two nouns form a pair:

• subolem et tribum

Both are in the same case, and both depend on ostendit as objects.

A learner might ask whether et also includes album. Grammatically, et directly links the two nouns on either side of it, namely subolem and tribum. If album is also an object, it stands alongside them but is not directly joined by et.

They are not written, because Latin has no articles.

So Latin does not have separate words for:

• the
• a / an

English has to add them when translating, based on context. That is why the same Latin noun can often be translated in more than one way, such as:

• a citizen
• the citizen

Both may be possible until the context settles the choice.