Hodie canis panem non aufert, sed caseum auferre conatur.

Hodie means today. It is an adverb, so it modifies the whole action rather than a noun.

It appears at the beginning because Latin word order is flexible, and speakers often put a word first for emphasis or to set the scene. Starting with hodie gives a clear time frame right away: Today, ...

Canis is the nominative singular, which is the form used for the subject of the sentence.

Here, the dog is the one doing the actions:

• aufert = carries off / steals
• conatur = tries

So canis must be nominative.

By contrast, canem would be accusative singular, which would make the dog the direct object instead of the subject.

Because panem and caseum are direct objects, not subjects.

In this sentence:

• canis = the subject, so it is nominative
• panem = the thing not being carried off, so it is accusative
• caseum = the thing the dog is trying to carry off, so it is also accusative

So the pattern is:

• canis = nominative singular
• panem = accusative singular
• caseum = accusative singular

This is one of the most basic contrasts in Latin: subject in nominative, direct object in accusative.

They are both accusative singular, but they belong to different declensions, so they form the accusative differently.

• panis is a 3rd-declension noun, so its accusative singular is panem
• caseus is a 2nd-declension noun, so its accusative singular is caseum

So they do match in case and number, but not in ending, because they come from different noun patterns.

Non means not. It negates the verb aufert.

So:

• panem non aufert = he/she/it does not carry off the bread

Latin often puts non directly before the word or phrase being negated, and here it naturally comes before the verb.

Sed means but.

It contrasts the two parts of the sentence:

• panem non aufert = the dog does not carry off the bread
• sed caseum auferre conatur = but it tries to carry off the cheese

So sed marks a contrast between what the dog is not doing and what it is trying to do instead.

Because they are different verb forms used in different constructions.

• aufert is a finite verb: he/she/it carries off
• auferre is a present active infinitive: to carry off

In the first clause, aufert is the main verb:

• canis panem non aufert = the dog does not carry off the bread

In the second clause, the main verb is conatur (tries), and Latin uses an infinitive with it:

• caseum auferre conatur = tries to carry off the cheese

So English tries to carry off corresponds to Latin auferre conatur.

Because conor commonly means try and is often followed by an infinitive to express try to do something.

So:

• conatur = he/she/it tries
• auferre = to carry off

Together:

• auferre conatur = tries to carry off

This is very similar to English, where try is also often followed by to + verb.

Because conatur comes from a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive-looking forms
• but an active meaning

So conatur looks like a passive form, but it means:

• he/she/it tries

Its dictionary form is conor, conari, conatus sum = to try.

This is something English speakers often find strange at first, but it is completely normal in Latin.

Both are 3rd person singular.

That is why they match canis:

• aufert = he/she/it carries off
• conatur = he/she/it tries

Since canis is singular, the verbs are singular too.

In natural English, we translate them with the dog ... carries / tries.

Auferre literally means something like to carry away or to take away. Depending on context, it can also mean steal or snatch away.

So in this sentence, it could be understood as:

• carry off
• take away
• steal

A dog taking bread or cheese makes carry off or snatch sound especially natural.

Because Classical Latin does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• canis can mean dog, a dog, or the dog
• panem can mean bread, a loaf of bread, or the bread
• caseum can mean cheese or the cheese

The context tells you which English article sounds best in translation.

Yes, this word order is perfectly normal, and Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

This sentence has a very natural Latin feel:

• Hodie sets the time first
• canis gives the subject
• panem non aufert gives the first action
• sed caseum auferre conatur gives the contrasting second action

But other orders could also work, because the noun endings show the grammatical roles. For example, Latin does not depend on word order as heavily as English does.

Still, the given order is helpful and readable for a learner.

Because Latin often places the direct object before the infinitive or verb, especially in a phrase like this.

So:

• caseum auferre conatur = literally, the cheese to carry off tries
• but naturally, tries to carry off the cheese

Latin frequently puts important nouns before the verb they go with. Here caseum is fronted before auferre, but it is still clearly the object of auferre.

They are:

• aufero, auferre, abstuli, ablatus = carry off, take away
• conor, conari, conatus sum = try

From these:

• aufert comes from aufero
• auferre is the infinitive of aufero
• conatur comes from conor

It is useful to learn aufero as an irregular compound of fero. It does not behave exactly like a regular verb.

Because hodie simply tells you when the action happens; it does not force a different tense.

Latin uses the present tense here just as English often does:

• Today the dog does not carry off the bread, but tries to carry off the cheese.

So:

• hodie = time expression
• aufert / conatur = present tense verbs

There is no conflict between them at all.