Discipula librum a magistro datum libenter legit.

Discipula is nominative singular. In Latin, the subject of the sentence is usually in the nominative case.

The ending -a here fits a first-declension nominative singular, so discipula means the female student / schoolgirl as the subject of legit.

So:

• discipula = subject
• legit = verb

Together, they tell us the student reads / read.

Librum is accusative singular, and it is the direct object of legit.

The verb legere means to read, and the thing being read goes into the accusative. So:

• discipula = the one doing the reading
• librum = the thing being read

The ending -um shows that librum is masculine accusative singular.

Datum is the perfect passive participle of dare, meaning given.

It is not agreeing with discipula or magistro. It agrees with librum, because it describes the book:

• librum = masculine accusative singular
• datum = masculine accusative singular

So librum datum means the book having been given or more naturally the book given.

If it described a different noun, its form would change to match that noun in gender, number, and case.

A magistro datum means given by the teacher.

Here is the structure:

• datum = given
• a magistro = by the teacher

Because datum is passive in sense, Latin can show the agent with a/ab + ablative, just like English by.

So the whole phrase librum a magistro datum means:

the book given by the teacher

This phrase is all describing librum.

Magistro is in the ablative singular because after a/ab meaning by with a personal agent, Latin uses the ablative.

So:

• a magistro = by the teacher

This is especially common when a passive idea is involved, and datum has a passive meaning.

A learner can think of this pattern as:

a/ab + ablative = by someone

In this sentence, datum acts like an adjective, even though it comes from a verb.

A participle is a verbal adjective. It keeps some verbal force:

• it comes from dare = to give
• it can take an agent: a magistro
• but it also agrees with a noun: librum

So it is best understood as a participle meaning:

the book given by the teacher

This is very similar to English expressions like:

• the broken window
• the letter written by my friend

Latin often prefers a participle where English might use a relative clause.

So instead of something like:

• the book which was given by the teacher

Latin can say:

• librum a magistro datum

This is shorter and very natural in Latin. English can do something similar too:

• the book given by the teacher

So this construction is not strange once you think of datum as given.

Libenter is an adverb, meaning gladly, willingly, or with pleasure.

It modifies the verb legit, telling us how the student reads.

So:

• legit = reads / read
• libenter legit = reads / read gladly

It does not describe the book or the teacher; it describes the action of reading.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order. Libenter comes before legit here, but that does not change the basic meaning.

Placing libenter before the verb is very natural. It lets the adverb sit close to the action it modifies.

The sentence could be rearranged in other ways and still mean roughly the same thing, though the emphasis might shift.

For example, Latin often puts:

• the verb near the end
• descriptive material near the noun it modifies

That is what we see here.

It can mean either, depending on context.

This is a famous feature of Latin:

• legit can be present: she reads
• legit can also be perfect: she read

In writing, the forms look the same. Context usually makes the meaning clear.

So if the meaning has already been supplied to the learner, that is probably because the form by itself is ambiguous.

The main clue is agreement.

• librum = masculine accusative singular
• datum = masculine accusative singular

But:

• discipula = feminine nominative singular

So datum cannot describe discipula, because the forms do not match. It must go with librum.

Latin readers constantly use agreement like this to see which words belong together.

Yes, but not in the same way as in English.

Latin relies more on endings than on position to show grammatical roles. That means the words can move around more freely. However, word order still helps with style, emphasis, and clarity.

In this sentence:

• discipula comes first as the topic or subject
• librum a magistro datum stays together as a unit
• legit comes at the end, which is very common in Latin

So the order is natural and elegant, even though the endings do most of the grammatical work.

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

So:

• discipula can mean a student or the student
• librum can mean a book or the book

The context tells you which is more natural.

That is why Latin sentences often seem more compact than English ones.

In this sentence, it naturally goes with datum, not with legit.

That is because a/ab + ablative is the regular way to mark the agent with a passive idea, and datum is passive in meaning: given.

But legit is active: reads/read. English does not normally say reads by the teacher, and Latin would not understand a magistro that way here either.

So the structure is:

• librum a magistro datum = the book given by the teacher
• libenter legit = reads gladly

Yes—this sentence combines several very common Latin patterns:

1. Subject in the nominative

   • discipula

2. Direct object in the accusative

   • librum

3. Perfect passive participle agreeing with a noun

   • datum agreeing with librum

4. Agent with a passive expression shown by a/ab + ablative

   • a magistro

5. Adverb modifying the verb

   • libenter

6. Verb at the end

   • legit

If a learner understands those patterns here, they will recognize them in many other Latin sentences too.