Magistra illum in bibliotheca exspectat.

Because magistra is a first-declension nominative singular noun, and here it is the subject of the sentence.

So:

• magistra = the female teacher / mistress
• nominative singular = the form used for the subject

A native English speaker may expect the subject to be recognized by position, but in Latin it is usually recognized by its ending, not just by where it appears in the sentence.

Yes. Magistra is feminine and means a female teacher or mistress.

Compare:

• magister = male teacher
• magistra = female teacher

So the sentence specifically refers to a woman.

Because illum is the accusative singular masculine form of ille, illa, illud.

Here it is the direct object of the verb, so Latin uses the accusative:

• ille = that man / he (subject form)
• illum = that man / him (object form)

Since the teacher is waiting for him, not he, Latin uses illum.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The word ille and its forms can function as:

• a demonstrative: that
• a third-person pronoun: he / him

So illum could be understood as:

• him
• that man
• that boy
• that person

In many beginner sentences, it is often translated simply as him.

Because in takes the ablative when it means in or inside a place, with location rather than motion.

So:

• in bibliotheca = in the library

If there were motion into the library, Latin would usually use in + accusative instead:

• in bibliothecam = into the library

This is a very common Latin distinction:

• in + ablative = where?
• in + accusative = into where?

It is ablative singular.

That is because it follows in in the sense of location:

• in bibliotheca = in the library

Even though bibliotheca looks like a first-declension nominative form, the ablative singular of many first-declension nouns is also -a.

Exspectat is:

• third person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

from the verb exspectare.

So it means:

• she waits for
• she is waiting for
• sometimes she expects

In this sentence, with illum as a direct object, the sense is she is waiting for him.

Because Latin exspectare can take a direct object in the accusative.

English says:

• wait for him

But Latin says literally:

• wait him → illum exspectat

So this is one of those places where Latin and English structure the idea differently.

You know from the verb ending and the noun case.

• magistra is nominative, so it is the subject
• exspectat is third person singular, so the subject is she/he/it
• illum is accusative, so it is the object

Putting that together:

• magistra = the teacher is the one doing the action
• illum = he is the one being waited for

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

English depends heavily on position:

• The teacher waits for him in the library

Latin depends more on endings:

• Magistra illum in bibliotheca exspectat

Even if you rearranged the Latin, the basic meaning could stay the same, because the endings still show each word’s role.

For example, these could mean the same thing:

• Magistra illum in bibliotheca exspectat
• In bibliotheca magistra illum exspectat
• Illum magistra exspectat in bibliotheca

The chosen order can affect emphasis, but not necessarily the core meaning.

Latin often likes to put the verb near or at the end of the sentence, although it does not have to.

So exspectat at the end is very normal Latin style.

English usually prefers:

• subject + verb + object

Latin often prefers something more like:

• subject + object + other details + verb

That is why this sentence feels more natural in Latin than a word-for-word English order would.

No. Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• magistra can mean the teacher or a teacher
• bibliotheca can mean the library or a library

The exact choice in English depends on context. If the meaning has already been given to the learner, that context tells you whether to translate with the or a.

Yes, exspectare can mean expect as well as wait for.

However, in a sentence like this, especially with a person as the object, learners are often meant to understand:

• she is waiting for him

Context is what decides which English translation is best.

A common classroom pronunciation would be something like:

• eks-SPEK-taht in a more classical style

A few helpful points:

• x sounds like ks
• c before t is still a hard k
• the stress falls on spec: ex-SPEC-tat

So the whole word is pronounced roughly eks-SPEK-taht.

It comes from Greek originally, but it is used as a normal Latin noun.

It means library, and in Latin it declines like a regular first-declension noun:

• nominative: bibliotheca
• accusative: bibliothecam
• ablative: bibliotheca

So even though its origin is Greek, you can treat it grammatically as an ordinary Latin noun here.