Praeco populum monet ut taceat, quia candidati mox ante tribunal loquentur.

Because praeco is the subject of the main verb monet. It is the person doing the warning.

• praeco = the herald / crier
• monet = warns / advises

So praeco has to be nominative, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Populum is the direct object of monet.

The verb moneo, monere commonly takes:

• a person in the accusative
• then often an ut clause explaining what that person is being urged or warned to do

So here:

• praeco populum monet = the herald warns the people
• ut taceat = to be silent / that it should be silent

Even though English might say warns the people to be quiet, Latin uses accusative + ut + subjunctive.

After verbs of urging, advising, warning, persuading, and similar ideas, Latin often uses ut + subjunctive.

So monet ut taceat means:

• he warns/advises that it should be silent
• more naturally in English: he tells it to be quiet

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• hortatur ut veniat = he urges him to come
• monet ut audiat = he warns/advises him to listen

So ut here introduces a subordinate clause showing what is being urged or requested.

Because it is in an ut-clause dependent on monet. After this kind of verb, Latin normally uses the subjunctive.

So taceat is not stating a fact like is silent. It expresses what the herald wants the people to do:

• tacet = is silent or keeps quiet
• taceat = should be silent / be quiet

This is sometimes called a substantive clause of command or a jussive-type subordinate clause.

Because populus in Latin is grammatically singular, even though in English the people refers to many persons.

So:

• populus = a singular noun meaning the people as a group
• therefore taceat is 3rd person singular

Latin is following grammar, not the number of individuals in real life.

If the sentence had used a plural noun, the verb would be plural too.

Loquentur is:

• future tense
• 3rd person plural
• from the verb loquor, loqui = to speak

So it means they will speak.

The subject is candidati:

• candidati = the candidates
• loquentur = will speak

Together: candidati ... loquentur = the candidates will speak

Because loquor is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive-looking forms
• but an active meaning

So:

• loquentur looks like a passive ending
• but it means they will speak, not they will be spoken

This is completely normal for deponent verbs in Latin.

Other examples:

• sequitur = he follows
• proficiscuntur = they set out

Because quia here introduces a straightforward reason: because the candidates will speak soon before the tribunal.

In a normal causal clause like this, Latin often uses the indicative, especially when the reason is presented as a real fact.

So:

• quia candidati mox ante tribunal loquentur
• because the candidates will soon speak before the tribunal

The sentence is giving the reason for the herald’s warning.

Ante is a preposition meaning before / in front of, and it takes the accusative.

So:

• ante
  • accusative
• tribunal is accusative singular

Together, ante tribunal means before the tribunal or in front of the tribunal.

Here tribunal does not mean a whole law court in the modern sense. In Latin it can mean the raised platform, judgment seat, or magistrate’s platform.

Mox means soon.

It modifies loquentur:

• candidati mox ... loquentur = the candidates will speak soon

Latin word order is flexible, so mox can stand in a slightly different place from where soon would usually go in English. But its meaning is still tied to the future speaking.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the case endings show the grammatical roles.

So this sentence could be rearranged in other ways and still mean basically the same thing, for example:

• Praeco monet populum ut taceat
• Populum praeco monet ut taceat

The chosen order can add emphasis or sound more natural in context, but the endings tell you:

• praeco = subject
• populum = object
• taceat and loquentur = verbs of the subordinate clauses

So in Latin, word order matters less for basic grammar than it does in English.