Post brevem requiem magistra discipulis novum praeceptum explicat.

The doer of the action is magistra.

In Latin, the subject is usually in the nominative case. Here, magistra is nominative singular, so it means the teacher and serves as the subject.

Even though English often puts the subject first, Latin does not have to. So magistra is still the subject even though it comes after Post brevem requiem.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

Starting with Post brevem requiem puts the time expression first: after a short rest. This is a very natural thing to do in Latin. It sets the scene before telling us what happens.

So the sentence structure is something like:

• Post brevem requiem = after a short rest
• magistra = the teacher
• discipulis = to the students
• novum praeceptum = a new lesson/instruction
• explicat = explains

Because post takes the accusative case.

The basic dictionary form is requies, but after post you need the accusative singular, which is requiem.

So:

• requies = rest, repose
• post requiem = after a rest

This is similar to other Latin prepositions that require a specific case.

Because brevem has to agree with requiem.

The adjective brevis means short, but adjectives in Latin change their endings to match the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, requiem is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

So brevis must also become feminine singular accusative: brevem.

That is why we get brevem requiem = a short rest.

Discipulis is dative plural.

It means to the students and works as the indirect object. With a verb like explicat (explains), Latin often uses the dative for the person receiving the explanation.

So:

• magistra explains
• novum praeceptum = the thing being explained
• discipulis = the people to whom it is explained

Because the adjective and noun agree with each other.

• novum = new
• praeceptum = instruction, rule, lesson, precept

Both are:

• neuter
• singular
• accusative

That tells you they form one noun phrase: novum praeceptum = a new lesson/instruction.

Also, since they are accusative, they are the direct object of explicat.

Explicat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from explicare, meaning to explain.

So explicat means:

• she explains
• or she is explaining

Because the subject is magistra, which is singular and refers to a female teacher, English naturally uses she.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So a noun like magistra can mean:

• teacher
• a teacher
• the teacher

The exact translation depends on context.

The same is true for:

• discipulis = to students / to the students
• novum praeceptum = a new lesson / the new lesson

English has to choose an article, but Latin usually does not state one.

Yes, very often.

Because Latin uses endings rather than fixed word order, you could rearrange this sentence in several ways and still keep the same basic meaning. For example:

• Magistra discipulis novum praeceptum post brevem requiem explicat.
• Discipulis magistra novum praeceptum explicat post brevem requiem.

The endings still show:

• magistra = subject
• discipulis = indirect object
• novum praeceptum = direct object
• post brevem requiem = prepositional phrase

However, changing the order can change the emphasis or style.

Yes.

In English, position often tells you what the object is. In Latin, the case ending usually tells you.

Praeceptum is accusative singular neuter, and novum matches it. That makes novum praeceptum the direct object: it is the thing being explained.

So even though discipulis comes before it, that does not make discipulis the direct object. Discipulis is dative, so it is the indirect object instead.

It expresses time.

Post can mean after in a temporal sense or behind in a spatial sense, depending on context. Here, with brevem requiem (a short rest), it clearly means after in time.

So the phrase tells us when the teacher explains the new lesson: after a short rest.

Because it is from discipulus, discipuli and here it is dative plural.

For a regular second-declension masculine noun like discipulus:

• nominative singular: discipulus
• accusative singular: discipulum
• dative plural: discipulis

That -is ending is a common sign of the dative or ablative plural in several declensions, so context helps you decide which one it is. Here it is dative because the verb explicat naturally takes someone in the dative: explains to the students.