Puer, postquam cucurrit, sudat et anhelat, sed dicit se melius valere.

Because puer is the subject of the sentence: the boy is the one who runs, sweats, pants, and says something.

• puer = boy
• nominative singular = the form used for the subject

So the basic framework is:

• Puer ... sudat et anhelat ... dicit ...
• The boy ... sweats and pants ... says ...

Postquam means after. It introduces a temporal clause, a clause that tells you when something happens.

So:

• postquam cucurrit = after he ran / after he has run

This clause gives the earlier action, and the rest of the sentence tells what happens after that:

• Puer, postquam cucurrit, sudat et anhelat
• The boy, after he has run, is sweating and panting

Cucurrit is the perfect tense of currere (to run). Here it shows that the running is completed before the sweating, panting, and speaking.

• currit = he runs / is running
• cucurrit = he ran / has run

After postquam, Latin very often uses the perfect to mean after he did X.

So postquam cucurrit naturally means after he ran or after he has run.

Because the sentence is describing a sequence:

1. first, the boy ran — cucurrit
2. now, he is sweating and panting — sudat et anhelat
3. and he says something now — dicit

So the perfect tense gives the earlier completed action, while the present tense gives the current situation.

This is very natural in Latin:

• postquam cucurrit = after he ran
• sudat et anhelat = he is sweating and panting now

Anhelat means he pants, he is panting, or he breathes heavily.

It comes from anhelare, which is often used for heavy breathing after effort. In this sentence, it fits perfectly with sudat (he sweats), since both describe what the boy is doing after running.

Because Latin commonly uses an indirect statement after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and perceiving.

After dicit (he says), Latin often uses:

• accusative subject
  • infinitive

Here:

• se = himself (accusative subject of the infinitive)
• valere = to be well / to feel well (infinitive)

So:

• dicit se valere = he says that he is well

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

English usually uses that:

• he says that he feels better

Latin usually uses accusative + infinitive:

• dicit se melius valere

Because se is a reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject of dicit, which is the same boy.

• dicit se melius valere = he says that he feels better

If Latin used eum, that would normally mean he says that some other male person feels better, not himself.

So:

• se = himself
• eum = him, someone else

In an indirect statement, Latin puts the subject of the subordinate idea into the accusative, and the verb into the infinitive.

So in:

• dicit se melius valere

the understood internal statement is something like:

• he is feeling better

But in Latin indirect statement form, that becomes:

• se ... valere

So se is accusative because it is the subject of the infinitive valere.

Valere can mean to be strong, to be healthy, or to feel well, depending on context.

In this sentence, the natural meaning is:

• to be feeling well
• to be better
• to feel better

So dicit se melius valere means:

• he says that he feels better
• or more literally, he says himself to be better/well

Latin often uses valere in health-related contexts.

Because melius is the comparative adverb meaning better, while melior is the comparative adjective meaning better.

Here the word modifies valere (to be well / to feel well), so Latin uses the adverb:

• bene = well
• melius = better

Compare:

• melius valet = he feels better
• puer melior est = the boy is better / the boy is a better one

So in this sentence, melius is correct because it goes with the verbal idea valere.

Yes. Valere is the present active infinitive.

In Latin indirect statement, the infinitive often corresponds to a finite verb in English:

• dicit se valere
• literally: he says himself to be well
• natural English: he says that he feels well

So even though English uses feels, Latin uses the infinitive valere because of the construction after dicit.

They help show that postquam cucurrit is an inserted temporal clause: after he ran.

Latin manuscripts originally had much less punctuation than modern editions. So the commas are mainly a reading aid for us. They mark the structure clearly:

• Puer, postquam cucurrit, sudat et anhelat
• The boy, after he ran, sweats and pants

The commas are useful, but the grammar does not depend on them.

The word order is meaningful, but Latin is more flexible than English.

This sentence begins with puer, so the boy is introduced right away. Then the sentence inserts the time clause:

• postquam cucurrit

Then it gives the main present actions:

• sudat et anhelat

And finally adds a contrast:

• sed dicit se melius valere
• but he says that he feels better

So the order is quite natural:

1. subject
2. earlier action
3. present symptoms
4. contrasting statement

Latin could rearrange many of these elements, but this version is clear and idiomatic.