Discipulis post cenam in horto ludere licet.

Discipulis is the dative plural of discipulus, meaning to/for the students.

With licet, Latin usually puts the person who has permission in the dative case. So the structure is not the students permit or the students are the subject in the usual English way. Instead, it is more like:

To the students, it is permitted to play.

So:

• discipuli = the students (nominative, often used for the subject)
• discipulis = to/for the students (dative)

That is why discipulis is the correct form here.

Because licet is usually an impersonal verb.

That means it does not have a normal personal subject like he, she, or they. It simply means:

• it is allowed
• it is permitted

So licet stays third person singular, regardless of whether one person or many people are receiving the permission.

Examples:

• mihi licet = I am allowed
• nobis licet = we are allowed
• discipulis licet = the students are allowed

The verb is still licet, not a plural form.

Because after licet, Latin normally uses an infinitive to say what action is permitted.

So:

• licet = it is permitted
• ludere = to play

Together:

• ludere licet = it is permitted to play / is allowed to play

This is very common in Latin. The infinitive gives the action:

• ire licet = it is permitted to go
• manere licet = it is permitted to stay
• ludere licet = it is permitted to play

Because the preposition post takes the accusative case.

So:

• post = after
• cenam = accusative singular of cena (dinner, meal)

Together:

• post cenam = after dinner

This is just a rule of the preposition:

• post + accusative

Because in can take different cases depending on its meaning.

Here it means in in the sense of location: in the garden. For location, in takes the ablative.

So:

• in horto = in the garden

Compare:

• in hortum = into the garden (motion toward; accusative)
• in horto = in the garden (location; ablative)

That distinction is very important in Latin.

The sentence is built like this:

• discipulis = to the students
• post cenam = after dinner
• in horto = in the garden
• ludere = to play
• licet = it is permitted

A very literal English version would be:

To the students, after dinner, in the garden, to play is permitted.

More natural English is:

The students are allowed to play in the garden after dinner.

or

It is permitted for the students to play in the garden after dinner.

Not in the normal grammatical sense.

With licet, there often is no ordinary subject like the students in the students play. Instead:

• the person allowed is in the dative: discipulis
• the action allowed is the infinitive: ludere

So it is better to think of the sentence as:

• It is permitted
  • for the students
    • to play

In English, we often turn that into The students are allowed..., but Latin is structured differently.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show how the words function.

English depends heavily on order:

• The students play in the garden after dinner

Latin can move things around more freely because the cases make the roles clear:

• discipulis is dative
• cenam is accusative after post
• horto is ablative after in
• ludere is infinitive
• licet is the main verb

So Discipulis post cenam in horto ludere licet is perfectly normal, even though it does not match English order exactly.

Yes, often they could.

For example, these would still mean roughly the same thing:

• Post cenam discipulis in horto ludere licet.
• In horto discipulis post cenam ludere licet.
• Discipulis in horto post cenam ludere licet.

The basic relationships stay clear because of the forms of the words.

However, word order in Latin can add emphasis. For example:

• putting discipulis first may highlight who has permission
• putting in horto first may highlight where
• placing licet at the end is very common for the main verb

So the meaning stays similar, but the emphasis can shift.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Latin does not have articles like a/an and the, so cena by itself does not tell you whether English should say:

• a dinner
• the dinner
• simply dinner

In a sentence like this, the most natural English translation is usually:

after dinner

Because Latin has no words exactly equivalent to English a/an and the.

So:

• discipulis could mean to students or to the students
• in horto could mean in a garden or in the garden

English translation has to supply the most natural article from the context. In this sentence, English usually says:

The students are allowed to play in the garden after dinner.

But Latin itself does not explicitly say the.

Licet is present tense.

It means:

• it is permitted
• is allowed

In context, that can mean a present fact or a general rule:

• The students are allowed to play...
• It is permissible for the students to play...

It does not mean was allowed or will be allowed. Those would require different forms.

Not exactly.

Licet is about permission, not just ability.

So:

• discipulis ludere licet = the students are allowed to play
• discipuli ludere possunt = the students can play

In English, can sometimes means are allowed to, but Latin often keeps the ideas more distinct:

• licet = permission
• possum = ability or possibility

So licet is the better word here if the point is that they have permission.