Mater puellam monet ut candelam ante somnum extinguat.

Because puellam is the direct object of monet.

In this sentence, mater is the one doing the action, and puellam is the person being advised or warned:

• mater = mother
• puellam = the girl

So Mater puellam monet means The mother advises/warns the girl.

This is a very common pattern with moneō: the person warned or advised goes in the accusative.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The verb moneō, monēre often means:

• to remind
• to warn
• to advise

In this sentence, Mother tells/advises the girl to put out the candle before sleep is probably the most natural idea.
But warns the girl to put out the candle is also possible.

So the exact English wording may vary, even though the Latin structure stays the same.

Because Latin often uses ut + subjunctive after verbs of advising, urging, persuading, warning, or requesting to express that someone should do something.

So:

• monet ut ... extinguat = advises/warns her to extinguish ...

English often uses an infinitive here:

• The mother advises the girl to extinguish the candle

But Latin usually prefers a full clause:

• Mother advises the girl that she should extinguish the candle

That is why ut appears.

Because it is inside an ut clause expressing purpose or desired action after monet.

After verbs like moneō, Latin commonly uses:

• ut + subjunctive

So extinguat is not an indicative she extinguishes, but a subjunctive meaning something like:

• that she should extinguish
• to extinguish

In other words:

• Mater puellam monet ut candelam ante somnum extinguat
• The mother advises the girl to extinguish the candle before sleep

The subjunctive is required by the construction.

Because the main verb monet is present, and Latin normally follows sequence of tenses.

Here the main verb is a primary tense:

• monet = advises / is advising

So the subordinate verb usually takes the present subjunctive:

• extinguat

If the main verb were in a past tense, you would often expect the imperfect subjunctive instead:

• Mater puellam monuit ut candelam ante somnum exstingueret
• The mother advised the girl to extinguish the candle before sleep

So extinguat fits the present-time main verb.

Because candelam is the direct object of extinguat.

The girl is being told to extinguish the candle, so candelam is the thing being extinguished.

That gives us two different accusatives in the sentence, but they belong to different verbs:

• puellam goes with monet
• candelam goes with extinguat

So the structure is:

• Mater = subject of monet
• puellam = object of monet
• candelam = object of extinguat

It means before sleep or more naturally in English, before going to sleep / before bed.

• ante = before
• somnum = sleep

Because ante takes the accusative, somnum is accusative.

Latin often uses expressions like this where English might prefer a slightly freer translation. So all of these can work depending on context:

• before sleep
• before going to sleep
• before bed

Because ante is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means before in time or place.

So:

• ante + accusative

That is why we get:

• ante somnum = before sleep

This is just a normal prepositional phrase.

The girl is.

Even though puellam is not the grammatical subject of extinguat, the meaning of the sentence makes it clear that the girl is the one who is being told to do it.

So the logic is:

• Mother advises the girl
• that the girl should extinguish the candle

Latin often leaves the subject of the subordinate verb unstated when it is obvious from context.

Normally, with moneō in this kind of meaning, Latin prefers ut + subjunctive rather than a simple infinitive.

English says:

• warns the girl to extinguish the candle

But Latin more naturally says:

• warns/advises the girl that she should extinguish the candle

So the finite clause with ut is idiomatic Latin here.

Not in the same way as in English. Latin word order is flexible because the endings show the grammar.

Here:

• Mater = subject
• puellam = object of monet
• ut candelam ante somnum extinguat = content of the advice

This order is natural and clear, but Latin could rearrange parts for emphasis.

For example, candelam might be moved earlier or later without changing the core meaning. What matters most are the endings and the clause structure, not a fixed word order.

The dictionary form is extinguō, exstinguere or sometimes spelled extinguō, extinguere depending on orthography.

Extinguat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present subjunctive
• active

So it means:

• that she may extinguish
• that she should extinguish

In this sentence, the subject is understood to be the girl.

Yes. Mater is nominative singular.

This is a third-declension noun, so its forms are different from first-declension nouns like puella.

Its basic forms are:

• nominative singular: mater
• accusative singular: matrem

So in this sentence, mater is the subject: the mother.

A learner might expect something more like first-declension patterns, but mater follows a different declension.