Tiro rudi cum veterano ludit.

Because tiro is the nominative singular form, and it matches ludit, which is third-person singular: he/she plays.

A detail that often surprises English speakers: tiro ends in -o, but it is not a second-declension noun. Its dictionary form is tiro, tironis, so it is a third-declension noun.

ludit comes from ludo. The ending -t tells you it is third-person singular present active indicative.

So it means he/she/it plays or is playing. In this sentence, the subject is tiro, so the natural English sense is the recruit plays / is playing.

Because it follows cum, and cum takes the ablative case.

So:

• veteranus = nominative singular
• veterano = ablative singular

That is why cum veterano means with the veteran.

Here cum means with in the sense of accompaniment.

So cum veterano means with the veteran.

A learner may know cum as when, but that is a different use. In this sentence, it is a preposition, not a conjunction.

rudi is ablative singular.

That is one reason learners often pause here: the form is clear as ablative singular, but what it is doing depends on the meaning you were shown.

It can be understood in more than one way in isolation, for example:

• as an adjective from rudis agreeing with another ablative noun
• or as a noun in the ablative

So the displayed meaning tells you how to interpret it in this sentence.

Yes. Latin can separate words that belong together.

If rudi is modifying veterano, that separation is perfectly possible in Latin. English usually keeps adjective and noun together, but Latin word order is much freer.

So a Latin learner should not assume that two related words must stand side by side.

Because Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition.

The ablative can show several ideas by itself, such as:

• means/instrument
• manner
• cause
• other related functions

So an ablative word may appear:

• with a preposition, as in cum veterano
• or without one, depending on its job in the sentence

Not necessarily. ludit here is being used as plays / is playing, which is commonly intransitive.

So:

• tiro = subject
• cum veterano = accompaniment
• rudi = some other ablative function, depending on the intended meaning

That means you do not need a direct object for the sentence to be complete.

Because Classical Latin has no articles.

So tiro can mean a recruit or the recruit, and veterano can mean a veteran or the veteran. English has to choose one, but Latin usually leaves that to the context.

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

Latin often places the verb near the end, especially in simple prose. Since the endings already show each word’s role, Latin does not rely on word order as heavily as English does.

So Tiro rudi cum veterano ludit is normal Latin word order, even if English would usually rearrange it.