Puteus altus est, et ancilla aquam e puteo haurit.

Because aquam is the direct object of haurit. The maidservant is drawing water, so water is the thing being acted on.

• aqua = nominative singular, used for a subject
• aquam = accusative singular, used for a direct object

So Latin uses aquam because the sentence means that the maidservant draws water.

Because Latin often uses a preposition to show the relationship clearly. Here e means out of or from, so e puteo means from the well or out of the well.

Also, e requires the ablative case, so puteus changes to puteo.

• puteus = nominative singular
• puteo = ablative singular

They are two different cases of the same noun.

• puteus is nominative singular, used when the well is the subject: Puteus altus est
• puteo is ablative singular, used after e: e puteo

This is very common in Latin: the form of a noun changes depending on its job in the sentence.

Because altus is an adjective describing puteus, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

puteus is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: altus.

Est is the verb is, from sum, esse.

In Puteus altus est, it links the subject puteus with the description altus. This is called a linking verb or copula.

So the structure is:

• puteus = subject
• altus = description of the subject
• est = links them

English does the same thing in The well is deep/high.

Haurit is:

• third person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from haurio, haurire, meaning to draw, to scoop up, or to take up.

The ending -it tells you he/she/it draws. Since the subject is ancilla, the meaning is the maidservant draws.

Because Latin has no articles. It does not have separate words for the or a/an.

So:

• puteus can mean a well or the well
• ancilla can mean a maidservant or the maidservant
• aquam can mean water or sometimes the water, depending on context

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

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

In English, word order is very important:

• The maidservant draws water from the well

In Latin, the endings already tell you:

• ancilla is the subject
• aquam is the object
• puteo is part of a prepositional phrase
• haurit is the verb

So Latin can place words in different orders for style or emphasis. In this sentence, putting haurit at the end is very natural Latin.

Literally, altus can mean high or deep, depending on the thing being described.

With something like a well, English usually says deep, not high, even though the Latin adjective is the same word. So in context:

• puteus altus = a deep well

This is a good reminder that Latin words do not always match English words one-for-one in every context.

Because the verb ending already tells you the subject is he, she, or it singular.

• haurit = he/she/it draws

Since ancilla is already stated, Latin does not need to add a separate pronoun. In fact, Latin often leaves pronouns out unless it wants extra emphasis or contrast.

So ancilla aquam e puteo haurit is perfectly complete without a word for she.