Rex vatem laudat.

• rex = king
• vatem = prophet, seer, or poet depending on context
• laudat = praises or is praising

So the sentence means The king praises the prophet/poet.

We know rex is the subject because it is in the nominative case, the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.

The form rex is the nominative singular of rex, regis (king).

So rex = the king as the one doing the action.

We know vatem is the direct object because it is in the accusative case, which is commonly used for the direct object in Latin.

The verb laudat means praises, so someone is doing the praising and someone is receiving it:

• rex = the one praising
• vatem = the one being praised

So vatem is the direct object: the prophet/poet.

vates is the dictionary form (nominative singular), meaning a prophet/poet as a subject.

But in this sentence, the word is the direct object, so it must be in the accusative singular. The accusative singular of vates is vatem.

So:

• vates = a prophet/poet as subject
• vatem = a prophet/poet as object

The ending -at tells us that the verb is:

• third person singular = he/she/it
• present tense = praises / is praising
• active voice = the subject performs the action

So laudat means he/she/it praises.

Since the subject is rex, we translate it as the king praises.

Latin usually does not have a word exactly like English the.

So rex can mean:

• king
• the king
• sometimes even a king

And vatem can mean:

• a prophet/poet
• the prophet/poet

Which one sounds best depends on context. In a simple sentence like this, English often uses the: The king praises the prophet.

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English because the endings show the grammatical function.

These can all mean essentially the same thing:

• Rex vatem laudat
• Vatem rex laudat
• Laudat rex vatem

The endings still show that:

• rex is the subject
• vatem is the object

However, different word orders can give different emphasis. For example, putting vatem first may emphasize the prophet/poet.

Not all masculine Latin nouns belong to the second declension with endings like -us.

rex is a third-declension noun. Its principal forms are:

• rex = nominative singular
• regis = genitive singular

So rex is perfectly normal for a third-declension masculine noun, even though it may look unfamiliar to a beginner expecting -us endings.

vates, vatis is a third-declension noun.

Its singular forms include:

• nominative: vates
• accusative: vatem
• genitive: vatis

So in this sentence, vatem is the correct accusative singular form.

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

• rex = like reks
• vatem = WAH-tem or VAH-tem depending on pronunciation system
• laudat = LOW-dat

So the whole sentence is approximately:

reks WAH-tem LOW-dat

In restored classical pronunciation, v is pronounced like English w, so vatem sounds more like WAH-tem.

It is grammatically present tense, so the basic meaning is praises or is praising.

Depending on context, English may translate the Latin present in different ways:

• The king praises the prophet
• The king is praising the prophet

Without more context, either can be acceptable.

The dictionary form is laudo, laudare, meaning to praise.

From that verb, laudat is the third-person singular present active form.

So if you look it up in a dictionary, you would look for laudo or laudare, not laudat.