Iudex severus reum interrogat.

In Latin, you usually tell this from the case endings, not just from word order.

• iudex is nominative singular, so it is the subject.
• reum is accusative singular, so it is the direct object.
• interrogat is he/she/it interrogates, so it matches a singular subject.

So the sentence means that the strict judge is doing the action, and the accused man is receiving it.

Because not all Latin masculine nouns belong to the second declension.

iudex is a third-declension noun. Third-declension nominative singular forms can end in many different ways, including -x. So iudex is a perfectly normal nominative singular form even though it does not look like words such as dominus or servus.

Its dictionary form is:

• iudex, iudicis = judge

The important point is: subject does not mean must end in -us. It means must be in the nominative case.

Severus is an adjective modifying iudex.

It describes what kind of judge is meant: a strict, stern, or severe judge.

In grammatical terms, severus is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

It matches iudex in those features, which is how Latin shows that the adjective belongs with that noun.

Because Latin adjectives usually match the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• severus = masculine nominative singular
• iudex = nominative singular subject
• reum = masculine accusative singular object

Since severus is nominative, it naturally goes with iudex, which is also nominative. If the adjective were describing reum, you would expect an accusative form, such as severum.

So iudex severus = the strict judge, not the strict accused man.

Because reum is the accusative singular form, and the direct object of the verb must be in the accusative case.

The noun is:

• reus = nominative singular
• reum = accusative singular

So:

• reus would mean the accused man as a subject
• reum means the accused man as an object

Since the judge is interrogating the accused man, Latin uses reum.

Interrogat is the third-person singular present active indicative of interrogare.

That means:

• present tense: the action is happening now, or is presented as a general present
• active voice: the subject is performing the action
• third person singular: he/she/it interrogates

So interrogat means interrogates or is interrogating, depending on how you translate it into natural English.

Because Latin adjective placement is more flexible than English.

In English, we normally say strict judge. In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the noun. Very often, especially in simple textbook sentences, the adjective comes after:

• iudex severus

That is completely normal Latin. Putting the adjective in a different place can sometimes change the emphasis, but it does not automatically change the basic meaning.

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings already show each word’s role.

For example, these could all mean basically the same thing:

• Iudex severus reum interrogat.
• Reum iudex severus interrogat.
• Interrogat iudex severus reum.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis or style, not core meaning.

That said, the version you were given is very natural Latin, with the verb at the end, which is especially common.

Because Classical Latin does not have definite or indefinite articles like English does.

So Latin can say:

• iudex = judge, a judge, or the judge
• reum = an accused man, the accused man, or simply accused man

English usually has to choose a/an or the, but Latin leaves that to the context.

In a common Classical Latin pronunciation, you can approximate it like this:

YOO-deks seh-WEH-rus REH-um in-ter-ROH-gat

A few useful details:

• I at the start of Iudex sounds like English y
• v in Classical Latin is like English w
• reum is usually pronounced in two syllables: REH-um
• g in interrogat is always a hard g, as in go

So a more Classical-sounding version would be close to:

YOO-deks seh-WEH-rus REH-um in-ter-ROH-gat with v pronounced like w.