Feles sub mensa sedet et murem exspectat.

Because the verbs sedet and exspectat are both third person singular, so they need a singular subject: he/she/it sits and he/she/it waits.

The form feles can be a little tricky, because it can look like more than one case/number combination in Latin. But here the singular verbs show that it must be nominative singular: the cat.

Its dictionary form is feles, felis.

Because sub can take two different cases:

• ablative for location: under
• accusative for motion toward: to under / beneath

Here the cat is already sitting in a place, so Latin uses the ablative:

• sub mensa = under the table

If the sentence meant something like the cat goes under the table, Latin would normally use the accusative:

• sub mensam it

So mensa here is ablative singular.

Because murem is the direct object of exspectat.

The verb exspectat means waits for or expects, and the thing being waited for is put in the accusative case. So:

• mus = mouse as a basic dictionary form / subject form
• murem = mouse as a direct object

The dictionary form is mus, muris.

Because Latin often uses a direct object where English uses a verb plus a preposition.

In English we say:

• waits for the mouse

But in Latin, exspectare can take a direct object:

• murem exspectat

So Latin does not need a separate word meaning for here.

Both forms end in -t, which tells you they are:

• third person
• singular
• present tense
• active voice

So:

• sedet = he/she/it sits
• exspectat = he/she/it waits for / expects

Since both verbs are singular, they both refer to the same subject, feles.

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

So a noun like feles can mean:

• the cat
• a cat

and murem can mean:

• the mouse
• a mouse

You decide from the context which English wording is best.

Et simply means and.

It joins the two actions done by the same subject:

• sedet = sits
• exspectat = waits for

So the structure is:

• The cat sits and waits for the mouse

Latin does not need to repeat feles a second time.

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

This sentence could be rearranged in several ways without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• Sub mensa feles sedet et murem exspectat
• Feles murem exspectat et sub mensa sedet
• Murem feles sub mensa exspectat et sedet

Some orders sound more natural than others, and different orders can give different emphasis, but the endings help you keep track of who is doing what.

In a classical-style pronunciation, you could say it roughly like this:

FAY-lace soob MEN-sah SEH-det et MOO-rem eks-SPEK-tat

A few useful points:

• feles: the first e is pronounced like ay in a classical approximation
• sub: the u is like oo
• murem: the u is also like oo
• x in exspectat sounds like ks

If you use an ecclesiastical pronunciation, some sounds may differ slightly, but the grammar stays the same.

Those marks are called macrons. They show long vowels.

So you may see the sentence written as:

fēlēs sub mensā sedet et mūrem exspectat

Macrons are very helpful for learners because they show vowel length, which can matter for pronunciation and sometimes for grammar. For example:

• mensa = nominative singular
• mensā = ablative singular

Many ordinary Latin texts leave macrons out, but learning them is useful.