Amici muraenam e nassa extrahunt.

Because amici is nominative plural, so it means friends and serves as the subject of extrahunt (they pull out).

A learner may notice that amici can also mean of the friend in some contexts, because it can be genitive singular of amicus. But in this sentence, the verb is extrahunt, which is third person plural, so we expect a plural subject. That makes amici = friends the natural reading here.

Muraenam is accusative singular.

It is the direct object of the verb extrahunt, meaning it is the thing being pulled out. In Latin, the direct object is often put in the accusative case.

So:

• muraena = a moray eel / the moray eel as a dictionary form
• muraenam = the moray eel as the object of the action

The ending -am is a very common accusative singular ending for first-declension nouns.

After e (or ex), Latin uses the ablative case. So nassa here is ablative singular.

That means:

• nassa is the dictionary form
• nassa is also the ablative singular form

This happens because many first-declension nouns have the same form in the nominative singular and ablative singular.

So e nassa means out of the trap/basket.

Both e and ex mean out of or from.

In practice:

• ex is especially common before vowels or h
• e is common before consonants

Since nassa begins with a consonant, e nassa is perfectly normal. You may also see ex nassa in Latin; the difference is usually just one of sound and style, not meaning.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show what each word is doing.

So even if the words are arranged differently, the endings still tell you:

• amici = subject
• muraenam = direct object
• e nassa = from/out of the trap
• extrahunt = they pull out

Putting the verb at the end is very common in Latin, though not required. This sentence could be rearranged in other ways and still mean basically the same thing, though the emphasis might change.

The ending -unt tells you the verb is third person plural present active.

So extrahunt means:

• they pull out
• they drag out
• they draw out

The basic verb is extraho, extrahere, meaning to draw out or pull out.

Because the verb ending already tells you the subject is they, Latin does not need a separate word for they.

Latin does not have definite and indefinite articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• amici can mean friends or the friends
• muraenam can mean a moray eel or the moray eel
• nassa can mean a trap or the trap

The exact choice in English depends on context. That is why translations can vary a little even when the Latin is the same.

Nassa is a kind of fish trap, often a wicker trap, basket, or net-like trap used for catching sea creatures.

So e nassa extrahunt gives the picture of someone pulling the eel out of a trap or out of a basket-trap. Depending on the textbook or dictionary, you might see slightly different English words, but the basic idea is the same.

Usually muraena refers specifically to a moray eel.

In some learning contexts it may simply be translated eel, but moray eel is more precise. The important grammar point in this sentence is that muraenam is the object being pulled out.

Yes. Because Latin uses endings to show grammatical roles, you could rearrange the sentence in several ways, for example:

• Muraenam amici e nassa extrahunt.
• E nassa amici muraenam extrahunt.

These all keep the same basic meaning: The friends pull the moray eel out of the trap.

However, the word order can slightly change emphasis:

• putting muraenam earlier may emphasize the eel
• putting e nassa earlier may emphasize where it is coming from
• putting extrahunt at the end gives a neat, typical Latin finish

Both muraena and nassa are first-declension nouns.

Their forms here are:

• muraena → muraenam = accusative singular
• nassa → nassa = ablative singular after e

Amicus is a second-declension noun:

• amicus = singular nominative
• amici = plural nominative here

So this sentence is a nice example of how Latin endings show different jobs in the sentence.

Because the verb ending already includes that information.

In extrahunt, the ending -unt tells you the verb is:

• third person
• plural
• present
• active

So the verb itself already means they pull out. The noun amici is still useful because it tells you who the they are: the friends.

Latin often leaves out subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.