Nos ad insulam navigamus, nautas salutamus et cibum parvum sumimus.

In Latin, the verb ending often already shows the subject.
So navigamus by itself means we sail / we are sailing.

That means nos is not strictly necessary. It is often added for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• navigamus = we sail
• nos navigamus = we sail, or we ourselves sail

A learner should notice that Latin often leaves subject pronouns out unless there is a reason to stress them.

Ad is a preposition that usually means to, toward, or up to.
So ad insulam means to the island or toward the island.

Latin often uses ad with the accusative case to show movement toward a place.

• ad insulam = to the island
• ad urbem = to the city

So the preposition is helping express direction.

Because ad takes the accusative case.
The basic dictionary form is insula = island, but after ad it becomes insulam.

So:

• insula = nominative singular
• insulam = accusative singular

This is a very common pattern in Latin: prepositions often require a certain case.

They are both direct objects of their verbs, so they are in the accusative case.

• nautas is the object of salutamus
  → we greet the sailors
• cibum is the object of sumimus
  → we take/consume food

So the accusative is being used in two different ways in this sentence:

1. after a preposition: ad insulam
2. as a direct object: nautas, cibum

All three are first person plural, present tense, active voice, indicative mood.

That means they all mean we ...

• navigamus = we sail / we are sailing
• salutamus = we greet / we are greeting
• sumimus = we take / we are taking

A learner may also notice that:

• navigamus and salutamus are from first-conjugation verbs
• sumimus is from sumere, which belongs to a different conjugation pattern

So even though all three mean we ..., the stems and endings may look slightly different.

Yes—literally, sumimus means we take.
The verb sumere has a broad meaning: to take, pick up, choose, consume, use.

When the object is food, Latin often uses sumere in the sense of consume or eat.

So:

• cibum sumimus literally = we take food
• in natural English = we eat food or we have a small meal/snack, depending on context

This is a good example of how Latin verbs do not always match one single English verb in every situation.

Because parvum is describing cibum, and adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Cibum is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative

So the adjective must also be masculine, singular, accusative:

• parvum cibum = small food / a small meal

If the noun were different, the adjective would change too:

• parva insula = a small island
• parvos nautas = small sailors

Yes, literally it does. But in natural English that may sound a bit odd.

Depending on context, it could be understood as:

• a small amount of food
• a small meal
• a little food

Latin often uses an adjective with a noun in a way that English may translate more idiomatically.

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

So a noun like insula or nautas can mean:

• island / the island / an island
• sailors / the sailors

The exact meaning depends on the context.

That is very different from English, where articles are usually required.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show how words function in the sentence.

So this sentence could be rearranged in various ways without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• Nautas salutamus et ad insulam navigamus.
• Cibum parvum sumimus et nautas salutamus.

However, word order can change the emphasis or style.

The given order is straightforward and easy for a learner:

1. Nos ad insulam navigamus
2. nautas salutamus
3. et cibum parvum sumimus

It presents the actions in sequence.

The comma separates the different actions in the sentence:

• we sail to the island
• we greet the sailors
• and we eat some small amount of food

In modern printed Latin, punctuation is used to help the reader, much like in English.
But punctuation is not as central to Latin grammar as endings are.

So the comma is mostly there for readability.

This is similar to English style. When listing several actions, Latin can place et before the final one:

• navigamus, salutamus et sumimus

That works like English:

• we sail, greet, and eat

Latin could sometimes repeat conjunctions for emphasis, but this simple listing style is very common.

Nauta, nautae means sailor.
It belongs to the first declension, which often contains feminine nouns, but nauta is an important exception: it is masculine.

So:

• nauta = sailor
• nautas = sailors (accusative plural)

This can be surprising for English-speaking learners, because the ending looks like a typical first-declension noun, but its grammatical gender is masculine.

It can be either, depending on context.

Latin present tense often covers both:

• we sail
• we are sailing

So:

• navigamus can mean we sail or we are sailing
• salutamus can mean we greet or we are greeting
• sumimus can mean we take/eat or we are taking/eating

English forces you to choose more often than Latin does. Context tells you which sense is best.