Magistra adest, itaque discipuli tacent.

Because magistra is the subject of the first clause, so it is in the nominative singular.

• magistra = nominative singular, teacher (female)
• It goes with adest = is present / is here

A native English speaker may expect word order to show the subject, but in Latin the ending is very important.

Adest means is present, is here, or is in attendance.

It is a little more specific than plain est (is).
So magistra adest does not just mean the teacher exists; it means the teacher is present / has arrived / is here.

Yes. Adest is from the compound verb adsum, adesse, which is built from ad- + sum.

So it is closely related to sum, esse (to be), but with the added idea of being present.

Some present-tense forms are:

• adsum = I am present
• ades = you are present
• adest = he/she/it is present
• adsumus = we are present
• adestis = you all are present
• adsunt = they are present

Itaque means and so, therefore, or so.

It connects the two ideas:

• the teacher is present
• as a result, the students are quiet

So it introduces a consequence, not just another fact. It is stronger and more logical than simply using et (and).

Because discipuli is the subject of the second clause, and it is plural.

• singular: discipulus = student, pupil
• plural: discipuli = students, pupils

Since the verb is tacent (they are silent / they keep quiet), the subject must also be plural.

Tacent is:

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

It comes from taceo, tacere = to be silent, to keep quiet.

So discipuli tacent means the students are silent or the students keep quiet.

Because Latin does not have a definite article like English the, or an indefinite article like a/an.

So:

• magistra can mean teacher or the teacher
• discipuli can mean students or the students

You understand which one is meant from the context.

Yes, but not in the same way as in English.

Latin word order is more flexible because the endings help show what each word is doing. So the basic meaning would still be clear even if the order changed.

For example, Latin often changes word order for emphasis or style.

Still, this sentence is very natural:

• Magistra adest, itaque discipuli tacent.

It presents the first fact, then the result.

Each verb agrees with its subject in number:

• magistra = singular, so adest is singular
• discipuli = plural, so tacent is plural

This agreement is an important part of Latin grammar. Even if the word order changes, the matching forms help you see who is doing what.

In a common classroom-style Classical pronunciation, you could say it roughly like this:

• magistra = mah-GIS-trah
• adest = AH-dest
• itaque = ee-TAH-kweh
• discipuli = dee-skee-POO-lee
• tacent = TAH-kent

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• qu sounds like kw
• the stress is on -gis- in magistra
• the stress is on -ta- in itaque
• the stress is on -pu- in discipuli