Scientia linguarum utilis est.

Scientia is nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence, so Latin puts it in the nominative.

Its dictionary form is scientia, scientiae and it is a first-declension feminine noun.

Linguarum is genitive plural of lingua.

The ending -arum is the regular genitive plural ending for first-declension nouns. Here it means of languages.

So scientia linguarum means knowledge of languages.

Because Latin often uses the genitive to show a relationship like of.

So:

• scientia linguarum = knowledge of languages
• linguas would be accusative plural, which would not fit this structure

In other words, Latin says knowledge of languages, not knowledge languages.

Because utilis agrees with scientia.

Since scientia is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective describing it must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

With this adjective, the masculine and feminine nominative singular form is the same: utilis. The neuter would be utile.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show each word’s role.

So all of these can be grammatical:

• Scientia linguarum utilis est
• Utilis scientia linguarum est
• Scientia linguarum est utilis

The version you have is a very normal, straightforward order:

• subject first
• adjective next
• est at the end

Putting est at the end is especially common in Latin.

Latin often can leave out forms of to be, especially in poetry or very compressed style. But in ordinary prose, est is commonly expressed.

So:

• Scientia linguarum utilis est = full, normal sentence
• Scientia linguarum utilis could also be understood, but it is less explicit

Yes. This is a very standard Latin pattern:

• subject
  • predicate adjective
    • est

So here:

• scientia linguarum = the subject
• utilis = predicate adjective
• est = is

That means utilis is not directly attached like the useful knowledge of languages. Instead it is saying something about the subject: knowledge of languages is useful.

Grammatically, yes, it could. The noun scientia can mean knowledge, understanding, or sometimes science depending on context.

But in many beginner contexts, knowledge is the safest choice.

So the exact English wording depends on context, but the Latin grammar is the same.

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

So scientia can mean:

• knowledge
• the knowledge
• a knowledge

The context tells you which English article sounds best.

That is why a short Latin sentence can correspond to several slightly different English versions.

They are:

• scientia, scientiae — knowledge
• lingua, linguae — language, tongue
• utilis, utile — useful
• sum, esse, fui — to be; here the form is est

Knowing dictionary forms helps you identify the declension or conjugation and understand why the forms look the way they do.

Yes. Linguarum scientia is also perfectly good Latin.

Latin often allows either:

• scientia linguarum
• linguarum scientia

The choice can depend on style, emphasis, or rhythm rather than basic grammar.

A simple way is:

• Scientia = subject
• linguarum = dependent genitive, telling what kind of knowledge
• utilis = predicate adjective
• est = verb

So the structure is:

[subject + genitive] + [predicate adjective] + [verb]

That is a useful pattern to recognize in many Latin sentences.

In a classroom pronunciation close to reconstructed Classical Latin, you could say it roughly as:

LIN-gwaa-room

More exactly:

• lin- as in linguist without the final consonants
• -guā- with gw
• -rum with a rolled or tapped r if possible

And the whole sentence in a classical-style pronunciation would be approximately:

skee-EN-tee-a lin-GWAA-room OO-tee-lis est

Different teaching traditions may pronounce it somewhat differently, especially in Ecclesiastical Latin.