Pater iugum et lorum in officina ponit, ne puer ea tangat.

Because they are the direct objects of ponit (puts / places).

• pater = the subject, father
• ponit = puts
• iugum et lorum = the things being put

In Latin, the direct object usually goes in the accusative case, so iugum and lorum appear in their accusative forms. Since both words are neuter and second declension, their nominative and accusative singular forms look the same.

Because here in means in / inside / in the place of, which expresses location, not motion toward a place.

Latin usually works like this:

• in
  • ablative = in, on (location)
• in
  • accusative = into, onto (motion toward)

So:

• in officina = in the workshop
• if it meant into the workshop, Latin would usually use in officinam

Ne introduces a negative purpose clause.

So:

• ut = so that
• ne = so that ... not / lest

In this sentence, ne puer ea tangat means something like:

• so that the boy may not touch them
• or more naturally in English, so that the boy does not touch them

The father puts the items in the workshop for the purpose of preventing the boy from touching them.

Because it is in a purpose clause introduced by ne.

Latin regularly uses the subjunctive mood after ut and ne when expressing purpose.

So:

• ponit = main verb, indicative
• ne ... tangat = subordinate purpose clause, subjunctive

Tangat is the present active subjunctive, third person singular, from tangere (to touch).

Because ea refers back to iugum et lorum, and both of those nouns are neuter.

When Latin uses a pronoun to refer to two or more neuter things together, it uses the neuter plural.

So:

• iugum = neuter singular
• lorum = neuter singular
• together = neuter plural idea
• therefore ea = them (neuter plural accusative)

Here ea is the direct object of tangat: touch them.

Because puer is the subject of tangat.

In the clause ne puer ea tangat:

• puer = the boy → subject
• ea = them → object
• tangat = may touch / touch

So puer must be in the nominative case.

Ponit is present tense, third person singular, from ponere.

It can be translated in a few natural English ways depending on context:

• puts
• is putting
• sometimes places

Latin present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive in English.

So Pater ... ponit can mean:

• The father puts ...
• The father is putting ...

Tangat is:

• present
• active
• subjunctive
• third person singular

from tango, tangere, tetigi, tactum (to touch).

That ending -at is what you expect in the present subjunctive of a third-conjugation verb.

Normally, no. For a negative purpose clause, standard Latin uses ne, not ut non.

So:

• ut veniat = so that he may come
• ne veniat = so that he may not come

Using ut non would usually suggest something different, not the normal way to express simple negative purpose.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show each word’s function.

So ne puer ea tangat could in principle be rearranged, but the given order is natural:

• puer appears before the verb as the subject
• ea appears before tangat as its object
• tangat comes at the end, which is very common in Latin subordinate clauses

The order helps the sentence sound smooth and can also subtly guide emphasis, but the grammatical roles are mainly shown by the forms:

• puer = nominative
• ea = accusative
• tangat = verb

Because Latin can express the whole idea of so that the boy does not touch them simply by using:

• ne
  • subjunctive verb

English often uses extra helper words such as that, may, or does. Latin often builds that meaning directly into the clause structure.

So ne puer ea tangat already contains the idea:

• so that the boy may not touch them
• so that the boy does not touch them

No extra word for that is necessary.

It is accusative plural neuter.

You can tell from its function: it is the thing being touched.

• puer touches ea
• therefore ea must be the object
• so it is accusative

Its nominative and accusative forms happen to look the same in the neuter plural, but here the syntax shows it is accusative.

Because iugum et lorum are joined by et, so they form a single coordinated object of ponit.

That means the father puts:

• the yoke
• and the strap

The later pronoun ea confirms this by referring back to both items together as them.

It has a main clause plus a purpose clause.

Main clause

Pater iugum et lorum in officina ponit.
The father puts the yoke and the strap in the workshop.

Purpose clause

ne puer ea tangat.
so that the boy does not touch them / lest the boy touch them

So the full sentence means that the father puts the items in the workshop for a purpose: to keep the boy from touching them.