Sartor tunicam celeriter breviorem facit et zonam novam puero ostendit.

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

Here it is the person doing both actions:

• facit = makes
• ostendit = shows

So sartor is the one who makes the tunic shorter and shows the belt.

Also, Latin often puts the subject near the beginning, though it does not have to.

Tunicam is accusative singular.

It is accusative because it is the direct object of facit. In other words, it is the thing being acted on:

• the tailor makes the tunic shorter

The dictionary form is tunica, so:

• nominative singular: tunica
• accusative singular: tunicam

Because breviorem goes with tunicam.

It is describing the result of the action: the tailor makes the tunic shorter. Latin uses an adjective agreeing with the object here.

So:

• tunicam = feminine accusative singular
• breviorem = feminine accusative singular comparative adjective

A good English parallel is:

• He makes the tunic shorter
• She painted the door red

In Latin, the adjective agrees with the noun it belongs to.

Breviorem is the comparative form of brevis.

So:

• brevis = short
• brevior = shorter

In this sentence, the form is breviorem because it must agree with tunicam in gender, number, and case:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

So breviorem means shorter, not just short.

Celeriter is an adverb, meaning quickly.

It modifies facit, telling us how the tailor makes the tunic shorter.

So:

• facit = he makes
• celeriter facit = he makes it quickly

A learner may notice that celeriter looks different from an adjective like celer. That is because Latin often forms adverbs from adjectives with endings like -iter or -ter.

Here facit means makes in the sense of renders or causes to become.

The pattern is:

object + adjective + facit

So:

• tunicam breviorem facit = he makes the tunic shorter

This is very common in Latin. It does not mean he is creating a tunic; it means he is changing its condition.

Because zonam is the direct object of ostendit.

The tailor is showing the belt, so zonam is accusative singular.

Novam agrees with zonam, so it is also:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

So:

• zonam = belt
• novam = new

Together: zonam novam = a new belt or the new belt, depending on context.

Puero is dative singular because it is the indirect object of ostendit.

The pattern is:

• show something to someone

So:

• zonam novam = the thing shown
• puero = the person it is shown to

That is why puero means to the boy.

Its dictionary form is puer, and the dative singular is puero.

Yes, novam zonam would also be correct.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order. An adjective can come:

• before its noun
• after its noun
• sometimes even separated from it

What matters most is agreement, not position.

So both of these are grammatically fine:

• zonam novam
• novam zonam

The same is true with tunicam ... breviorem, although there the adjective is separated from the noun by celeriter.

Because the same subject continues.

Latin often leaves out a repeated subject when it is already clear. So:

• Sartor ... facit
• et ... ostendit

naturally means:

• The tailor makes ... and shows ...

There is no need to repeat sartor unless the writer wants extra emphasis or clarity.

The word order is less strict than in English, but it still helps with emphasis and style.

A very natural way to read this sentence is:

• Sartor — the subject first
• tunicam celeriter breviorem facit — first action
• et zonam novam puero ostendit — second action

Latin often places verbs near the end of their clauses, as here with facit and ostendit. But the endings, especially the case endings, are what tell you each word’s role.

Yes, in ordinary spelling ostendit can be ambiguous.

It may represent:

• present: shows
• perfect: showed / has shown

In this sentence, learners understand it as present because:

• it is paired with facit, which is clearly present
• the overall sense is a straightforward present-tense description

So here it should be read as shows.