Magistra discipulos hortatur ut codices secum ferant.

Because magistra is the subject of the main verb hortatur. In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally in the nominative case.

So here:

• magistra = the teacher
• hortatur = encourages / urges

The teacher is the one doing the urging, so magistra is nominative.

Because hortor / hortari takes a direct object in the accusative. The person being encouraged is put in the accusative case.

So:

• discipulos = the students
• the teacher is urging the students

This is a common pattern with hortor:

• aliquem hortari = to encourage someone

Because hortatur comes from hortor, hortari, hortatus sum, which is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive-looking forms
• but an active meaning

So hortatur looks passive in form, but it means she encourages, not she is encouraged.

This is very common in Latin, and learners often have to get used to the idea that the form looks passive while the meaning is active.

After verbs of urging, encouraging, persuading, advising, and similar ideas, Latin often uses:

• ut
  • subjunctive

This expresses what someone is being urged to do.

So in this sentence:

• hortatur = she encourages
• ut codices secum ferant = that they carry the books with them

This is a standard construction in Latin.

Because it is inside an ut clause of indirect command after hortatur.

When Latin reports a command, request, urging, or encouragement indirectly, it usually uses:

• a main verb like hortatur
• then ut or ne
• then a subjunctive verb

So ferant is subjunctive because it is not just stating a fact. It is expressing the action that the students are being urged to do.

Because the subject of ferant is discipulos, which is plural.

Even though discipulos is in the accusative in the main clause, it is still understood as the subject of the subordinate clause:

• magistra discipulos hortatur
• ut codices secum ferant

In English, we might say:

• the teacher encourages the students
• to carry the books with them

In Latin, that second idea becomes a full clause, and the students are understood as the plural subject of ferant. Therefore the verb must be third person plural, not singular.

Ferant comes from the irregular verb fero, ferre, tuli, latum, meaning to carry, to bear, or sometimes to bring.

Here ferant is:

• present subjunctive
• active
• third person plural

So it means they may carry or, in this construction, simply that they carry.

Because fero is irregular, its forms need to be memorized carefully. The present subjunctive forms are:

• feram
• feras
• ferat
• feramus
• feratis
• ferant

Secum is a combination of:

• se = himself / herself / themselves
• cum = with

With personal pronouns and the reflexive pronoun, cum is often attached to the end rather than placed before it.

So:

• mecum = with me
• tecum = with you
• nobiscum = with us
• vobiscum = with you all
• secum = with himself / herself / itself / themselves

So secum here means with themselves.

Latin uses the reflexive pronoun se / sibi / secum when the pronoun refers back to the subject of its own clause.

In the clause:

• ut codices secum ferant

the subject is the students, understood from discipulos, and secum refers back to them. So Latin uses the reflexive form.

A non-reflexive form such as cum eis would point to some other people, not back to the subject of ferant.

So:

• secum = with themselves
• cum eis = with them, meaning some other group

Codices is accusative plural.

It is the direct object of ferant:

• they carry the books

The singular is codex The nominative plural is codices The accusative plural is also codices

So here the form is accusative plural because it is the thing being carried.

Yes. This is a classic indirect command construction.

The pattern is:

• verb of ordering / urging / advising / persuading
• ut for a positive command
• ne for a negative command
• subjunctive verb

So here:

• hortatur = she urges
• ut ... ferant = that they carry

This is one of the most important subordinate clause patterns in Latin.

Normally, after a verb like hortor, Latin prefers ut + subjunctive, not an infinitive.

English often says:

• she encourages the students to carry the books

Latin usually expresses that idea as:

• she encourages the students that they carry the books

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is normal Latin grammar. So the ut clause is the expected construction here.

Latin word order is more flexible because grammatical relationships are shown mainly by endings, not just by position.

So in:

• Magistra discipulos hortatur ut codices secum ferant

you can identify the roles by form:

• magistra = nominative subject
• discipulos = accusative object
• hortatur = main verb
• codices = object of ferant
• secum = with themselves
• ferant = subordinate verb

Latin often places the verb later in the clause, especially in formal prose, but the exact order can vary for emphasis or style.