Licet pluat, puellae tamen ad scholam veniunt et magistram audiunt.

That is a very common question. Licet is originally an impersonal verb meaning it is permitted or it is allowed. But Latin also uses licet with a subjunctive verb in a concessive sense, meaning although, even though, or granted that.

So in Licet pluat, the idea is not permission. It means something like:

Although it is raining
or
Even if it is raining

This is a standard Latin construction.

Because after concessive licet, Latin normally uses the subjunctive.

So:

• pluit = it is raining (indicative, plain statement)
• pluat = it may be raining / let it rain (subjunctive form)

In this sentence, pluat is not giving a command. It is simply the form Latin expects after concessive licet.

So Licet pluat means although it is raining or more literally granted that it may be raining.

Pluat is:

• present tense
• subjunctive mood
• third person singular
• from the verb pluere = to rain

It is third person singular because weather verbs in Latin are usually impersonal, just like English it rains. There is no real person doing the action.

So pluat means it may be raining or, in this sentence, although it is raining.

The form puellae is ambiguous by itself. It can be:

• nominative plural = girls
• genitive singular = of the girl
• dative singular = to/for the girl

But context makes it clear here.

The verbs veniunt and audiunt are both third person plural, so they need a plural subject. That tells us puellae must be nominative plural here:

puellae ... veniunt et audiunt = the girls come and listen

So this is a good example of how Latin often depends on context and verb endings.

Tamen means nevertheless, still, or however.

It often appears with a concessive clause to mark the contrast clearly:

• Licet pluat = Although it is raining
• puellae tamen ad scholam veniunt = the girls nevertheless come to school

So licet ... tamen works a bit like although ... still/nevertheless in English.

Latin does not always need tamen with licet, but it is very natural and helps emphasize the contrast.

Because ad takes the accusative and usually means to or toward.

So:

• ad = to, toward
• scholam = accusative singular of schola

Together, ad scholam means to school.

This is the normal way to express motion toward a place. Since the girls are coming to school, Latin uses ad + accusative.

Latin uses the singular noun scholam because it is referring to school as a place or institution. English does something similar, even though we often leave out the article.

So:

• ad scholam literally = to the school
• in natural English = to school

Latin has no word exactly corresponding to English the here, so the singular noun by itself is perfectly normal.

Because Latin has no definite article. There is no ordinary word that directly means the.

So:

• puellae can mean girls or the girls
• scholam can mean school or the school
• magistram can mean a teacher or the teacher

You decide from context which English article sounds best. In this sentence, English naturally uses the girls and the teacher, but Latin does not need separate words for that.

Because magistram is the direct object of audiunt.

The girls are doing the listening, and the teacher is the person being listened to. In Latin, the direct object usually goes in the accusative case.

So:

• magistra = female teacher (nominative singular)
• magistram = female teacher (accusative singular)

That shows that the teacher is the object, not the subject.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The basic meaning of audire is to hear, but it is also often used in the sense to listen to, especially with a teacher, speaker, or advice.

So here:

magistram audiunt
naturally means
they listen to the teacher

In some contexts, it could also be translated they hear the teacher, but listen to is probably the better English here.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin shows grammatical relationships mainly by endings, not position.

In this sentence:

• puellae is the subject because of its form and the plural verbs
• magistram is the object because it is accusative
• veniunt and audiunt are the verbs

So Latin can arrange the words for style or emphasis more easily than English can. Verbs often come later in the clause, but that is a tendency, not a rigid rule.

This sentence is quite natural Latin, but other word orders would also be possible if the writer wanted a different emphasis.