Canis aquam e catino bibit.

Canis is nominative singular here, so it is the subject of the sentence.

A few clues help you see that:

• The verb bibit is third person singular: he/she/it drinks
• So the sentence needs a singular subject
• Canis can serve as that subject: the dog

Even though canis can also be a genitive singular form in other contexts, here the sentence structure makes it clear that it is nominative and means dog as the one doing the drinking.

Because aquam is in the accusative singular.

In this sentence, aquam is the direct object of bibit. It answers the question:

• What does the dog drink?
• Water

In Latin, direct objects are often put in the accusative case, and for a first-declension noun like aqua, the accusative singular ending is -am:

• nominative: aqua
• accusative: aquam

So aquam means water as the thing being drunk.

Because catino is ablative singular.

The preposition e (or ex) means out of or from, and it takes the ablative case. So:

• e catino = out of the bowl / from the bowl

The noun catinus is a second-declension noun, and its ablative singular form is catino.

So the ending -o is there because the preposition requires the ablative.

Both e and ex mean basically the same thing: out of or from.

Usually:

• ex is common before vowels and often before consonants too
• e is often used before consonants

Since catino begins with a consonant, e catino is perfectly normal.

So this is not a big meaning difference; it is mostly a matter of normal Latin usage and sound.

Latin normally does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• canis can mean dog, a dog, or the dog
• aquam can mean water or the water
• catino can mean a bowl or the bowl, depending on context

English usually has to choose an article, but Latin often leaves that to context.

Latin often places the verb near the end of the sentence, especially in simple prose. So this word order is very natural:

• Canis aquam e catino bibit.

But Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the noun endings show each word’s role.

So even if you changed the order, the basic meaning could stay the same, for example:

• Aquam canis e catino bibit
• E catino canis aquam bibit

These can still mean The dog drinks water from the bowl, though the emphasis may shift slightly.

Yes — bibit can sometimes be understood as either he/she/it drinks or he/she/it drank, because the present and perfect forms can look the same in writing.

From bibere:

• present: bibit = he/she/it drinks
• perfect: bibit = he/she/it drank / has drunk

Usually, context tells you which meaning is intended. In a basic teaching sentence like this one, it is normally taken as drinks.

Good question. Latin verbs often include the subject inside the verb ending.

So bibit by itself already means:

• he drinks
• she drinks
• it drinks

But Latin can still add the subject noun for clarity, identification, or emphasis:

• bibit = it drinks
• canis bibit = the dog drinks

So canis is not required for the grammar of the verb, but it tells you exactly who is doing the action.

Because the idea is not just in the bowl, but from/out of the bowl.

Latin often uses a preposition when it wants to show movement or source more clearly. Here:

• e catino = from the bowl / out of the bowl

If you removed e, the meaning would change or become unclear. The preposition is doing important work.

They come from different declensions:

• canis — third declension
• aqua — first declension
• catinus — second declension

That is why their endings look different in the sentence:

• canis — nominative singular
• aquam — accusative singular
• catino — ablative singular

One useful lesson here is that Latin noun endings depend on both:

• the noun’s declension
• the noun’s case/number

Yes. More literally, e often suggests out of or from inside something.

So e catino is very naturally understood as:

• out of the bowl
• and in smoother English, from the bowl

Since a bowl is a container, e makes especially good sense here.

Yes, if the object were understood from context.

For example:

• Canis e catino bibit.

That would mean something like:

• The dog drinks from the bowl

English can also leave out the object in a similar way. But if you want to say specifically that the dog drinks water, then aquam is included.

Basic Latin usually uses the simple present tense for that idea:

• bibit = drinks or sometimes is drinking, depending on context

English often distinguishes:

• drinks
• is drinking

Latin often does not need to make that distinction explicitly in a simple sentence. The context tells you whether the action is habitual or happening right now.