Magistra eum tacere iubet.

Because magistra is the subject of the sentence: she is the one doing the ordering.

• magistra = the female teacher
• It is nominative singular, the normal case for the subject of a finite verb.

So in Magistra eum tacere iubet, the teacher is the person who iubet.

Because eum is in the accusative case, and here it is the direct object of iubet.

• is = nominative, he
• eum = accusative, him

The teacher is ordering him, so Latin uses the accusative:

• magistra = the teacher
• eum = him

This is also part of a very common Latin pattern: after verbs like iubeo, the person ordered is put in the accusative.

Because after iubeo Latin commonly uses this structure:

someone + accusative person + infinitive

So eum tacere iubet literally means something like:

• she orders him to be silent
• or more literally, she orders him to be silent / to keep quiet

The infinitive tacere expresses what the person is ordered to do.

This is a very normal Latin construction with iubeo.

Eum is the person understood as doing the action of tacere.

So the structure is:

• magistra = the one giving the order
• eum = the person receiving the order
• tacere = what he is ordered to do

So it means that he is to be silent, not the teacher.

Iubet is:

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

It comes from iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussus = order, command

So iubet means she orders or the teacher orders.

Because the subject is magistra (singular), the verb is singular too.

Because Latin infinitives do not need a separate word like English to.

In English, we say:

• to be silent
• to keep quiet

In Latin, the infinitive itself already has that function:

• tacere

So tacere by itself means to be silent or to keep quiet.

Yes. Latin word order is often more flexible than English because the endings show each word’s role.

For example, these could mean essentially the same thing:

• Magistra eum tacere iubet
• Eum magistra tacere iubet
• Magistra tacere eum iubet

The most basic meaning stays the same because:

• magistra is nominative
• eum is accusative
• tacere is infinitive
• iubet is the main verb

However, changing the order can change the emphasis.

Tacere is the present active infinitive of taceo, tacere, which means to be silent, be quiet, or keep quiet.

The present infinitive is the normal form used here after iubeo.

So:

• taceo = I am silent / I keep quiet
• tacere = to be silent / to keep quiet

Yes. Eum is the masculine accusative singular form of is, ea, id.

So it means him.

If the person ordered were feminine, Latin would use:

• eam = her

For example:

• Magistra eam tacere iubet = The teacher orders her to be silent.

Because with iubeo, Latin very often prefers the accusative + infinitive-style command construction:

• eum tacere iubet = she orders him to be silent

This is the standard beginner pattern to learn with iubeo.

English often uses to:

• orders him to be silent

Latin usually does this with:

• accusative person
  • infinitive action

So in this sentence, tacere is exactly what we would expect.

Yes. Depending on context, tacere can be translated in several natural English ways, such as:

• to be silent
• to keep quiet
• to say nothing
• to stop talking

The exact English wording depends on context, but the Latin grammar stays the same.

A useful way to break it down is:

• Magistra = subject
• eum = object of iubet and also the understood subject of tacere
• tacere = infinitive showing the commanded action
• iubet = main verb

So the pattern is:

[Subject] + [person ordered in accusative] + [infinitive] + [main verb]

That is a very common Latin pattern and an important one to recognize quickly.