Quotiens comoedus gesticulatur, totiens spectatores rident.

It is a correlative pair meaning as often as ... so often or more naturally in English, whenever ... , the spectators laugh each time.

So:

• quotiens = as often as / whenever
• totiens = so often / that many times / each time

Latin often likes to balance ideas this way: one word in the first clause, a matching word in the second.

That placement is very natural in Latin because these two words are paired and set up the structure clearly:

• Quotiens = introduces the repeated condition
• totiens = answers it in the main clause

Putting them first makes the pattern easy to hear. Latin word order is flexible, but this arrangement is especially neat and idiomatic.

Both are nominative, because both are the subjects of their own verbs.

• comoedus = nominative singular, subject of gesticulatur
• spectatores = nominative plural, subject of rident

So the first clause has one subject and one verb, and the second clause has another subject and another verb.

Because the sentence is talking about:

• one comic actor performing
• multiple spectators laughing

Latin simply matches the grammar to the idea being expressed. There is no need for the two subjects to have the same number.

It looks passive, but here it is not passive in meaning. Gesticulatur is from a deponent verb: gesticulor, gesticulari, gesticulatus sum.

Deponent verbs:

• have passive-looking forms
• but active meanings

So gesticulatur means he gestures / he acts with gestures, not he is gestured.

This is a very common thing in Latin, and it often surprises English speakers at first.

Both are present indicative.

• gesticulatur = he gestures
• rident = they laugh

In a sentence like this, the present tense expresses a habitual or general idea: whenever this happens, that happens. It is not necessarily describing one single moment only.

Because the verb is rideo, ridere and its 3rd person plural present is rident.

This belongs to the 2nd conjugation pattern:

• rideo = I laugh
• rides = you laugh
• ridet = he/she laughs
• ridemus = we laugh
• ridetis = you all laugh
• rident = they laugh

So spectatores rident = the spectators laugh.

Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• comoedus can mean a comic actor or the comic actor
• spectatores can mean spectators or the spectators

You understand which is meant from context. This is one of the biggest differences between Latin and English.

Yes, Latin word order is flexible. For example, the sentence could still make sense with a different arrangement of the nouns and verbs.

However, Quotiens ... totiens ... is a very natural and elegant order because it highlights the correlation. Also, Latin often puts the verb later in the clause, as here:

• Quotiens comoedus gesticulatur
• totiens spectatores rident

So while the order can vary, this version is very standard and clear.

Not in this sentence.

Quotiens can be used in a question to mean how often?, but here it is not interrogative. Here it is a subordinating adverb introducing a clause of repeated time, meaning whenever / as often as.

So its meaning depends on context.

Comoedus means a comic actor, that is, an actor in comedy or a performer associated with comic performance.

An English speaker might connect it with comedy, and that is helpful. In this sentence, it refers to the performer whose exaggerated gestures make the audience laugh.

Yes. Gesticulatur suggests gesturing, making expressive movements, or acting with visible motions of the hands/body.

So it is not just neutral movement. It implies theatrical or noticeable gestures, which fits well with a comic actor.

Because the sentence states a regular, factual pattern: whenever the actor gestures, the spectators laugh.

Latin commonly uses the indicative for this kind of straightforward repeated relationship. The sentence is not presenting the action as doubtful, imagined, or dependent on some special nuance that would call for the subjunctive.