Discipulus magistrae quaestiones de pronomine ponit, ut sensum huius vocabuli plane intellegat.

Here it is dative singular: to/for the teacher.

In the sentence, magistrae is the indirect object of ponit. The student is putting/posing questions to the teacher.

So:

• discipulus = the student
• quaestiones = questions
• magistrae = to the teacher

Although magistrae can also be nominative plural, the context here clearly shows it is dative singular.

Because quaestiones is the direct object of ponit.

The verb ponere literally means to place/put, but in this context it means to put forward / pose / ask questions. The thing being posed is questions, so Latin puts quaestiones in the accusative.

• nominative singular: quaestio
• accusative plural: quaestiones

Pronomine is ablative singular because it follows the preposition de.

In Latin, de takes the ablative and often means:

• about
• concerning
• regarding

So de pronomine means about the pronoun.

Because Latin often uses a prepositional phrase where English uses about.

If you want to say questions about a pronoun, Latin naturally says quaestiones de pronomine.

Without de, the relationship would be unclear or would have to be expressed in some other grammatical way. De + ablative is the normal straightforward way to say about/concerning.

Literally, yes: ponit means he/she places/puts.

But Latin often uses very physical verbs in extended meanings. Here quaestiones ponere means to put questions, that is, to ask or pose questions.

So this is a normal idiomatic use:

• literal sense: puts
• natural English sense here: asks/poses

Because the subject is discipulus, which is singular.

• discipulus = one student
• ponit = he/she puts/poses

If the subject were plural, such as discipuli, the verb would also be plural:

• discipuli ... ponunt

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show each word’s role.

English depends heavily on position:

• The student asks the teacher questions

Latin can move words around more freely because endings tell you what each word is doing:

• discipulus = subject
• magistrae = indirect object
• quaestiones = direct object

So the sentence order is not random, but it is less rigid than English. Writers may arrange words for:

• emphasis
• style
• clarity
• rhythm

Here ut introduces a purpose clause.

A purpose clause explains why someone does something:

• The student asks questions ... so that he may understand ...

So:

• ut = so that / in order that

This is one of the most common uses of ut in Latin.

Because it is inside an ut-purpose clause.

Latin normally uses:

• ut + subjunctive = so that / in order that

So ut ... intellegat means so that he may understand.

Since the main verb is present (ponit), Latin uses the present subjunctive in the purpose clause:

• ponit ... ut ... intellegat

This is a very standard pattern.

Huius vocabuli is a genitive phrase depending on sensum.

• sensus (here sensum) = meaning, sense
• huius vocabuli = of this word

So the structure is:

• sensum huius vocabuli = the meaning of this word

Both huius and vocabuli are genitive singular:

• huius = of this
• vocabuli = of the word

Because the phrase means of this word, and of requires the genitive in Latin.

• nominative/accusative neuter singular: hoc
• genitive singular: huius

Since vocabuli is genitive, the demonstrative must agree with it:

• huius vocabuli = of this word

So hoc vocabulum would mean this word, but huius vocabuli means of this word.

Plane is an adverb meaning:

• clearly
• plainly
• completely

It modifies intellegat. So the idea is not just that the student understands the word’s meaning, but that he understands it clearly or fully.

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

So a noun like discipulus can mean:

• a student
• the student

The context tells you which is meant.

That is why Latin learners often have to get used to reading nouns without articles and deciding from context whether English should use a or the.

Usually, yes.

• discipulus is grammatically masculine and normally means a male student
• magistra is grammatically feminine and means a female teacher

If you wanted a female student, you would normally say discipula.

So the sentence naturally suggests:

• a male student
• asking a female teacher

though in some teaching contexts a translation may leave gender less emphasized unless it matters.

Yes. Pronomen is the standard Latin grammatical term for pronoun.

Its forms include:

• nominative: pronomen
• genitive: pronominis
• ablative: pronomine

So de pronomine is exactly what you would expect for about the pronoun.