Parva avis super murum volat.

Because parva has to agree with avis.

In Latin, adjectives match the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, avis is feminine, singular, nominative, so the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative: parva.

So:

• parvus = masculine
• parva = feminine
• parvum = neuter

Avis is nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence: the bird is the one doing the flying.

A good way to see that is through the verb:

• volat = he/she/it flies

So the sentence needs a singular subject, and avis fills that role.

Not necessarily. In Latin, grammatical gender and biological sex are not always the same thing.

Avis is a grammatically feminine noun, but it can still refer to a bird in general, not specifically a female bird.

So here, feminine gender is mainly a grammar fact, not a statement about the bird’s sex.

Because murum is accusative singular, the form used here after the preposition super.

• murus = nominative singular, wall as a subject
• murum = accusative singular, wall as the object of the preposition

So in super murum, the word super governs murum.

In this sentence, super is followed by murum in the accusative.

For a beginner, the simplest thing to remember is:

• super can mean over, above, or on
• in many common examples, it is followed by the accusative

So super murum means over the wall or above the wall.

As you go further in Latin, you may learn that some prepositions can take more than one case in different contexts, but here the important point is simply that super is governing murum.

Volat is:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

It comes from the verb volare, meaning to fly.

So volat means:

• he flies
• she flies
• it flies

In this sentence, English would usually translate it as flies.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

English usually depends heavily on word order:

• The bird flies over the wall

Latin depends more on word endings to show each word’s job in the sentence, so the verb often appears at the end:

• Parva avis super murum volat

That said, Latin could rearrange the words for emphasis or style. For example, Avis parva super murum volat would still be understandable.

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

So avis can mean:

• a bird
• the bird

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Latin. Learners often want to insert an article because English requires one, but Latin usually does not.

Because parva agrees with avis in gender, number, and case.

That agreement tells you that parva describes avis, so together they mean small bird.

Latin often lets you identify these relationships by matching endings rather than by strict word order.

Yes, but it usually does not need to be.

The ending -t in volat already tells you the verb is third person singular, so Latin often leaves out pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or clarity.

So:

• volat = he/she/it flies
• avis volat = the bird flies
• ea volat could mean she/it flies, but adding the pronoun is often unnecessary

That is why Latin sentences frequently seem shorter than their English translations.