Legatus donum regium accipit.

The subject is legatus.

You can tell because legatus is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject of a sentence. Also, the verb accipit means he/she/it receives, so it needs a singular subject, and legatus matches that.

So:

• legatus = subject
• accipit = verb
• donum regium = object

Donum is the direct object because it is the thing being received.

The verb accipit means receives or is receiving, so we ask: receives what? The answer is donum regium.

Grammatically, donum is accusative singular, which is the case usually used for a direct object.

One small point that often confuses beginners: donum is a neuter noun, and in neuter nouns the nominative singular and accusative singular often look the same. So the form donum could be nominative or accusative in isolation. In this sentence, its role as the object shows that it is accusative.

Regium is an adjective modifying donum.

It means royal or regal, so donum regium means a royal gift.

The adjective must agree with the noun it describes, so regium matches donum in:

• case: accusative
• number: singular
• gender: neuter

That agreement is why it is regium, not regius or regia.

Because regium and regis mean different things.

• regium = royal, regal
  This is an adjective.
• regis = of the king
  This is the genitive singular of rex.

So:

• donum regium = a royal gift
• donum regis = the king’s gift or a gift of the king

A learner often needs to notice that Latin can express an idea either with an adjective or with a genitive noun, and the meaning is not always exactly the same.

Accipit is:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

It comes from accipio, accipere, meaning receive, take, or sometimes accept.

So accipit means:

• he receives
• she receives
• it receives

Depending on context, English might also use is receiving.

Both the subject and the verb are singular.

• legatus = singular
• accipit = third person singular

So the sentence refers to one envoy/legate receiving one royal gift.

If it were plural, you might see something like:

• legati = envoys
• accipiunt = they receive

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

So legatus can mean:

• the envoy
• an envoy

And donum regium can mean:

• the royal gift
• a royal gift

Which one sounds best in English depends on the context. Latin leaves that information unstated unless something else in the sentence makes it clear.

Not as much as it does in English.

Latin word order is more flexible because the endings help show each word’s job in the sentence. Here, Legatus donum regium accipit is a normal and clear order: subject - object - verb.

But Latin could rearrange the words for emphasis, for example:

• Donum regium legatus accipit
• Accipit legatus donum regium

These still mean basically the same thing, because the endings still show what each word is doing.

That said, word order can affect emphasis or style, even if the basic meaning stays the same.

Yes, they are related, but you should not assume they always mean exactly the same thing.

Latin accipio often means:

• receive
• take
• accept

In this sentence, receives is usually the safest translation.

So a beginner should remember:

• related in origin does not always mean identical in meaning
• English derivatives can help, but they can also mislead

Here is the basic grammar:

• legatus: second-declension noun, masculine
• donum: second-declension noun, neuter
• regium: adjective from regius, regia, regium, first/second-declension adjective
• accipit: from accipio, accipere, a third-conjugation -io verb

So this sentence is a good example of several common beginner patterns:

• a nominative subject
• an accusative direct object
• an agreeing adjective
• a third-person singular present verb

Yes. With macrons, it would usually be written:

Legātus dōnum rēgium accipit.

Macrons show long vowels:

• ā in legātus
• ō in dōnum
• ē in rēgium

They are very helpful for pronunciation and sometimes for meter, but many Latin texts leave them out. So it is normal to see the sentence written without macrons too.