Cuculus e silva clamat, sed videri non potest.

Cuculus is the nominative singular form, so it is the subject of the sentence: the cuckoo is the one doing the calling.

Latin often begins a sentence with the subject, but it does not have to. Here, cuculus is a straightforward way to say the cuckoo or simply a cuckoo, since Latin has no definite or indefinite article like the or a.

E silva means out of the forest or from the woods/forest.

After e (or ex), Latin uses the ablative case, so silva here is actually ablative singular, even though it looks like the dictionary form. In first-declension nouns like silva, the nominative singular and ablative singular can sometimes look the same.

So:

• silva = nominative singular: forest
• silva = ablative singular after e/ex: from the forest

Both e and ex mean out of / from. The choice is mostly based on sound:

• e is commonly used before a consonant
• ex is commonly used before a vowel or sometimes for emphasis

Since silva begins with s, e silva is perfectly natural. You may also see ex silva in Latin, but e silva is the more expected form here.

Clamat is:

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

It comes from clamare, meaning to shout, to cry out, or to call.

So cuculus e silva clamat means the cuckoo calls/cries from the forest.

The ending -t tells you the subject is he/she/it.

That is mostly a vocabulary choice. Clamare means to cry out or call, and it works well for the sound of a bird.

A learner might expect a verb like canere (to sing), but Latin does not always describe animal sounds the way English does. Here the sentence presents the cuckoo as calling out from the woods, so clamat is a natural choice.

This is one of the most important grammar points in the sentence.

• videre = to see (active infinitive)
• videri = to be seen (passive infinitive)

Since the meaning is cannot be seen, Latin needs the passive infinitive, so it uses videri.

That gives:

• videri potest = it can be seen
• videri non potest = it cannot be seen

Potest means is able or can. It is the 3rd person singular present of posse.

Posse is often followed by an infinitive:

• videre potest = he/she/it can see
• videri potest = he/she/it can be seen

So in this sentence:

• videri = to be seen
• non potest = is not able / cannot

Together: cannot be seen.

Even though English says it cannot be seen, Latin does not need a separate word for it here, because the subject is already understood to be cuculus.

Latin often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from context.

In English, we would normally say but it cannot be seen. In Latin, the subject from the first clause, cuculus, naturally carries over into the second clause unless something changes.

So:

• cuculus ... clamat
• sed videri non potest

means:

• the cuckoo calls
• but [the cuckoo / it] cannot be seen

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. The phrase could be translated literally as to be seen not is able, but English smooths that out as cannot be seen.

A few useful points:

• The infinitive videri often comes before potest
• non usually stands near the word or phrase it negates
• Latin often puts an important finite verb like potest near the end of the clause

So sed videri non potest is a very normal Latin order.

Sed means but. It introduces a contrast:

• the cuckoo calls from the forest
• but it cannot be seen

So the contrast is between hearing the bird and not being able to see it.

Yes. Very often:

• potest = can / is able to
• non potest = cannot / is not able to

So videri non potest is literally is not able to be seen, but idiomatic English is simply cannot be seen.

Yes. Silva can mean forest, wood, or woods, depending on context and translation style.

So all of these may work in English:

• from the forest
• out of the forest
• from the woods
• out of the woods

The Latin grammar stays the same.

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

KOO-koo-loos eh SIL-wah KLAH-maht, sed wee-DAY-ree non POH-test

If using a more classical reconstruction:

• c is always hard, like k
• v sounds like w
• i in videri is like ee

So videri is approximately wi-DEH-ree in classical pronunciation.

Because Classical Latin has no articles. A noun like cuculus can mean:

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

The context or the translation chosen in English supplies the article. The same is true of silva: it could be a forest or the forest, depending on context.

It has two clauses joined by sed:

1. Cuculus e silva clamat

   • subject: cuculus
   • prepositional phrase: e silva
   • verb: clamat

2. sed videri non potest

   • conjunction: sed
   • infinitive: videri
   • finite verb: potest
   • negation: non

So a useful way to see it is:

• [Subject] [from the forest] [calls],
• but [to be seen] [not] [is able].

In better English: The cuckoo calls from the forest, but cannot be seen.