Discipula atramentum in mensa ponit et stilum parat.

Because discipula is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular.

It is a first-declension noun, and its nominative singular form is discipula. In this sentence, discipula is the one doing the actions ponit and parat.

It also tells you the student is female, since discipula means female student / schoolgirl. The masculine form would be discipulus.

They are both direct objects, meaning they receive the action of the verbs.

• atramentum is the thing she places
• stilum is the thing she prepares

So both are in the accusative singular.

A useful detail:

• atramentum is a second-declension neuter noun, and its nominative and accusative singular are both atramentum
• stilus is a second-declension masculine noun, so its accusative singular is stilum

That is why one object looks the same as its dictionary form, while the other changes from stilus to stilum.

Because in can take different cases depending on its meaning.

Here it means in/on in the sense of location, so it takes the ablative:

• in mensa = on the table / in the table area

If it meant movement into or onto something, Latin would usually use the accusative:

• in mensam = onto the table

So:

• in + ablative = location
• in + accusative = motion toward/into/onto

It is ablative singular.

The preposition in, when it means location, requires the ablative. Since mensa is a first-declension noun, its ablative singular ending is -a.

So in mensa is a prepositional phrase meaning on the table.

Both verbs are third person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood.

That means each one means he/she/it ...s or is ...ing, depending on context:

• ponit = she places / is placing
• parat = she prepares / is preparing

Because the subject is discipula, we understand the subject of both verbs as she, specifically the female student.

Latin normally does not use articles.

So a noun like discipula can mean:

• the student
• a student

The same is true for stilum, mensa, and atramentum. Context tells you whether English should use the, a, or sometimes no article at all.

This is very normal in Latin and often feels strange to English speakers at first.

Yes and no.

It matters somewhat for style, emphasis, and naturalness, but Latin relies much more on word endings than English does to show grammatical roles.

So in this sentence:

• discipula is the subject because it is nominative
• atramentum and stilum are objects because they are accusative
• mensa is ablative because of in

Because of those endings, Latin has more freedom with word order than English.

Still, the given order is very natural:

• subject
• object
• prepositional phrase
• verb
• et
• second object
• second verb

Because the verb ending already tells you the subject is third person singular.

Both ponit and parat mean he/she/it does something. Since the noun discipula is present, Latin does not need to add a pronoun.

In fact, Latin often leaves out subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.

So Latin prefers:

• Discipula ponit
  rather than something like
• Ea ponit

unless there is a special reason to stress she.

Yes. Et is the normal Latin word for and.

It joins the two actions:

• she places the ink
• and she prepares the stylus

So one subject, discipula, is doing both actions.

Yes.

In a sentence like this, when two verbs are joined by et, the same subject usually continues unless Latin clearly introduces a new one.

So the structure is understood as:

• Discipula atramentum in mensa ponit
• et discipula stilum parat

But Latin does not need to repeat discipula, because it is already clear.

Not necessarily in a strict, technical sense. The present tense here simply presents both actions as current or general.

Depending on context, the sentence could mean something like:

• she is placing the ink and is preparing the stylus
• she places the ink and prepares the stylus
• she usually places the ink and prepares the stylus

Latin present tense is often a bit broader than English learners first expect. Context decides the exact shade of meaning.

Discipula is grammatically and biologically feminine, meaning female student.

In this sentence, that mainly matters for meaning, not for agreement, because there are no adjectives or participles here that need to match it.

But it does help you understand why we translate the verb sense as she places and she prepares rather than he.

If there were an adjective, it would also need to agree with discipula in gender, number, and case.