Mater puerum monet ne onus grave tollere conetur.

Because mater is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject.

• mater = mother
• It is a third-declension noun.
• In this sentence, she is the one doing the warning, so she is the subject.

So mater means the mother as the doer of monet.

Because moneō commonly takes a direct object: the person being warned or advised.

• puer = boy
• puerum = the boy in the accusative singular

So:

• mater puerum monet = the mother warns/advises the boy

English often uses warn someone or advise someone, and Latin does the same thing here with the accusative.

Monet is from moneō, monēre, which can mean:

• warn
• advise
• remind
• sometimes urge

In this sentence, because it is followed by ne ... conetur, it means something like:

• warns the boy not to try...
• advises the boy not to try...

So it is not just a reminder; it introduces a warning or piece of advice.

Ne introduces a negative subordinate clause after verbs of warning, urging, ordering, and similar ideas.

Here it means:

• that ... not
• or more naturally in English, just not

So:

• monet ne ... conetur = warns/advises that he should not try...
• smoother English: warns the boy not to try...

A very important pattern is:

• ut = positive result/purpose/jussive-type subordinate idea in many contexts
• ne = negative version

After moneō, ne is very natural for warn someone not to...

Because it is inside a clause introduced by ne after monet.

This is a standard Latin construction: a verb of warning or advising can be followed by a subjunctive clause.

So:

• monet ne ... conetur
• literally: she warns him that he should not try...

The subjunctive is not random here; it is required by the kind of clause.

Conetur is:

• 3rd person singular
• present subjunctive
• of the verb conor, conārī = to try, attempt

It ends in -tur because conor is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs:

• look passive in form
• but have an active meaning

So conetur looks passive, but means:

• he may try
• he should try
• in context here, with ne: he should not try

So conetur does not mean is tried; it means tries / should try / attempt depending on context.

Because conor is followed by an infinitive to express what someone tries to do.

So:

• conatur tollere = he tries to lift
• conetur tollere = that he should try to lift / to try to lift

This is similar to English:

• try to lift

not:

• try that he lift

So tollere is the infinitive complement of conetur.

Conetur is the main verb of the subordinate clause, and tollere depends on it as an infinitive.

Structure:

• ne ... conetur = that he should not try
• tollere = to lift

Together:

• ne onus grave tollere conetur = not to try to lift the heavy burden

So conetur gives the idea of trying, and tollere names the action being attempted.

Because grave agrees with onus.

• onus is neuter singular
• it is the direct object of tollere
• therefore it is in the accusative singular
• for neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative singular often look the same

The adjective must match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• onus = neuter singular accusative
• grave = neuter singular accusative

That is why we get onus grave = a heavy burden

Because puerum already fills the role of direct object with monet, and tollere naturally takes something as its own object.

The structure is:

• mater puerum monet = the mother warns the boy
• ne onus grave tollere conetur = not to try to lift a heavy burden

So:

• puerum belongs with monet
• onus grave belongs with tollere

In other words:

• she warns the boy
• not to try to lift the heavy load

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show grammatical relationships.

Placing the verb at the end is very common in Latin, especially in formal prose.

So:

• Mater puerum monet ne onus grave tollere conetur

is perfectly natural Latin.

The final placement of conetur also gives a neat close to the subordinate clause. But this is a style preference, not a strict rule. Latin could rearrange the words and still mean the same thing, as long as the forms remain clear.

Not if the meaning is negative.

After a verb like monet, Latin often uses:

• ut for a positive clause
• ne for a negative clause

Compare:

• monet ut veniat = he advises/warns him to come
• monet ne veniat = he advises/warns him not to come

Since this sentence means not to try to lift the heavy burden, ne is the correct choice.

Grammatically, a more literal unpacking is something like:

• warns/advises the boy that he should not try to lift the heavy burden

But in natural English, we usually say:

• warns the boy not to try to lift the heavy burden

So the Latin construction is not identical to English word-for-word, but the natural translation is straightforward.

Because Latin often prefers a subjunctive clause after verbs like warn, advise, urge, and order, especially when the warning concerns what someone should or should not do.

So instead of saying simply:

• warns the boy not to lift

Latin says something more like:

• warns the boy that he should not try to lift

Also, conetur adds an extra nuance: not merely do not lift, but do not even attempt to lift.

That makes the sentence more precise.

A very useful difference:

• ne ... tollat = that he should not lift the heavy burden
• ne ... tollere conetur = that he should not try to lift the heavy burden

So conetur adds the idea of attempt.

This can imply:

• the burden is too heavy
• the action is risky
• even the attempt is a bad idea

So the sentence is not merely forbidding the completed action; it warns against making the attempt at all.