Mater dicit: “Per vicum rectum ambula, et ad forum cito pervenies.”

Because ambula is the singular imperative of ambulare (“to walk”).

In Latin, the imperative is the form used to give an order, instruction, or encouragement:

• ambula = walk! (said to one person)
• ambulate = walk! (said to more than one person)

So in this sentence, the mother is directly telling one person what to do.

Because per is a preposition that takes the accusative case.

• vicus = nominative singular
• vicum = accusative singular

Since per means “through” and governs the accusative, Latin uses:

• per vicum = “through the street”

A very common rule to remember is:

• per + accusative

Because rectum is an adjective modifying vicum, and adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• vicum is masculine, singular, accusative
• so rectus must also become masculine, singular, accusative
• therefore: rectum

So:

• vicum rectum = “the straight street” or “a straight street”

Yes, it could come before. Latin word order is more flexible than English word order.

So both of these are possible:

• per vicum rectum
• per rectum vicum

Both mean essentially the same thing: through the straight street.

In Latin, adjectives can appear before or after the noun. Sometimes the choice affects emphasis or style, but not always. A learner should mainly focus on the endings first.

It is accusative singular.

That is because ad is another preposition that takes the accusative case, especially when it expresses motion toward something.

So:

• ad forum = “to the forum”

Again, a helpful rule:

• ad + accusative

Because that is simply the case each of those prepositions governs.

In this sentence:

• per vicum rectum = “through the straight street”
• ad forum = “to the forum”

Latin prepositions regularly “control” the case of the noun after them. This is something learners usually need to memorize.

Here are the two rules shown in this sentence:

• per + accusative = through
• ad + accusative = to, toward

Pervenies is the future tense, second person singular, of pervenire.

It means:

• you will arrive
• you will reach
• you will get to

So the second half of the sentence is not another command. It is a statement about what will happen if the person follows the instruction:

• et ad forum cito pervenies = “and you will arrive at the forum quickly”

Because the mother is telling the listener the result of following her instruction.

The pattern is:

• Do this, and you will achieve that.

So:

• ambula = command: “walk”
• pervenies = future result: “you will arrive”

This is very natural in both Latin and English:

• Walk through the straight street, and you will arrive quickly at the forum.

Because Latin verb endings often already show who the subject is.

For example:

• ambula already means walk! addressed to you (one person)
• pervenies already means you will arrive

So Latin does not need an explicit tu here.

If Latin adds tu, it is usually for emphasis:

• tu pervenies = you will arrive

Cito is an adverb meaning quickly.

It modifies the verb pervenies:

• cito pervenies = “you will arrive quickly”

Its position is fairly flexible. Latin adverbs can often move around more than English adverbs. So the exact placement is less important than recognizing that cito goes with the action of arriving.

Mater dicit means Mother says.

This introduces direct speech:

• Mater dicit: Per vicum rectum ambula...

It is a very common Latin way to introduce a quotation or spoken words.

Also note:

• mater = “mother”
• dicit = “says” / “is saying”

Latin often uses the present tense like this when introducing speech.

Because dicit is present tense: says.

• dicit = “says”
• dixit = “said” or “has said”

So Mater dicit presents the speech as happening now:

• Mother says: ...

If the sentence were in a past narrative, you might instead see:

• Mater dixit: ... = “Mother said: ...”

Yes, ambulare commonly means to walk.

Latin has more than one verb for movement:

• ambulare = to walk
• ire = to go

The difference is similar to English:

• walk specifically tells you the manner of movement
• go is more general

So ambula is a natural choice if the speaker is specifically telling someone to walk along the street.

Because pervenire means not just “to go,” but to arrive, to reach, or to get to a destination.

So:

• ire = to go
• pervenire = to arrive / reach

In this sentence, the mother is not only describing movement; she is describing successful arrival at the forum. That makes pervenies a very suitable verb.

Yes, forum is a neuter noun.

In the second declension, neuter nouns have the same form in the:

• nominative singular
• accusative singular

So:

• nominative: forum
• accusative: forum

That is why after ad, which requires the accusative, the word still appears as forum rather than changing to something like forumum or forus.

Yes. Et means and.

In this sentence it links:

1. the command: Per vicum rectum ambula
2. the result: ad forum cito pervenies

So the structure is:

• Walk through the straight street, and you will arrive quickly at the forum.

Yes, it is perfectly normal, though Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

The sentence is arranged in a clear and natural way:

• Per vicum rectum ambula
• et ad forum cito pervenies

But Latin could rearrange parts of this sentence without changing the basic meaning, because the endings show the grammar. For a beginner, the safest approach is:

1. identify the verb
2. identify any prepositions
3. check the cases of the nouns
4. then work out how the words fit together

That matters more than expecting a fixed English-style word order.