Lilium suave in horto floret, et violae prope ianuam crescunt.

Because lilium is the subject of floret. In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally put in the nominative case.

• lilium = the lily
• floret = blooms / is blooming

So lilium is the thing doing the action.

Suave is the neuter nominative singular form of the adjective suavis, suave.

Since lilium is a neuter noun, the adjective describing it must agree with it in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• lilium = neuter nominative singular
• suave = neuter nominative singular

That is why Latin uses suave, not suavis, here.

Lilium is a second-declension neuter noun.

Many second-declension neuter nouns have:

• nominative singular in -um
• accusative singular in -um

So lilium can be either nominative or accusative depending on its job in the sentence. Here it is nominative because it is the subject.

Because it follows the preposition in meaning in or inside, showing location.

When in means where? rather than into where?, it usually takes the ablative:

• in horto = in the garden

Compare:

• in horto = in the garden
• in hortum = into the garden

So horto is ablative singular.

Because prope is a preposition that takes the accusative case.

So:

• prope ianuam = near the door

Even though English says near the door without changing the noun form much, Latin shows the relationship by using the accusative after prope.

Because the verb crescunt is plural, so the subject must also be plural.

Here:

• violae = violets
• crescunt = grow / are growing

So Latin is talking about more than one violet.

Also, violae is the nominative plural of the first-declension noun viola.

Because they have different subjects.

• floret is third person singular: it blooms
• crescunt is third person plural: they grow

So:

• lilium ... floret = the lily blooms
• violae ... crescunt = the violets grow

Latin verbs change their endings to match the subject in number and person.

Both are present tense.

• floret = blooms / is blooming
• crescunt = grow / are growing

In Latin, the present tense can often be translated in more than one way in English depending on context.

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

So:

• lilium can mean a lily or the lily
• horto can mean a garden or the garden
• ianuam can mean a door or the door

You decide from context which English article sounds best.

The word order is meaningful, but it is more flexible than in English because Latin uses endings to show grammar.

This sentence is:

• Lilium suave in horto floret, et violae prope ianuam crescunt.

A more English-like order might be:

• Lilium suave floret in horto, et violae crescunt prope ianuam.

Both are understandable in Latin. The endings tell you what each word is doing, so Latin can move words around more freely for style, emphasis, or rhythm.

Et means and. It joins the two parts of the sentence:

1. Lilium suave in horto floret
2. violae prope ianuam crescunt

So the sentence is giving two connected observations.

Not exactly.

• floret means blooms, flowers, or is in bloom
• crescunt means grow or are growing

So the lily is being described specifically as blooming, while the violets are described more generally as growing.

In Latin, an adjective must agree with the noun it describes in:

• case
• number
• gender

In this sentence:

• lilium = neuter nominative singular
• suave = neuter nominative singular

That agreement tells you that suave describes lilium.

Even if the words were separated, the matching forms would still help you connect them.

Yes. Depending on context, suave can mean things like:

• sweet
• pleasant
• fragrant
• charming

With a flower, learners often understand it as something like sweet-smelling or fragrant. The exact English choice depends on the translation style.

A simple approximate classroom pronunciation might be:

• LIL-ee-um SWAH-weh in HOR-toh FLOH-ret, et wee-OH-lie PROH-peh yah-NOO-am KRES-koont

A few helpful points:

• v is often pronounced like w in restored classical pronunciation
• c in crescunt is always hard, like k
• ae in violae is often pronounced like eye in classical pronunciation

Different teachers may use slightly different pronunciation systems, especially classical versus ecclesiastical.

Because the verb endings already show the subject clearly enough.

• floret already means he/she/it blooms
• crescunt already means they grow

Since lilium and violae are stated explicitly, Latin does not need extra pronouns.

They belong to different declensions:

• lilium — second declension, neuter
• hortus → horto — second declension, masculine
• viola → violae — first declension
• ianua → ianuam — first declension

This is useful because declension helps you predict the endings and the case forms.