Nobis ante iter aquam et panem parare necesse est, quia meridie omnes cibum petunt.

With necesse est, Latin often uses the dative of the person affected: nobis ... necesse est = it is necessary for us.

So the structure is:

• nobis = for us / to us
• parare = to prepare
• necesse est = is necessary

A very literal translation would be To us, it is necessary to prepare water and bread before the journey.

English usually says we must prepare..., but Latin commonly expresses that idea with dative + necesse est + infinitive.

Because it depends on necesse est.

Latin often says:

• necesse est + infinitive = it is necessary to ...

So:

• parare necesse est = it is necessary to prepare

This is different from saying paramus = we prepare or parabimus = we will prepare.
The infinitive is used because the sentence is not simply stating an action; it is stating a necessity.

They are the direct objects of parare.

• aquam = water
• panem = bread

Since parare means to prepare, Latin puts the things being prepared in the accusative case.

So:

• aquam parare = to prepare water
• panem parare = to prepare bread

Ante is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means before in place or time.

So:

• ante iter = before the journey

The noun iter, itineris is a neuter third-declension noun meaning journey, march, route. Its accusative singular is iter, which looks the same as the nominative singular. That is normal for many neuter nouns.

So even though iter looks like a subject form, here it is actually accusative because ante requires it.

Because it is a neuter noun.

A basic rule in Latin is:

• neuter nominative singular and neuter accusative singular are often the same
• the same is true in the plural, where nominative and accusative match each other as well

So with iter:

• nominative singular: iter
• accusative singular: iter

That is why ante iter may look surprising at first, but it is completely regular.

Meridie means at midday / at noon, and it is an ablative of time when or an adverb-like ablative expression.

Latin often uses the ablative with expressions of time:

• prima luce = at first light
• nocte = at night
• meridie = at midday

So meridie omnes cibum petunt means at midday everyone seeks/asks for food.

Grammatically, omnes is plural and means all or all people.

Depending on context, English may translate it naturally as:

• everyone
• all of them
• all the people

So here omnes cibum petunt literally means all seek food, but smoother English might be everyone asks for food at midday.

Petunt is from petere, a very common verb with a broad range of meanings, such as:

• seek
• look for
• head for
• request
• ask for

In this sentence, cibum petunt most naturally means they ask for food or they seek food.

It does not itself mean eat. The idea is that at midday everyone wants food or goes looking for food.

Yes, but they are not identical.

• panis, panem = bread
• cibus, cibum = food

So in the first clause, they prepare specific items: water and bread.
In the second clause, cibum is more general: food.

That makes good sense:

• before the journey, they prepare some practical provisions
• at midday, everyone wants food in general

Because nos would be nominative or accusative, but the construction requires the dative.

Compare:

• nos paramus = we prepare
• nobis necesse est parare = it is necessary for us to prepare

So Latin is not making we the grammatical subject of parare in the usual way. Instead, it uses the impersonal expression necesse est and marks the people involved with the dative: nobis.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the case endings show how words function.

English depends heavily on position:

• We prepare bread

Latin can move words around more easily because endings show the relationships.

So this sentence could be rearranged in other ways without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• Aquam et panem nobis ante iter parare necesse est
• Ante iter nobis aquam et panem parare necesse est

The original order likely puts nobis first for emphasis and keeps ante iter close to the idea of preparing.

Very often, yes. It commonly means it is necessary.

In sentences like this, Latin does not say we are necessary to prepare or anything like that. Instead it uses an impersonal idea:

• necesse est = it is necessary
• nobis ... necesse est = it is necessary for us
• parare necesse est = it is necessary to prepare

This is one of the standard Latin ways to express obligation, alongside forms such as the gerundive of obligation.

Not with the same meaning here.

• meridie means at midday
• ad meridiem would more naturally mean toward midday / by midday

So if the point is the time when everyone asks for food, meridie is the right choice.

There are two finite verbs and one infinitive:

• est — 3rd person singular present of esse
• petunt — 3rd person plural present of petere
• parare — present active infinitive of parare

So the sentence contains:

1. an impersonal statement of necessity: nobis ... parare necesse est
2. a reason clause with quia: quia meridie omnes cibum petunt

Quia means because and introduces the reason for the first statement.

So the structure is:

• Nobis ante iter aquam et panem parare necesse est
• quia meridie omnes cibum petunt

In other words:

• We need to prepare water and bread before the journey
• because at midday everyone asks for food

It is a straightforward causal conjunction, much like English because.