Nocte puella lunam lucidam per fenestram spectat.

Because puella is in the nominative singular, which is the form Latin commonly uses for the subject of a sentence.

• puella = girl
• nominative singular ending for this 1st-declension noun: -a

So puella spectat means the girl watches / is watching.

Because lucidam is an adjective describing lunam, and in Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• lunam = moon in the accusative singular
• lucidam = bright / shining in the accusative singular feminine

So lunam lucidam means the bright moon, with both words matching grammatically.

Because it is the direct object of spectat.

The verb spectat means looks at / watches, so the thing being watched is put in the accusative:

• puella = the girl
• lunam = the moon

So the girl is doing the action, and the moon is receiving it.

Nocte is ablative singular of nox, noctis (night).

Here it is being used as a time expression, often called the ablative of time when. Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition for expressions like:

• nocte = at night
• die = by day / in the daytime
• tertia hora = at the third hour

So Latin does not need a separate word for at here.

Because it comes after the preposition per, and per takes the accusative case.

• per = through
• fenestram = window in the accusative singular

So per fenestram means through the window.

This is a good reminder that the accusative is used not only for direct objects, but also after certain prepositions.

Literally, per fenestram means through the window.

In natural English, depending on context, you might translate it as:

• through the window
• out the window
• through a window

Latin per suggests movement or sight through something. In this sentence, it means the girl is looking through the window at the moon.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show each word's role.

Putting the verb at the end is very common in Latin, especially in straightforward prose. So:

• Nocte puella lunam lucidam per fenestram spectat
• literally: At night the girl the bright moon through the window watches

That sounds odd in English, but in Latin it is perfectly normal.

By itself, spectat means he/she/it watches or is watching, because it is 3rd person singular present active.

The verb ending -t tells you it is:

• 3rd person
• singular

Then the noun puella tells you who the subject is. Since puella means girl, we translate it as she watches.

So Latin often does not need a separate word for she.

Classical Latin has no articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• puella can mean girl, a girl, or the girl
• lunam can mean moon, a moon, or the moon

You decide from the context which English article sounds best.

Yes, very often.

Because the endings show the grammar, Latin can rearrange words much more freely than English. For example, these would still mean basically the same thing:

• Puella nocte lunam lucidam per fenestram spectat.
• Lunam lucidam puella nocte per fenestram spectat.
• Per fenestram puella nocte lunam lucidam spectat.

The basic meaning stays the same, though the emphasis may shift slightly depending on what is placed first or last.

Yes. Latin adjectives can come either before or after the noun.

So both are possible:

• lunam lucidam
• lucidam lunam

Both mean the bright moon.

Sometimes word order gives a stylistic emphasis, but the agreement in endings is what really matters.

Not exactly.

• spectat usually means looks at, watches, or gazes at
• videt usually means sees

So spectat suggests a more deliberate action of looking, while videt can simply mean noticing something with the eyes.

In this sentence, spectat fits well because the girl is actively watching the moon.

There are two different noun patterns here:

• puella, fenestra are 1st declension
• nox, noctis is 3rd declension
• luna is 1st declension

So the forms are:

• puella = nominative singular
• lunam = accusative singular
• fenestram = accusative singular
• nocte = ablative singular

This is a useful sentence because it shows that the same ending, like -am, does not always mean the same job by itself; you also have to look at the preposition or the verb.