Guttur pueri dolet, itaque aquam tepidam petit.

Because pueri means of the boy. Latin often shows possession with the genitive case.

So:

• guttur = throat
• pueri = of the boy

Together, guttur pueri literally means the throat of the boy, which English would normally express as the boy’s throat.

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• liber pueri = the boy’s book
• vox puellae = the girl’s voice

Guttur is nominative singular, because it is the subject of dolet.

In this sentence, the thing that hurts is the throat, not the boy. Latin is expressing the idea as:

• The boy’s throat hurts

not:

• The boy hurts his throat

So guttur is the subject, and the verb dolet agrees with it.

It is singular because its subject, guttur, is singular.

• guttur = singular
• dolet = hurts / is hurting

Even though pueri also appears in the sentence, pueri is not the subject. It is only a genitive dependent on guttur.

So the structure is:

• guttur = subject
• pueri = possessor
• dolet = singular verb agreeing with guttur

Here dolet means hurts / is painful / aches.

The verb doleo, dolere can be used in ways that may feel slightly different from English. In a sentence like this, a body part is often the subject:

• caput dolet = the head hurts
• guttur dolet = the throat hurts

So in this sentence, guttur pueri dolet means that the boy’s throat is sore or hurting.

Because it is the direct object of petit.

The verb peto, petere often means seek, ask for, or request, and it can take a direct object in the accusative.

So:

• aquam = water in the accusative singular
• tepidam = lukewarm / warm in the accusative singular feminine, agreeing with aquam

Together:

• aquam tepidam petit = he asks for lukewarm water

Because tepidam is an adjective modifying aquam, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• aqua is feminine singular accusative
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular accusative
• therefore: tepidam

This is standard Latin adjective agreement.

Here petit means asks for.

The basic verb is peto, petere, which has a range of meanings, including:

• seek
• aim at
• request
• ask for

In this context, because the object is aquam tepidam, the most natural sense is asks for or requests.

So:

• itaque aquam tepidam petit = and so he asks for lukewarm water

The subject is understood from the context: it is the boy.

Latin often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• petit = he/she/it asks for

Since the previous clause is about the boy’s throat, the natural understood subject is he, meaning the boy.

So Latin does not need to say is or puer again.

Itaque means and so, therefore, or so.

It connects the two ideas:

1. The boy’s throat hurts
2. therefore he asks for lukewarm water

So it marks a result or consequence.

You can think of the sentence structure as:

• problem: guttur pueri dolet
• result: itaque aquam tepidam petit

For English speakers, it may feel unusual, but it is very normal for Latin.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because case endings show how words function. So Latin does not rely as heavily on position.

This sentence is arranged quite naturally:

• Guttur pueri dolet = first, the problem is stated
• itaque = then the consequence is introduced
• aquam tepidam petit = finally, what he asks for

An English speaker might expect something like Puer aquam tepidam petit, but Latin does not need to mention puer again because pueri has already identified whose throat it is, and petit makes the subject clear from context.

Because Latin often uses the genitive noun instead of a possessive adjective where English might use his.

So instead of saying something like his throat, Latin can simply say:

• guttur pueri = the throat of the boy = the boy’s throat

This is often more straightforward in Latin than repeating a possessive adjective.

They are:

• guttur, gutturis = throat
• puer, pueri = boy
• doleo, dolere, dolui = hurt, ache, be in pain
• itaque = and so, therefore
• aqua, aquae = water
• tepidus, tepida, tepidum = lukewarm, warm
• peto, petere, petivi/petii, petitum = seek, ask for, request

Knowing the dictionary forms helps you see why the sentence has these endings:

• pueri from puer
• aquam from aqua
• tepidam from tepidus, -a, -um
• dolet from doleo
• petit from peto