Magistra discipulis aliud exemplum ostendit.

Magistra is nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject.

It is the feminine singular form of magistra, -ae, meaning teacher. So magistra means the teacher or a teacher, and because it is nominative, it is the one doing the action.

Yes. Magistra is a feminine noun, so it means a female teacher.

The corresponding masculine form is magister.

Discipulis is dative plural, and the dative case often marks the indirect object—the person to whom something is given, said, or shown.

So here:

• magistra = the teacher
• discipulis = to the students
• aliud exemplum = another example
• ostendit = shows / showed

The teacher is showing the example to the students.

Yes, the form discipulis can be either dative plural or ablative plural.

But in this sentence, dative makes sense because ostendere commonly takes:

• a direct object: the thing being shown
• an indirect object in the dative: the person it is shown to

So here discipulis is best understood as dative plural.

They are both accusative singular neuter.

That tells you they go together, with aliud describing exemplum. Together they form the direct object of the verb: the thing being shown.

So aliud exemplum means another example or a different example.

Because aliud has to agree with exemplum.

Exemplum is:

• neuter
• singular
• accusative

So the adjective must also be:

• neuter
• singular
• accusative

That gives aliud.

A quick comparison:

• alia = feminine nominative singular, or neuter plural
• alium = masculine accusative singular
• aliud = neuter nominative/accusative singular

Exemplum is a second-declension neuter noun.

That is useful because neuter nouns have an important pattern:

• nominative singular = accusative singular
• both are often in -um

So exemplum could be nominative or accusative by form alone. In this sentence, it is accusative because it is the thing being shown.

Good question. You figure that out from the whole sentence, not from exemplum alone.

• Magistra is clearly nominative, so it is the natural subject.
• Ostendit is a verb that needs someone who shows something.
• Discipulis fits as the indirect object.
• Aliud exemplum fits as the thing being shown, so it is the direct object.

So even though exemplum could look nominative by itself, the sentence structure shows it is accusative here.

Ostendit is the third-person singular active indicative form of ostendere, meaning to show.

Depending on context, ostendit can mean either:

• she shows / he shows / it shows
  or
• she showed / he showed / it showed

That is because the present and perfect third-person singular forms can look the same in many third-conjugation verbs.

So the exact tense must be decided by context or by the translation already given to the learner.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

A very common Latin pattern is:

• subject first
• other elements in the middle
• verb last

So Magistra discipulis aliud exemplum ostendit is a very normal Latin order.

Latin uses case endings to show each word’s job, so word order is often used more for style, focus, or emphasis than for basic grammar.

Yes. Because the endings show the grammatical roles, Latin can rearrange the words without changing the core meaning.

For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Discipulis magistra aliud exemplum ostendit
• Aliud exemplum magistra discipulis ostendit
• Ostendit magistra discipulis aliud exemplum

The difference is mainly one of emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

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

So:

• magistra can mean the teacher or a teacher
• exemplum can mean the example or an example

You decide from the context which sounds best in English.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Alius, alia, aliud often has the idea of:

• another
• other
• different

So aliud exemplum could be translated as:

• another example
• a different example

Both are reasonable unless the wider context clearly prefers one.