Triumvir monetalis officinatorem monetae probat.

You tell mainly from the cases, not from the word order.

• triumvir is nominative singular, so it is the subject
• officinatorem is accusative singular, so it is the direct object
• probat is 3rd person singular, which matches a singular subject

So triumvir monetalis is the one doing the approving, and officinatorem monetae is the one being approved.

Because triumvir means one member of a group of three men, not three men all at once.

So:

• triumvir = one triumvir
• triumviri = triumvirs

It is like saying one member of a committee. The word contains the idea of three, but the form here is still singular.

Monetalis is an adjective modifying triumvir.

It means something like:

• connected with the mint
• monetary
• of coinage

So triumvir monetalis is a phrase meaning a mint official or moneyer. Historically, it can function almost like a fixed title.

Grammatically, monetalis agrees with triumvir in:

• case: nominative
• number: singular
• gender: masculine

Because monetalis is a 3rd-declension adjective, not a 1st/2nd-declension adjective.

Many Latin adjectives have nominative singular forms like:

• -us for masculine, as in bonus
• but others use -is, as in fortis, civilis, monetalis

So monetalis is perfectly normal for a masculine noun like triumvir.

Officinatorem is accusative singular.

The ending -em is a very common accusative singular ending for 3rd-declension nouns, especially masculine and feminine ones.

Since probat is a transitive verb, it can take a direct object, and officinatorem is that object.

Here monetae is genitive singular: of the mint or of money/coinage, depending on the context.

It depends on officinatorem, so the phrase means something like:

• the overseer/worker of the mint
• the mint official/manager

Formally, monetae could be several things in other contexts:

• genitive singular
• dative singular
• nominative plural

But in this sentence, the genitive makes the best sense.

It most naturally goes with officinatorem.

So the structure is:

• triumvir monetalis = the subject
• officinatorem monetae = the object phrase
• probat = the verb

That is the most straightforward reading. Also, triumvir monetalis already contains the idea of a mint official, so monetae is not needed with it.

Because Latin often likes to put the verb late in the sentence, very often at the end.

That does not mean Latin must always do this, but it is a very common pattern. So this sentence has a normal Latin feel:

• subject
• object
• verb

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because case endings show the grammatical roles.

Yes. Latin could rearrange them without changing the basic meaning, as long as the forms stay the same.

For example, Latin could place emphasis differently by moving words around. The endings still show:

• triumvir = subject
• officinatorem = object

So the order is flexible, but the forms carry the grammar.

Because Classical Latin has no articles.

So a noun like triumvir can mean:

• a triumvir
• the triumvir

and the context tells you which is better in English.

The same is true for the object phrase as well.

Probat is:

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

It comes from probare.

So grammatically it means he approves, she approves, or it approves, depending on the subject. Here the subject is triumvir, so the sense is the triumvir approves.

Not always.

Probare can have a range of meanings, including:

• approve
• test
• judge good
• show to be good
• sometimes something close to prove

So if you noticed the English word prove, that is not a bad instinct. But in any given sentence, the context decides which meaning fits best.

It is both.

Grammatically, it is a normal noun plus adjective:

• triumvir = noun
• monetalis = adjective

But historically, triumvir monetalis is also recognizable as an official title, referring to a Roman magistrate connected with the mint and coinage.

So a learner may read it at two levels:

• as ordinary grammar
• as a specific Roman office

Here is the breakdown:

• triumvir: a masculine noun of the 2nd declension type in -vir
• monetalis: a 3rd-declension adjective
• officinatorem: accusative singular of a 3rd-declension noun
• monetae: genitive singular of moneta, a 1st-declension noun
• probat: from probare, a 1st-conjugation verb

Knowing that helps explain the endings you see in the sentence.