Learn Hardcore Latin: Femina forte in via stat sine timore, quia corpus suum bene scit. - By chance a woman stands in the street without fear, because she knows her body well.

Femina on its own can mean either a woman or the woman.
Which one is better in English depends on context: is this woman already known in the narrative (then the woman), or is she being introduced for the first time (then a woman)?

So the Latin simply says femina; English has to choose a or the when translating.

What form is femina, and how do we know it is the subject of the sentence?

Femina is:

nominative singular, first declension,
from the noun femina, feminae (woman).

In a simple Latin sentence, the nominative case normally marks the subject, and the verb stat (3rd person singular) agrees with a singular nominative subject.

So:

femina = subject (the woman),
stat = she stands.

What exactly is forte here? Is it an adjective, and what does it mean?

In this sentence, forte is an adverb, not an adjective.

As an adverb, forte commonly means by chance, by accident, by happenstance, often translated happens to in English.
It modifies the verb stat, so: the woman happens to be standing in the street…

This forte is not the same thing as the neuter nominative/accusative form of the adjective fortis, forte (brave). We can tell it is an adverb because:

it is not agreeing with any neuter noun,
and it naturally fits as a modifier of the verb.

Could forte here mean brave so that the sentence means the brave woman stands…?

No, not in standard Classical Latin.

To say the brave woman, Latin would normally use femina fortis (adjective fortis in the feminine nominative to agree with femina).
Forte as an adjective is neuter, so it could only agree with a neuter noun, not with femina.

So in this sentence, reading forte as bravely or brave would be incorrect; the correct reading is the adverb by chance / happens to.

Why is via in the form via and not something like viam? What is the difference between in via and in viam?

Via is in the ablative singular here:

via, viae (road, street) – first declension,
ablative singular ending is -a.

The preposition in takes:

ablative when it means in, on, at (location),
- in via = in the street / on the road,
accusative when it means into, onto (motion towards),
- in viam = into the street / onto the road.

Since the woman is already standing there (no motion towards), in via with the ablative is correct.

Why is timore in the ablative after sine?

The preposition sine (without) in Latin always takes the ablative case.

The noun timor, timoris (fear) is a 3rd-declension noun.
Its ablative singular is timore.

So:

sine timore = without fear.

Memorize sine + ablative as a fixed pattern.

What tense and mood are stat and scit, and how are they parsed?

Both verbs are in the present indicative active, 3rd person singular:

stat
- from sto, stare, steti, statum (to stand),
- present indicative active, 3rd singular: she stands / is standing.
scit
- from scio, scire, scivi, scitum (to know),
- present indicative active, 3rd singular: she knows.

So literally: the woman by chance in the street stands without fear, because her body she well knows.

What does quia do here? Could we use quod instead?

Quia is a subordinating conjunction meaning because.

It introduces a reason clause: quia corpus suum bene scit = because she knows her own body well.

In many contexts, quod can also mean because, so quod corpus suum bene scit would be understandable and acceptable in Classical Latin as well.

Very roughly:

quia often feels more like a straightforward, objective because,
quod can mean both because and that (as in I know that…), so it can be slightly more ambiguous, depending on context.

In a simple beginners’ sentence, quia is a clear, safe choice.

What case is corpus, and why does it look the same in nominative and accusative?

Corpus is a neuter 3rd-declension noun:

corpus, corporis (body).

All neuter nouns in Latin have the same form in:

nominative singular and accusative singular (both: corpus),
and likewise in the plural (corpora for both nominative and accusative).

In this sentence, corpus is the direct object of scit (she knows what? her body), so functionally it is accusative, even though its form is the same as the nominative.

We work out that it must be the object from:

the verb (scit = knows needs an object),
and the presence of suum modifying corpus.

Why is it corpus suum and not corpus eius? What is the difference between suus, -a, -um and eius?

Suus, -a, -um is the reflexive possessive adjective for the 3rd person. It refers back to the subject of the clause.

corpus suum = her own body (the body of the subject femina).

Eius is the non-reflexive 3rd person possessive:

corpus eius = her body or his body, but of someone else, not of the subject.

So in this sentence:

femina … quia corpus suum bene scit
= the woman … because she knows her own body well.

If it said corpus eius, it would mean she knows someone else’s body well.

Why is suum neuter when femina is feminine? Shouldn’t it be sua to match the woman?

Adjectives in Latin agree with the nouns they modify, not directly with the overall subject.

suum is modifying corpus, not femina.
corpus is neuter singular, so its adjective must also be neuter singular: suum.

So:

femina – feminine, but that does not control suum here.
corpus suum – both neuter singular, correctly agreeing with each other.

Why is the adverb bene placed before scit? Could we say scit bene instead?

Adverbs in Latin have fairly free position, especially near the verb they modify.

bene scit and scit bene are both grammatically correct.
bene scit is a very common order, and slightly emphasizes the manner: she knows it well.
scit bene is possible, but in many styles it sounds a bit less natural; Latin often tends to put short adverbs before the verb.

In simple reading, you can treat them as practically equivalent, but be aware Latin word order can shade emphasis and style.

Could we change the word order, for example to Femina in via forte stat sine timore? Would the meaning change?

Yes, Latin allows considerable freedom of word order.

Femina forte in via stat sine timore
Femina in via forte stat sine timore
In via femina forte stat sine timore

All would normally be understood with the same basic meaning.

What changes is the emphasis and the rhythm:

Putting in via earlier might slightly highlight the location (in the street) more.
Moving forte closer to stat can more clearly group it with the verb in a learner’s eyes.

For practical purposes at a beginner level, you can treat these versions as meaning the same, and focus on recognizing:

femina = subject,
stat / scit = verbs,
in via, sine timore, corpus suum = surrounding phrases telling you where, how, and what she knows.