Frater sartorem quaerit, quia zona sua fracta est et tunica nimis longa videtur.

Because frater is the subject of the main verb quaerit. In Latin, the subject is normally put in the nominative case.

• frater = brother, nominative singular
• quaerit = he seeks / he is looking for

So Frater sartorem quaerit means The brother is looking for a tailor.

Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an. A noun like frater can mean:

• brother
• a brother
• the brother

The context tells you which English translation is most natural.

Because sartorem is the direct object of quaerit. The verb quaerere takes a direct object in the accusative.

• sartor = tailor
• sartorem = tailor, accusative singular

So sartorem quaerit means he is looking for a tailor.

Here quaerit means seeks, looks for, or is trying to find.

It comes from quaerere. Depending on context, quaerere can also mean ask, inquire, or seek, but in this sentence looking for is the natural sense because the brother needs someone to fix clothing-related problems.

Quia introduces a clause giving a reason: because.

So the structure is:

• main clause: Frater sartorem quaerit
• reason clause: quia zona sua fracta est et tunica nimis longa videtur

This is very similar to English:

• The brother is looking for a tailor because...

Sua is the reflexive possessive adjective, meaning his own / her own / their own. It refers back to the subject it belongs with in the sentence, here frater.

So:

• zona sua = his own belt
• zona eius would usually mean his belt referring to some other person, not back to the subject

That is why sua is the normal choice here.

Because possessive adjectives in Latin agree with the thing possessed, not with the possessor.

Here the possessed noun is zona:

• zona is feminine singular nominative
• so the possessive adjective must also be feminine singular nominative: sua

Even though the owner is the brother, the form of sua matches zona, not frater.

Fracta est is the perfect passive of frangere.

• frango = I break
• fracta = broken
• est = is / has been

Together, fracta est means has been broken or, in smooth English, often simply is broken.

Since zona is feminine singular, the participle is fracta.

Because it agrees with zona, which is feminine singular.

Latin participles act a lot like adjectives in this way:

• zona fracta est = the belt is broken
• fracta matches zona in gender, number, and case

If the noun were masculine, you would expect fractus; if neuter, fractum.

Because longa is describing tunica, and with videtur it works as a predicate adjective.

So the pattern is:

• tunica = tunic
• longa = long
• videtur = seems

Together:

• tunica nimis longa videtur = the tunic seems too long

The adjective is nominative because it is linked to the subject tunica, not used as a direct object.

Because longa is not directly modifying an object; it is part of the predicate with videtur.

Think of it like this:

• tunica longa est = the tunic is long
• tunica longa videtur = the tunic seems long

In both cases, longa stays nominative, agreeing with tunica.

If tunica were the object of another verb, then you might see longam.

Nimis means too, too much, or excessively.

Here it modifies longa:

• longa = long
• nimis longa = too long

So it works very much like English too in too long.

Although video usually means see, the passive form videtur often means seems or appears in Latin.

So:

• videt = he sees
• videtur = he/it is seen, and very often he/it seems

In this sentence:

• tunica nimis longa videtur = the tunic seems too long

This is a very common Latin usage.

Here et connects two statements inside the quia clause:

• zona sua fracta est
• tunica nimis longa videtur

So the reason clause has two parts:

1. his belt is broken
2. his tunic seems too long

Both together explain why he is looking for a tailor.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings show the grammatical roles.

A very literal order is:

• Brother tailor seeks, because belt his-own broken is and tunic too long seems.

But natural English rearranges this.

The Latin order is perfectly normal. It puts the key nouns and verbs in a clear, readable sequence, but Latin could change the order for emphasis without changing the basic meaning.

Yes. The Latin perfect passive often overlaps with both ideas in English.

• has been broken focuses on the completed action
• is broken focuses on the resulting state

In this sentence, English usually prefers is broken, but grammatically fracta est is the perfect passive form.

Because the sentence is describing two slightly different ideas:

• zona sua fracta est = a straightforward state: his belt is broken
• tunica nimis longa videtur = an appearance or judgment: his tunic seems too long

So Latin uses:

• est for what is stated as a fact
• videtur for what appears or seems to be the case

That distinction is very natural in Latin.