Puella equum ferum timet.

Because puella is in the nominative case, which is the case normally used for the subject of a sentence.

Here, puella means girl, and its -a ending is the normal nominative singular ending for a first-declension noun.

So puella is the girl / a girl, the one doing the action of the verb.

Because equum is in the accusative case, which is commonly used for the direct object.

The verb timet means fears or is afraid of, and the thing feared is the direct object. So equum means the horse / a horse as the object, not the subject.

Its -um ending shows that it is accusative singular.

In Latin, word endings matter more than word order.

• puella = nominative singular → subject
• equum = accusative singular → direct object

So the sentence means that the girl fears the wild horse, not that the horse fears the girl.

In English, we usually rely heavily on word order. In Latin, we rely much more on case endings.

Because ferum is an adjective describing equum, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since equum is masculine accusative singular, ferum must also be masculine accusative singular.

So equum ferum means the wild horse.

Ferum comes from ferus, -a, -um, which usually means:

• wild
• untamed
• sometimes fierce or savage, depending on context

In this sentence, wild is the most natural translation.

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the noun. Both are possible.

So you could see:

• equum ferum
• ferum equum

Both can mean the wild horse.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order. Sometimes the position of the adjective can create a slight difference in emphasis or style, but at a basic level, both orders are normal.

Timet is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from the verb timeo, timere, meaning to fear.

So timet means:

• he fears
• she fears
• it fears

In this sentence, since the subject is puella, it means she fears.

Because the subject puella is singular, so the verb must also be singular.

• timet = he/she/it fears → singular
• timent = they fear → plural

Timeat is a different form altogether: it is usually present subjunctive, not the ordinary indicative form used here.

So timet is the correct basic statement form: the girl fears.

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

So puella can mean:

• the girl
• a girl

And equum ferum can mean:

• the wild horse
• a wild horse

The exact choice in English depends on context. If no wider context is given, either may be possible.

Yes. Because the endings show the grammar, Latin can rearrange the words much more freely than English.

For example, all of these could express the same basic idea:

• Puella equum ferum timet.
• Puella timet equum ferum.
• Equum ferum puella timet.
• Ferum equum puella timet.

The differences are mostly about emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

Puella is a first-declension noun.

Its basic form is puella, puellae.

Equus is a second-declension noun.

Its basic form is equus, equi.

In this sentence:

• puella = nominative singular
• equum = accusative singular

So the sentence is also a good example of two different declensions appearing together.

Yes. It forms a noun phrase:

• equum = horse
• ferum = wild

Together: the wild horse / a wild horse

This whole phrase acts as the direct object of timet.

So you can think of the sentence structurally like this:

• Puella = subject
• equum ferum = direct object
• timet = verb

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

PWEHL-lah EH-kwoom FEH-room TEE-met

A few helpful points:

• pu in puella is usually like pw
• ae in restored classical pronunciation is like the ai in aisle
• qu is pronounced like kw
• v in classical Latin is pronounced like w, but there is no v in this sentence
• the e vowels are pronounced clearly, not reduced like English unstressed vowels often are

If your course uses ecclesiastical pronunciation, the sound may differ somewhat, but the grammar stays the same.

The dictionary forms are:

• puella, puellae = girl
• equus, equi = horse
• ferus, -a, -um = wild
• timeo, timere, timui = fear

A Latin dictionary usually lists nouns in the nominative singular + genitive singular, adjectives in their masculine/feminine/neuter nominative forms, and verbs in principal parts.