Magistra rogat utrum haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertineat.

The sentence has:

• a main clause: Magistra rogat = The teacher asks
• an indirect question: utrum haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertineat = whether this question pertains to the meaning or to the form of the word

So the whole sentence is built like this:

• Magistra rogat
  [whether this question pertains to meaning or to the form of the word]

Latin often packs a lot into a subordinate clause like this.

Magistra is the subject of rogat, so it is in the nominative singular.

• magistra = teacher (female)
• nominative singular because she is the one doing the asking

If this were a male teacher, you might have magister rogat instead.

Rogat is:

• from rogare = to ask
• 3rd person singular
• present active indicative

So magistra rogat means:

• the teacher asks
• or sometimes more naturally in English, the teacher is asking

It is indicative because this is the straightforward main statement of the sentence.

Because it is in an indirect question.

In Latin, indirect questions normally take the subjunctive. Here, the indirect question begins with utrum and includes the alternative an:

• utrum ... an ... pertineat

So even though English says whether this question pertains..., Latin uses the subjunctive:

• pertineat rather than pertinet

This is one of the most important patterns to learn:

• direct question: Pertinetne haec quaestio ad sensum?
• indirect question: Magistra rogat utrum haec quaestio ad sensum pertineat.

Utrum ... an is a standard Latin way to express whether ... or.

In this sentence:

• utrum ... ad sensum
• an ... ad formam vocabuli

So it means:

• whether this question pertains to meaning or to the form of the word

A useful way to remember it:

• utrum introduces the first option
• an introduces the second option

This is especially common in alternative questions, where two possibilities are being compared.

Because haec quaestio is the subject of pertineat.

The verb pertinere ad means to pertain to / to relate to / to concern. The thing that pertains is the subject.

So:

• haec quaestio = this question
• it is the thing that pertains
• therefore it is nominative

Structure:

• haec quaestio = subject
• pertineat = verb
• ad sensum / ad formam = prepositional phrases showing what it pertains to

Because quaestio is a feminine noun.

So the demonstrative must agree with it:

• haec quaestio = this question

Agreement in Latin means matching in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since quaestio is feminine singular nominative, the demonstrative is also feminine singular nominative:

• haec

Compare:

• hic liber = this book
• haec quaestio = this question
• hoc verbum = this word

Both are accusative singular because they follow the preposition ad.

• ad sensum = toward / with reference to meaning
• ad formam = toward / with reference to form

The preposition ad regularly takes the accusative.

In this sentence, ad does not really mean physical motion; instead it has a more abstract sense:

• pertinere ad = to pertain to, to relate to, to concern

So:

• sensum is accusative singular of sensus
• formam is accusative singular of forma

Pertinere ad is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• to pertain to
• to relate to
• to concern
• to have to do with

So haec quaestio ad sensum pertineat means something like:

• this question pertains to meaning
• this question has to do with meaning
• this question concerns meaning

It is better to learn pertinere ad as a unit rather than translating pertinere by itself every time.

Vocabuli is the genitive singular of vocabulum.

It depends on formam:

• ad formam vocabuli = to the form of the word

So the genitive shows possession or close relation:

• forma vocabuli = the form of the word

This is very common in Latin:

• liber pueri = the boy’s book
• nomen urbis = the name of the city
• forma vocabuli = the form of the word

Yes, here vocabulum means word or vocabulary item.

In many contexts, Latin has more than one way to say word, for example:

• verbum
• vocabulum

In grammatical or linguistic discussion, vocabulum can be especially natural for a word/form/lexical item. So formam vocabuli means the form of a particular word.

In this sentence, ad is repeated:

• ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli

That is perfectly normal and often clearer.

Latin can sometimes omit a repeated preposition when the sense is obvious, but repeating it is very common, especially when contrasting two alternatives. It helps mark the parallel structure:

• ad sensum
• ad formam vocabuli

So the repetition makes the contrast neat and explicit.

The subject is haec quaestio.

You can test it by asking: what is it that pertains?

Answer:

• this question

So:

• haec quaestio = subject
• pertineat = verb
• ad sensum / ad formam vocabuli = complements

Even though the word order is flexible, the grammar makes the roles clear.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English because Latin uses endings to show grammatical function.

English relies heavily on word order:

• The teacher asks whether this question pertains...

Latin can move parts around for emphasis or style:

• Magistra rogat utrum haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertineat.

This order is quite natural:

• main clause first
• then the indirect question
• with the verb pertineat at the end, which is very common in Latin subordinate clauses

So the sentence may feel unusual to an English speaker, but it is normal Latin style.

Yes. Depending on context, quaestio can mean:

• question
• issue
• problem
• matter under discussion

Here question is probably the best translation, but the Latin word can be slightly broader. In a grammar or language-learning context, it could mean a point being asked about or discussed.

Yes. It is specifically an indirect question.

The clue is that the subordinate clause asks something:

• whether this question pertains to meaning or to the form of the word

Latin indirect questions typically have:

• an interrogative word such as quis, quid, cur, ubi
• or a marker like utrum
• and a subjunctive verb

That is exactly what we have here:

• utrum ... an
• pertineat

So this is not just general reported speech; it is a reported question.

A direct version could be:

• Haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertinet?
• or more explicitly:
• Utrum haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertinet?

Then, when put into indirect form after rogat, the verb changes to the subjunctive:

• Magistra rogat utrum haec quaestio ad sensum an ad formam vocabuli pertineat.

So the shift is mainly:

• direct question: pertinet
• indirect question: pertineat

It is present subjunctive because the question is about something contemporaneous with the asking.

• Magistra rogat = the teacher asks
• pertineat = whether it pertains

So the sense is roughly:

• The teacher asks whether this question pertains...

If the subordinate action were prior or in a different time relation, Latin might use a different tense of the subjunctive. But here the present is the natural choice.

Not exactly. In this pattern, an introduces the second part of an alternative question.

So in:

• utrum ... an ...

it means something like:

• whether ... or ...

This is different from plain or in a simple statement, where Latin often uses aut or vel.

So here an is specifically tied to the interrogative structure.