Mater puerum aquam tepidam bibere iubet, quia guttur eius dolet.

Because iubet often takes a special construction in Latin:

• person commanded = accusative
• action commanded = infinitive

So in Mater puerum aquam tepidam bibere iubet:

• mater = the subject, the mother
• puerum = the person being told to do something, the boy
• bibere = the action he is told to do, to drink

This is different from English, where we often say the mother orders the boy to drink... Latin uses the accusative + infinitive pattern very naturally after iubeo.

After iubeo (I order, I tell), Latin regularly uses an infinitive to express what someone is ordered to do.

So:

• puerum ... bibere iubet = she orders the boy to drink...

The infinitive bibere means to drink. It does not have its own expressed subject in the nominative, because the subject of the infinitive is already given as puerum in the accusative.

This is a very common pattern:

• magister discipulos laborare iubet = the teacher orders the students to work

Because aquam is the direct object of bibere.

The boy is ordered to drink water, so water is what is being drunk. That makes aquam accusative.

Tepidam is an adjective describing aquam, so it must agree with it in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since aquam is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

tepidam must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

So:

• aquam tepidam = warm water

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show each word’s role in the sentence.

English depends heavily on word order:

• The mother orders the boy to drink warm water

Latin can move words around more easily because:

• mater is nominative, so it is the subject
• puerum is accusative, so it is the person ordered
• aquam tepidam is accusative, so it is what is drunk
• bibere is the infinitive
• iubet is the main verb

The chosen order may help group related ideas:

• puerum ... bibere goes together as the boy to drink
• aquam tepidam stays together as a phrase

So the order is natural Latin, even if it does not match English exactly.

Yes. Latin adjectives often have flexible placement.

For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Mater puerum tepidam aquam bibere iubet.
• Mater puerum aquam bibere tepidam iubet. — less natural grouping
• Mater puerum bibere aquam tepidam iubet.

However, Latin often prefers to keep an adjective reasonably close to the noun it modifies, especially in straightforward prose. So aquam tepidam is a clear and natural arrangement.

This is a subordinate clause introduced by quia, meaning because.

Breakdown:

• quia = because
• guttur = throat, nominative singular
• eius = his / her / its, genitive singular
• dolet = hurts / is sore, 3rd person singular present

So literally:

• because his throat hurts

The subject of dolet is guttur.

Because guttur is the subject of dolet.

In English, we say:

• his throat hurts

The thing doing the hurting grammatically is throat, so Latin uses the nominative:

• guttur

Even though in natural English we may think of he as the person in pain, Latin structures it the same way English does here: the throat hurts.

Eius is the genitive singular form of is, ea, id, and it means of him, of her, or of it. In context, it is often best translated simply as his, her, or its.

So:

• guttur eius = his throat

Latin often expresses possession with the genitive:

• liber pueri = the boy’s book
• guttur eius = his throat

This is a very common learner question.

Suus, sua, suum is a reflexive possessive adjective. It usually refers back to the subject of its own clause.

But in quia guttur eius dolet, the subject of that clause is guttur. So if you used suum, it would point back reflexively within that clause, which would not make sense here.

Latin therefore uses eius to mean his, referring to the boy mentioned earlier.

So:

• guttur eius dolet = his throat hurts

A simple rule for learners:

• use suus when the possession refers back to the subject of the same clause
• use eius when it refers to someone else

Iubet is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

from the verb iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum = order, command

So mater ... iubet means:

• the mother orders... or
• the mother is ordering...

depending on context.

Because its subject, guttur, is singular.

• guttur = throat = singular
• dolet = hurts = singular verb

If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural.

For example:

• guttura dolent = throats hurt

It can mean either, depending on context.

The verb doleo often means:

• feel pain
• hurt
• be sore

So guttur eius dolet could be understood as:

• his throat hurts
• his throat is sore

Both are natural translations.

Latin has no word for the or a/an.

So mater can mean:

• mother
• the mother
• a mother

The exact sense comes from context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the mother, but Latin does not need an article to express that.

Normally with iubeo, classical Latin prefers the accusative + infinitive construction:

• puerum bibere iubet

That is the standard pattern.

Some other verbs of ordering or persuading often use ut + subjunctive, such as:

• impero
• persuadeo
• moneo sometimes with different constructions depending on meaning

So for a learner, it is best to remember:

• iubeo usually takes accusative + infinitive

Grammatically, eius could mean his, her, or its. The form itself does not tell you the gender here.

You decide from context.

In this sentence, the meaning is:

• the mother orders the boy to drink warm water because his throat hurts

That makes best sense with eius referring to puerum.

So Latin sometimes leaves this kind of detail to context, just as English can in some situations.

A helpful way to see it is:

• Mater = subject of the main verb
• iubet = main verb
• puerum bibere = accusative + infinitive after iubet
• aquam tepidam = object of bibere
• quia guttur eius dolet = reason clause

So the structure is:

• The mother orders [the boy to drink warm water], because [his throat hurts].

This is a good example of two important Latin features:

• accusative + infinitive after iubeo
• a quia clause giving the reason