Prope murum rubus spinas longas habet, itaque pater pueros monet ne eo propius accedant.

Because prope is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means near or near to. So:

• prope murum = near the wall

Even though English uses near without any visible case change, Latin shows the relationship by putting murus into the accusative: murum.

You know from its case ending and from the verb.

• rubus is nominative singular, so it can be the subject.
• habet is third person singular, so it needs a singular subject.

So rubus ... habet = the bramble/bush has.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. The sentence begins with prope murum to set the scene: near the wall. Then the subject appears: rubus.

It is the direct object of habet.

• spinas = thorns, accusative plural
• longas = long, accusative plural feminine

The adjective longas agrees with spinas in case, number, and gender.

So:

• rubus spinas longas habet = the bush has long thorns

Yes, but they are not doing the same job.

• prope = near, here used as a preposition
  • prope murum = near the wall
• propius = nearer / more closely, a comparative adverb

So the sentence first says where the bush is:

• prope murum = near the wall

Then later it says the boys should not move closer:

• ne eo propius accedant = that they should not go closer / any closer

Itaque means and so, therefore, or so. It introduces the result or consequence of the first clause.

Structure:

• Prope murum rubus spinas longas habet
• itaque pater pueros monet ...

So the sense is:

• A bush near the wall has long thorns, and so the father warns the boys...

It is connecting the two ideas logically.

Because monere takes a direct object for the person being warned.

• pater pueros monet = the father warns the boys

This can feel a little unusual to an English speaker, because English sometimes thinks of warn with extra wording like warn someone about something. In Latin, the person warned is straightforwardly in the accusative here.

So:

• pater = subject
• pueros = direct object
• monet = warns

Because after verbs like warn, advise, tell, urge, or order, Latin often uses ne + subjunctive for a negative clause.

So:

• monet ne accedant = he warns them not to approach

This is different from non, which usually just negates a word or statement more directly.

A helpful way to think of it is:

• ut
  • subjunctive = to / that they should
• ne
  • subjunctive = not to / that they should not

So here:

• pater pueros monet ne ... accedant
• the father warns the boys not to ... approach

Because it is in a clause introduced by ne after monet.

This is a very common Latin construction:

• verb of warning/ordering/urging
• followed by ne or ut
• then a subjunctive verb

So accedant is subjunctive because it belongs to that dependent clause.

It is also:

• third person plural, because its understood subject is pueri / the boys
• present subjunctive, matching the main verb monet in present time sequence

So:

• ne ... accedant = that they not approach / not go closer

Because the people being warned are pueros = the boys, and they are the understood subject of accedant.

In English, we often say:

• The father warns the boys not to go closer

Latin expresses that as:

• pater pueros monet ne ... accedant

Even though pueros is accusative in the main clause, the same boys are understood as the subject of accedant in the subordinate clause. Since boys is plural, the verb is plural too: accedant.

Here eo is best understood adverbially as to that place / there, referring back to the dangerous spot or the bush.

So:

• eo accedere = to go there / to approach that place
• eo propius accedere = to go nearer there, more naturally in English, to go closer to it or to go any closer

This is a place where Latin and English do not match word-for-word very neatly. A natural English translation is usually:

• not to go any closer
• or not to go closer to it

Because accedere does not always need ad. Its basic meaning is already to approach or to go near.

In this sentence, the idea of direction is already clear from eo and propius, so Latin does not need an extra ad.

So:

• accedant by itself can mean approach
• eo propius accedant = approach closer there / go closer to it

English often likes extra words such as to or toward, but Latin can be more compact here.

Yes. Latin word order is chosen more for emphasis and flow than for basic grammatical meaning.

This sentence is arranged quite naturally:

• Prope murum — sets the scene first
• rubus spinas longas habet — gives the danger
• itaque — marks the consequence
• pater pueros monet — tells who reacts
• ne eo propius accedant — gives the warning itself

In English, we rely heavily on word order to show subject and object. In Latin, case endings do most of that work, so the writer can arrange the sentence more flexibly.