Sic discipuli paulatim discunt non solum verba memoria tenere, sed etiam intellegere cur unus casus potius quam alius, cur singularis potius quam pluralis, et cur indicativus potius quam imperativus in unaquaque sententia ponatur.

Because disco can mean learn to do something, and in Latin that idea is often expressed with an infinitive.

So here:

• discipuli discunt verba memoria tenere = the students learn to keep words in memory
• discipuli discunt intellegere = the students learn to understand

This is similar to English learn to remember or learn to understand. Latin simply uses the bare infinitive where English often uses to + verb.

This is a very common Latin pair meaning not only ... but also.

Here it links two infinitive phrases after discunt:

• non solum verba memoria tenere
• sed etiam intellegere ...

So the sense is:

• the students learn not only to memorize words,
• but also to understand the reasons behind the grammar.

This construction is extremely common, and the two parts usually balance each other closely.

Memoria tenere is an idiomatic expression meaning to keep in memory, that is, to remember or to memorize.

Literally:

• tenere = to hold
• memoria = in memory

The ablative memoria is used in an idiomatic way, almost like an English phrase such as keep in mind or hold in memory.

So verba memoria tenere means more than just physically holding words; it means committing them to memory.

Because verba is the direct object of tenere.

• tenere = to hold / keep
• what do they keep? verba = words

So:

• verba is accusative plural of verbum

This is very straightforward object use.

Each cur introduces its own indirect question:

• cur unus casus potius quam alius ... ponatur
• cur singularis potius quam pluralis ... ponatur
• cur indicativus potius quam imperativus ... ponatur

Repeating cur makes the structure clearer and more emphatic. It shows that the students are learning to understand three separate kinds of grammatical choice:

1. why one case is used rather than another,
2. why the singular is used rather than the plural,
3. why the indicative is used rather than the imperative.

Latin often repeats question words like this for clarity and rhythm.

Because it is in an indirect question introduced by cur.

In Latin, indirect questions regularly take the subjunctive. So after intellegere (to understand), the clauses introduced by cur use the subjunctive:

• cur ... ponatur = why ... is used / why ... should be placed

Here ponatur is:

• present subjunctive
• passive
• third person singular

This is one of the most important rules to remember: indirect questions in Latin normally take the subjunctive.

Because each cur clause is understood separately, and in each one the subject is singular:

• unus casus
• singularis
• indicativus

Each of those is grammatically singular, so ponatur is singular.

In other words, Latin is not saying that all three things together are placed. It is saying, one by one:

• why one case is used,
• why the singular is used,
• why the indicative is used.

So singular ponatur fits each clause individually.

Literally, ponere means to place or to put. But in grammatical or rhetorical contexts, it can mean to set down, to use, or to put into a sentence.

So in unaquaque sententia ponatur means something like:

• is placed in each sentence
• more naturally in English, is used in each sentence

The passive is natural because the focus is on the grammatical form being used, not on who uses it.

So:

• cur indicativus ... ponatur = why the indicative is used

Because several of them are being used substantively, meaning an adjective stands in place of a noun.

For example:

• singularis = the singular
• pluralis = the plural
• indicativus = the indicative
• imperativus = the imperative

English does this too. We can say the singular without repeating number, or the indicative without repeating mood.

With unus casus potius quam alius, the noun is stated once with unus casus, and then omitted with alius because it is easily understood:

• one case rather than another [case]

Latin often avoids repeating an obvious noun.

They are masculine because each stands for an implied masculine noun:

• singularis and pluralis probably imply numerus (number), which is masculine
• indicativus and imperativus imply modus (mood), which is also masculine

So although the nouns are omitted, the adjectives still keep the gender they would have if the nouns were expressed.

That is why Latin has:

• singularis potius quam pluralis
• indicativus potius quam imperativus

rather than feminine or neuter forms.

Because unus casus is the subject of ponatur.

The idea is:

• why one case rather than another is used

Since case is the thing being used, it is the subject of the passive verb ponatur.

So the nominative is correct:

• unus casus
• alius

If the sentence had been active, the case might have appeared differently. But with passive ponatur, the thing being used is in the nominative.

Potius quam means rather than.

So:

• unus casus potius quam alius = one case rather than another
• singularis potius quam pluralis = the singular rather than the plural
• indicativus potius quam imperativus = the indicative rather than the imperative

This is a standard Latin way to express preference or contrast between two alternatives.

Because it follows the preposition in meaning in or within a place or context.

• in
  • ablative = in, on
• sententia = sentence
• unaquaque = each

So:

• in unaquaque sententia = in each sentence

The adjective unaquaque agrees with sententia:

• feminine
• singular
• ablative

because sententia is feminine singular ablative.

Unaquaque is the ablative feminine singular of unusquisque, meaning each or each one.

It agrees with sententia:

• sententia is feminine singular ablative
• so unaquaque must also be feminine singular ablative

Together they mean in each sentence.

Learners often notice that unusquisque has unusual forms because it is built from unus + quisque. It is worth recognizing as a common word meaning each.

The present tense gives a general, ongoing statement:

• discipuli ... discunt = students learn
• ponatur in the indirect questions is also present, matching the general idea of how language works

This is not describing one single moment. It is expressing a general educational truth: students gradually learn both to memorize and to understand grammatical choices.

So the present tense is natural in Latin, just as English might say students gradually learn.

Sic means thus, so, or in this way.

It refers back to the larger context and means something like:

• in this way
• thus
• so

It introduces the result or conclusion of whatever method or explanation came before. In other words, this is how students gradually learn.

Paulatim means gradually, little by little, or step by step.

It tells us how the learning happens:

• not all at once,
• but progressively.

This fits the whole point of the sentence very well: students first learn to remember forms, and then come to understand why those forms are used.

Because what the students learn to understand is not just a thing, but an explanation.

They learn to understand:

• why one case is used
• why the singular is used
• why the indicative is used

Latin expresses this naturally with indirect questions after verbs like intellegere.

So intellegere cur ... means to understand why ...

This is very common Latin syntax and is worth learning as a pattern:

• scio quid...
• video cur...
• intellego quomodo...

All of these can introduce indirect questions.

Yes: the sentence is very carefully balanced.

First, there is the main statement:

• Sic discipuli paulatim discunt

Then two parallel infinitives after discunt:

• non solum ... tenere
• sed etiam ... intellegere

Then after intellegere, three parallel indirect questions introduced by cur:

• cur unus casus ...
• cur singularis ...
• cur indicativus ...

So the sentence moves in layers:

1. students learn,
2. not only to memorize,
3. but also to understand,
4. specifically to understand three kinds of grammatical choice.

Seeing that architecture makes the sentence much easier to read.