Mula lenta raedam per viam trahit.

Because mula is in the nominative singular, which is the case commonly used for the subject.

• mula = nominative singular, feminine
• lenta matches it
• trahit = he/she/it pulls, so the verb is singular too

So mula lenta is the slow mule, the thing doing the action.

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, mula is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• mula lenta = slow mule

If it were lentam, that would be accusative feminine singular, so it would not match mula here.

Because raedam is the direct object of trahit.

The mule is doing the pulling, and the wagon/cart is the thing being pulled. In Latin, the direct object is usually put in the accusative case.

So:

• mula = subject, nominative
• raedam = direct object, accusative

That is why it ends in -am.

It is a prepositional phrase meaning something like along the road or through the road/way depending on context.

A very important grammar point is:

• per takes the accusative case

So:

• per = through, along
• viam = accusative singular of via

That is why it is viam, not via.

Because the preposition per requires the accusative.

• via = nominative or ablative singular
• viam = accusative singular

Since the phrase is per viam, Latin grammar demands the accusative form.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So mula can mean:

• a mule
• the mule

and raedam can mean:

• a wagon/cart
• the wagon/cart

You figure out which is best from the context.

Latin often puts the verb at or near the end of the sentence, although word order is much more flexible than in English.

So this order is very natural:

• Mula lenta = subject
• raedam = object
• per viam = prepositional phrase
• trahit = verb

English depends heavily on word order, but Latin depends more on endings.

Yes, often they could.

Because the endings show each word’s role, Latin can rearrange words much more freely than English. For example, forms like these could still mean basically the same thing:

• Raedam mula lenta per viam trahit.
• Per viam mula lenta raedam trahit.
• Trahit mula lenta raedam per viam.

The exact emphasis might change, but the core meaning stays the same because:

• mula is still nominative
• raedam is still accusative
• viam is still accusative after per
• trahit is still the verb

Trahit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from trahere, meaning to pull, drag, draw.

So trahit means:

• he pulls
• she pulls
• it pulls

Here it is it pulls, referring to mula.

Because the ending of the verb already tells you the subject person and number.

In trahit, the ending -t shows that the verb is 3rd person singular.

So Latin does not need to say a separate word for it unless there is some special emphasis.

That is very common in Latin.

Not necessarily in a real-world sense. In Latin, every noun has a grammatical gender.

Mula is a feminine noun, so its adjective must also be feminine:

• mula lenta

That does not always mean the writer is focusing on the animal’s biological sex; it mainly reflects the noun’s grammatical gender.

Raeda is a first-declension feminine noun.

Its forms include:

• nominative singular: raeda
• accusative singular: raedam

In this sentence you see raedam because it is the direct object of trahit.

Latin adjectives can come before or after the noun.

Both patterns are common:

• mula lenta
• lenta mula

and also often:

• mula lenta

Latin word order is flexible, so adjective placement can depend on style, rhythm, or emphasis rather than strict rules like in English.

The important thing is that lenta agrees with mula, so you can tell they belong together even if the order changes.