In prima statione nauta aquam et panem viatoribus proponit.

Because nauta is a first-declension noun that is masculine. Latin has a small group of masculine nouns in the first declension, especially words for professions or roles such as nauta (sailor), agricola (farmer), and poeta (poet).

Here nauta is in the nominative singular, so it is the subject of proponit.

Because in takes the ablative when it means in, on, at a place where something happens.

So:

• in + ablative = location, in/at
• in + accusative = motion into, into

Here the idea is at the first stop/station, not into the first stop/station, so Latin uses in prima statione.

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

• gender
• number
• case

Since statione is feminine singular ablative, prima must also be feminine singular ablative.

Statione is ablative singular.

Its dictionary form is statio, stationis, a third-declension noun. The ending -e is a common ablative singular ending for many third-declension nouns.

They are both direct objects of proponit, so they are in the accusative case.

• aquam = accusative singular of aqua
• panem = accusative singular of panis

Latin uses the accusative for the thing directly affected by the verb. The sailor is offering or setting out water and bread, so those nouns are accusative.

Because viatoribus is the indirect object, not a direct object.

It means for the travelers or to the travelers, so Latin puts it in the dative plural.

A useful pattern is:

• accusative = the thing being given, shown, offered, etc.
• dative = the person receiving it

So in this sentence:

• aquam et panem = what is offered
• viatoribus = to whom it is offered

Viatoribus is dative plural of viator, viatoris, meaning traveler.

The ending -ibus is a common dative/ablative plural ending for third-declension nouns.

So viatoribus here means to/for the travelers.

Proponit is:

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

It comes from propono, proponere, proposui, propositum.

So proponit means he/she sets out, places before, offers. Because the subject is nauta, it means the sailor offers or sets out.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show how the words function.

A verb often comes at or near the end of a Latin sentence, especially in straightforward prose. So proponit at the end is very normal.

The sentence could be rearranged without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• Nauta in prima statione aquam et panem viatoribus proponit.
• Aquam et panem nauta viatoribus in prima statione proponit.

The endings still show who is doing what.

Yes. Et means and, and here it links the two direct objects:

• aquam
• panem

So the sailor offers water and bread.

Yes. For an English speaker, propose can be misleading because Latin proponere has a broader range of meanings.

In a sentence like this, with food and drink as objects, proponit is better understood as:

• sets out
• places before
• offers
• sometimes loosely serves

So the idea is physical presentation of food and drink to the travelers, not suggesting an idea to them.

Yes. It follows a very common Latin pattern:

place phrase + subject + direct objects + indirect object + verb

So:

• In prima statione = where
• nauta = who
• aquam et panem = what
• viatoribus = to whom
• proponit = action

That is a useful pattern to recognize in many beginner Latin sentences.