Prope mūrum rubus spīnās longās habet, itaque pater puerōs monet nē eō propius accēdant.

Because prope is a preposition that takes the accusative case when it means near. So prope mūrum means near the wall.

This is worth noticing because not every expression of place in Latin uses the ablative. With prepositions, you have to learn which case each one governs.

Rubus is nominative singular, so it is the subject of habet.

For a 2nd-declension masculine noun:

• nominative singular often ends in -us
• accusative singular often ends in -um

So:

• rubus = the bramble/bush as subject
• rubum = the bramble/bush as object

Here, rubus habet means the bramble has.

Because spīnās is the direct object of habet, and longās is an adjective describing spīnās.

Adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• spīnās = accusative plural feminine
• longās = accusative plural feminine

Together they mean long thorns.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. An adjective can come before or after its noun.

So both of these are normal Latin patterns:

• longās spīnās
• spīnās longās

The endings, not the position, show that the words belong together.

Latin has no articles. There is no separate word for the, a, or an.

So a noun like rubus can mean:

• a bramble
• the bramble
• sometimes just bramble in a general sense

The context tells you which English article makes best sense.

Itaque means and so, therefore, or so.

It connects the two ideas:

• the bramble has long thorns
• therefore the father warns the boys

So it marks the second clause as a result of the first.

Because monēre normally takes the person warned as a direct object in the accusative.

So:

• pater puerōs monet = the father warns the boys

This is just the standard construction of the verb. In Latin, the boys are treated as the direct object of monet.

After verbs like warn, advise, order, urge, and similar verbs, Latin often uses an indirect command.

In this construction:

• ut introduces a positive command
• nē introduces a negative command

So:

• monet ut veniant = he warns/advises them to come
• monet nē accēdant = he warns them not to approach

That is why you see nē here.

Because it is inside that indirect command after monet.

The clause nē eō propius accēdant means not to approach closer to it/there, and in Latin an indirect command uses the subjunctive.

It is also:

• present subjunctive because the main verb monet is present
• 3rd person plural because the understood subject is the boys

No. Here eō is not the verb from īre.

In this sentence, eō is an adverb meaning something like:

• to that place
• there
• toward it

So nē eō propius accēdant means that they should not come closer to it/there.

That is a very common point of confusion, because eō can also be the 1st person singular of īre in other contexts.

Because propius is the comparative form, meaning nearer or more closely.

So:

• prope = near
• propius = nearer, closer

With accēdant, Latin naturally says come closer rather than just come near.

Latin often leaves the subject unstated when it is clear from context and from the verb ending.

Here accēdant means they should approach or they are to approach, and the natural they is the boys already mentioned as puerōs.

So even though Latin does not repeat puerī, the meaning is clear: the father warns the boys not to come closer.

Because Latin word order is flexible, and writers often put a phrase first to set the scene.

Starting with Prope mūrum immediately gives the location: Near the wall...

That is very natural Latin style. English often prefers a more fixed order, but Latin can move phrases around for emphasis, flow, or focus.