Singuli discipuli suam opinionem scribunt, deinde inter se conferunt quid magistra de potestate dicat.

Because singuli is a distributive numeral/adjective: it means one each or each individually. In Latin, words like this are normally plural in form, even though the idea in English is often singular.

So:

• singuli discipuli = the students, one by one / each student

Latin is thinking of the group as made up of separate individuals.

Here discipuli is nominative plural, and it is the subject of both scribunt and conferunt.

You can tell because:

• scribunt = they write
• conferunt = they discuss/compare

Both verbs are 3rd person plural, so they need a plural subject.
discipuli fits that perfectly: students / pupils.

Also, singuli agrees with discipuli in case, number, and gender:

• nominative
• plural
• masculine

Suam is the reflexive possessive adjective, meaning his/her/their own. It refers back to the subject of the clause.

So in Singuli discipuli suam opinionem scribunt, the idea is:

• Each student writes his or her own opinion

Latin uses suus, sua, suum when the possessor is the same as the subject.

If you used eorum, that would mean their in a non-reflexive sense, more like:

• each student writes their opinion = someone else’s opinion, or the group’s opinion

That is not the intended meaning here.

Because Latin is treating the action individually:

• each student writes one opinion

So even though many students are involved, each person produces a single thing, and Latin expresses that with the singular:

• suam opinionem

This matches the distributive idea of singuli: one by one, each person does the action separately.

Opinionem is accusative singular because it is the direct object of scribunt.

• scribunt = they write
• What do they write? opinionem

The noun is from opinio, opinionis (feminine), so:

• nominative singular: opinio
• accusative singular: opinionem

And suam agrees with it:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

Literally, inter se means among themselves or with one another.

It is a very common Latin expression for reciprocal action. Here it shows that the students are interacting with each other:

• deinde inter se conferunt = then they discuss/compare with one another

So se is reflexive, referring back to the students, and inter gives the sense of mutual interaction.

Yes. Conferunt is from confero, conferre, contuli, collatum.

The basic literal meaning is something like bring together, but it often develops meanings such as:

• compare
• discuss
• consider together

So inter se conferunt is an idiomatic way to say that they compare ideas or discuss among themselves.

Form:

• conferunt = present active indicative, 3rd person plural

Because this is an indirect question.

• quid = what?
• quod usually means because, that which, or a relative pronoun/adjective, depending on context

Here the students are discussing what the teacher says. That is a question-word clause:

• quid magistra de potestate dicat = what the teacher says about power

So quid is exactly the form you expect in an indirect question.

Because in Latin, an indirect question normally uses the subjunctive.

The clause is:

• quid magistra de potestate dicat

This depends on conferunt: they discuss what the teacher says. Since it is an embedded question, Latin uses the subjunctive:

• dicat rather than dicit

So this is not saying the teacher’s speaking is doubtful; it is simply the normal grammar of indirect questions in Latin.

Form:

• dicat = present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular

It is an indirect question.

You can think of the direct question as:

• Quid magistra de potestate dicit?
• What does the teacher say about power?

When this question becomes embedded after another verb, Latin changes it into an indirect question:

• conferunt quid magistra de potestate dicat

Typical features of an indirect question in Latin:

1. a question word such as quid, quis, cur, ubi, etc.
2. a verb in the subjunctive

This sentence has both.

Because the preposition de takes the ablative.

De often means:

• about
• concerning
• on
• sometimes from/down from, depending on context

Here it means about:

• de potestate = about power

The noun is potestas, potestatis (feminine), and its ablative singular is potestate.

Because the sentence is talking about one teacher.

So:

• magistra = nominative singular
• dicat = 3rd person singular

The students are plural, but the teacher is one person. That is why the verbs differ:

• scribunt / conferunt = they write / discuss
• dicat = she says

Latin word order is quite flexible because the endings show the grammatical relationships. So the sentence could be rearranged in various ways without changing the basic meaning.

Still, the given order is natural:

• Singuli discipuli sets up the subject first
• suam opinionem scribunt states the first action
• deinde marks the next step
• inter se conferunt gives the second action
• quid magistra de potestate dicat gives what they are discussing

So the order helps the sentence flow clearly, even though Latin is not as dependent on word order as English is.

That is a very common and natural position in Latin: adjective before noun.

• suam opinionem

Latin can also separate adjectives and nouns for emphasis or style, but here there is no need. The phrase is straightforward and easy to read.

Also, placing suam first highlights the idea of one’s own opinion, which fits well with singuli:

• each student writes his or her own opinion

Yes. In context, it can suggest both ideas.

Conferre inter se can mean:

• compare with one another
• discuss together
• pool and examine their thoughts

In a classroom context, the idea is probably that they first write individually, and then they compare or discuss their answers together. So English might translate it in different ways depending on how natural you want it to sound.