Magistra rogat uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre possit.

Uter means which of the two? or which one? It is used when the speaker is choosing between alternatives.

So uter discipulus means which student. If the context is that there are two students under consideration, uter is exactly the right word.

A learner should remember this contrast:

• quis? = who?
• uter? = which of two?

In practice, English often just says which student, but Latin can be more precise.

Both are nominative singular masculine.

That is because discipulus is the subject of possit in the indirect question:

• uter discipulus ... possit = which student can / might be able to ...

And uter agrees with discipulus in case, number, and gender.

So even though magistra is the subject of the main verb rogat, the clause uter discipulus ... possit has its own subject: discipulus.

Because uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre possit is an indirect question.

Latin normally uses the subjunctive in indirect questions after verbs like:

• rogat = asks
• quaerit = asks/inquires
• nescit = does not know
• videt = sees

So:

• direct question: Uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre potest?
• indirect question: Magistra rogat uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre possit.

The change from potest to possit is one of the main signs that the question is now indirect.

It is present subjunctive because the main verb is present:

• rogat = she asks

And the ability of the student is happening at the same time as the asking. Latin therefore uses the present subjunctive in this indirect question.

Very roughly:

• rogat ... possit = asks which student can
• if the main verb were past, Latin might use an imperfect subjunctive instead, depending on the time relation

So this is a normal example of sequence of tenses with a present main verb.

Because possum takes a complementary infinitive.

In English we say:

• can translate
• is able to translate

Latin does the same thing:

• potest transferre
• possit transferre

So transferre tells us what the student is able to do.

Because transfero is a compound of the irregular verb fero, ferre.

The simple verb is:

• fero = I carry
• ferre = to carry

Its compounds keep that irregular infinitive pattern:

• transferre = to carry across, transfer, translate
• referre = to bring back, report
• offerre = to offer

So transferre is correct, even though many regular third-conjugation verbs would have an infinitive in -ere of a different pattern.

Sententiam is accusative singular.

It is the direct object of transferre:

• sententiam transferre = to translate the sentence

So the student is the one who may be able to do the action, and sententiam is the thing being translated.

Because recte is an adverb, and here Latin needs an adverb.

It modifies the verb transferre:

• recte transferre = to translate correctly

If you used rectam, that would be an adjective meaning correct and would have to describe a noun, not the action itself.

Compare:

• recte transferre = to translate correctly
• recta sententia = a correct sentence

English speakers often need to watch for this, because English sometimes uses forms that look the same, but Latin clearly distinguishes adjective and adverb.

Because discipulus is the subject of possit, while magistra is the subject of rogat.

The sentence has two layers:

• main clause: Magistra rogat = The teacher asks
• subordinate clause: uter discipulus ... possit = which student can ...

So the teacher is doing the asking, but the student is the one whose ability is being discussed.

This is a very common pattern in Latin: one subject in the main clause and another subject in the subordinate clause.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order.

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

• Magistra rogat uter discipulus possit sententiam recte transferre.

The original order puts transferre right before possit, which keeps the idea be able to translate close together.

Also, Latin often puts the question word near the beginning of the indirect question:

• uter discipulus ...

So the word order is natural Latin, even though it does not match English word-for-word.

The direct question would be:

• Uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre potest?

That means Which student can translate the sentence correctly?

When this becomes indirect after rogat, Latin changes the finite verb to the subjunctive:

• Magistra rogat uter discipulus sententiam recte transferre possit.

So one useful way to understand the sentence is:

1. Start with the direct question.
2. Put it after rogat.
3. Change potest to possit because it is now an indirect question.