Puer hodie non valet.

Latin normally has no articles. That means there is no separate word for the or a/an.

So puer can mean:

• the boy
• a boy
• simply boy, depending on context

You decide from the situation and from the translation style which English article fits best.

Puer is nominative singular.

You can tell because:

• it is the subject of the sentence
• the verb valet is third person singular, so it matches a singular subject
• the dictionary form of this noun is puer, puerī meaning boy

In this sentence, puer is the one doing or experiencing the action, so nominative makes sense.

Not all second-declension masculine nouns end in -us. Some end in -er.

So puer belongs to the second declension, but its nominative singular form is just puer. Its genitive is puerī, which shows its declension.

Compare:

• servus, servī = slave
• puer, puerī = boy

So -er here is just part of the noun’s normal nominative form.

Hodie means today.

It is an adverb, so it modifies the verb rather than a noun. It tells you when the action or state happens.

In Puer hodie non valet, hodie tells us that the boy is not well today.

Yes, Latin word order is flexible. Because Latin uses endings to show grammatical roles, words can often move around without changing the basic meaning.

All of these could mean essentially the same thing:

• Puer hodie non valet.
• Hodie puer non valet.
• Puer non valet hodie.

However, word order can affect emphasis:

• Hodie first may emphasize today
• non before valet strongly highlights the negation
• starting with puer makes the boy the topic

So the given order is natural, but not the only possible one.

Non means not. It is an adverb of negation.

It usually goes right before the word it negates, and very often it comes before the verb:

• non valet = is not well / is not strong

So in this sentence, non negates valet.

Valet is:

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

It comes from the verb valeō, valēre, which can mean:

• to be strong
• to be well
• to be healthy

So valet means he/she/it is well, he/she/it is strong, or similar, depending on context.

In Latin, the verb ending often already tells you the subject.

The ending -t in valet means third person singular:

• he
• she
• it

Because puer is present, we know the subject is the boy, so valet here means the boy is well or, with non, the boy is not well.

Latin often does not need a separate pronoun like he unless it is being emphasized.

Latin often expresses being well / being healthy with the verb valeō.

So:

• valet = he is well / healthy
• non valet = he is not well

This is more idiomatic than trying to say he is good.

Also:

• bonus means good as an adjective, not specifically healthy
• bene means well, but est bene is not the normal classical way to say he is well

So non valet is the natural Latin expression.

It can mean several related things, depending on context.

Common meanings of valeō include:

• be strong
• be healthy
• be well
• have power
• be effective

In a sentence about a person like Puer hodie non valet, the most natural sense is is not well or is not feeling well.

Yes, grammatically it could. The verb valeō can refer to strength as well as health.

But in ordinary context, especially with hodie, the most natural interpretation is:

• The boy is not well today
• The boy isn't feeling well today

If the wider passage were about physical strength or ability, then not strong today could also fit.

A simple classroom pronunciation would be something like:

POO-er HO-dee-eh non WAH-let

A few notes:

• puer has two vowel sounds: pu-er
• hodie is usually pronounced in three syllables: ho-di-e
• v in restored classical pronunciation sounds like English w, so valet sounds like wah-let
• stress usually falls like this:
  • PU-er
  • HO-di-e
  • VA-let

Different teaching traditions pronounce Latin differently, so your class may use a slightly different system.

Yes. It is a very basic and useful Latin pattern:

subject + adverb + negation + verb

Here:

• Puer = subject
• hodie = time adverb
• non = negation
• valet = verb

It is a good example of how Latin can say a complete thought with very few words, because:

• the noun ending shows the subject
• the verb ending shows person and number
• no article is needed
• no pronoun is needed