Portitor ad ripam venit et dicit ratem paratam esse.

Because ad means to or toward, and it takes the accusative case.

• ripa = the bank, shore (nominative)
• ripam = the bank, shore (accusative singular)

So ad ripam means to the bank.

This is very common in Latin:

• ad villam = to the house
• ad urbem = to the city
• ad aquam = to the water

Ripam is accusative singular.

It is accusative because it follows ad, which normally governs the accusative when it means motion toward something.

So in:

• Portitor ad ripam venit

the ferryman is moving toward the bank, so Latin uses ad + accusative.

Portitor means something like ferryman, boatman, or carrier across.

In this sentence, it is clearly the person who operates or brings the raft/boat to help people cross water.

Grammatically, portitor is:

• nominative singular
• the subject of both venit and dicit

So portitor is the person who comes and speaks.

Because venit is grammatically present tense: he/she/it comes.

However, Latin often uses the present tense in storytelling where English might prefer the past. This is called the historical present.

So depending on context, venit could be understood as:

• comes
• or, in smoother English narrative, came

The same is true of dicit:

• literally says
• but in narrative often said

Because Latin often does not use a separate word like English that after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and so on.

Instead, Latin uses the accusative and infinitive construction, often called indirect statement.

So:

• dicit = he says
• ratem paratam esse = the raft to be ready

More naturally in English:

• he says that the raft is ready

Latin does this very often:

• dicit puerum venire = he says that the boy is coming
• puto id verum esse = I think that it is true

Because in an indirect statement, the subject of the reported statement goes into the accusative.

In normal direct statement, you might have:

• ratis parata est = the raft is ready

But after dicit, Latin changes it to indirect statement:

• ratem paratam esse = that the raft is ready

So:

• ratis (subject in nominative) becomes ratem (subject of indirect statement in accusative)

This is one of the most important Latin constructions to learn.

Because paratam has to agree with ratem.

Both are:

• accusative singular
• feminine

Why feminine? Because ratis is a feminine noun.

So:

• ratem = raft (accusative singular feminine)
• paratam = ready/prepared (accusative singular feminine)

In Latin, adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Because esse is the infinitive to be, and indirect statement in Latin normally uses an accusative + infinitive.

The full reported idea is:

• ratem paratam esse = the raft to be ready

English usually says:

• that the raft is ready

But Latin expresses this with:

• subject in the accusative
• verb in the infinitive

Without esse, the structure would be incomplete.

It breaks down like this:

• dicit = he says
• ratem = the raft (accusative subject of the indirect statement)
• paratam = ready/prepared (agreeing with ratem)
• esse = to be

So the pattern is:

verb of saying + accusative subject + infinitive

This is the normal Latin way to say:

• he says that the raft is ready

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships.

For example, these would mean essentially the same thing:

• Portitor ad ripam venit et dicit ratem paratam esse.
• Ad ripam portitor venit et ratem paratam esse dicit.
• Portitor venit ad ripam et dicit ratem paratam esse.

The original order is natural and clear, but Latin can move words around for:

• emphasis
• style
• rhythm

The dictionary form is ratis, a feminine noun meaning raft.

So:

• ratis = nominative singular
• ratem = accusative singular

This is a third-declension noun, which is why the nominative and accusative do not look as similar as they often do in first- or second-declension nouns.

It is related to the verb paro, parare, meaning prepare.

Paratam here is the perfect passive participle:

• paratus, parata, paratum = prepared, ready

In many contexts it can be translated simply as ready.

So ratem paratam esse literally means:

• the raft to have been prepared

But in natural English this usually becomes:

• the raft is ready
• or the raft has been prepared

Because after a verb like dicit, Latin prefers indirect statement rather than a full subordinate clause with that.

So instead of something like:

• he says that the raft is ready

Latin usually does not say:

• dicit quod ratis parata est

Instead, it says:

• dicit ratem paratam esse

This accusative-and-infinitive construction is one of the most characteristic features of Latin syntax.