Amici nassam ex aqua extrahunt.

Amici is the nominative plural of amicus, meaning friends.

In Latin, the subject of the sentence is usually put in the nominative case. For a regular second-declension masculine noun like amicus, the nominative plural ends in -i:

• amicus = friend
• amici = friends

So amici means the friends or simply friends, and it is the subject of extrahunt.

Nassam is the accusative singular form of nassa.

The accusative case is commonly used for the direct object, the thing receiving the action. Here, the friends are pulling out the fish-trap / basket / net-like trap, so nassam is the object of extrahunt.

For a first-declension noun:

• nassa = a fish-trap
• nassam = a fish-trap, as a direct object

So amici nassam extrahunt means the friends pull out a fish-trap.

Nassa usually means a kind of fish-trap, basket trap, or wicker trap used in water.

It is not the most common basic word a beginner may know, so it can feel unfamiliar. In this sentence, the idea is that the friends are pulling some kind of trap up out of the water.

The preposition ex means out of or from, and it takes the ablative case.

That is why we get:

• aqua = water in the ablative singular
• ex aqua = out of the water

So the phrase tells you where the trap is being pulled from.

Because ex requires the ablative, not the accusative.

Compare:

• aqua = ablative singular
• aquam = accusative singular

Since ex must be followed by an ablative noun, Latin uses ex aqua, not ex aquam.

Extrahunt means they pull out, they draw out, or they drag out.

It comes from the verb extraho, extrahere, extraxi, extractum.

The ending -unt tells you it is:

• present tense
• active voice
• third person plural

So extrahunt means they pull out. The subject matching that plural verb is amici = friends.

Latin verbs often include the subject in their endings.

The ending -unt in extrahunt already means they. Because of that, Latin does not need to add a separate pronoun unless it wants emphasis.

So:

• extrahunt = they pull out

The noun amici is still included here to name exactly who they are.

Not as much as in English.

Latin relies heavily on case endings, so word order is often more flexible. In this sentence:

• amici is nominative plural, so it is the subject
• nassam is accusative singular, so it is the direct object
• aqua is ablative after ex
• extrahunt is the verb

So even if the order changed, the grammar would still show the roles clearly. For example, these would mean basically the same thing:

• Amici nassam ex aqua extrahunt
• Nassam amici ex aqua extrahunt
• Ex aqua amici nassam extrahunt

The chosen order is natural and clear, but Latin is not as rigid as English.

Classical Latin has no definite article and no indefinite article.

So Latin does not have separate words for the, a, or an. Depending on context:

• amici can mean friends or the friends
• nassam can mean a fish-trap or the fish-trap
• aqua can mean water or the water

English has to choose an article, but Latin usually leaves that to context.

Yes. Extraho is built from:

• ex- = out
• traho = I draw, pull

So extraho literally means I draw out or pull out.

This is very helpful for vocabulary-building, because many Latin verbs are made from a simple verb plus a prefix. If you know traho, then extraho is easier to understand.

A reasonable classroom pronunciation would be:

AH-mee-kee NAHS-sam ex AH-kwa ex-TRAH-hoont

A few notes:

• amici = ah-MEE-kee in many traditional English-speaking classrooms, or AH-mee-kee in a more classical style
• nassam has a doubled ss, so the s sound is clearly held
• aqua is pronounced roughly AH-kwa
• extrahunt has trah like trah, not like English tray

Exact pronunciation depends somewhat on whether you are using a restored classical pronunciation or a traditional school pronunciation.

Yes, in a literal sense ex can mean both from and out of. But with a verb like extrahunt and a physical object being removed, English naturally says out of the water.

So although from the water is not wrong, out of the water is usually the best translation here because it matches the physical action more clearly.