Aquarius caementa e canali tollit.

Aquarius is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular.

The word can mean something like water-carrier, waterman, or sometimes a person connected with water supply. In this sentence, it is the person doing the action of tollit.

Because Latin often marks the subject by its ending rather than by word order, the -us ending here helps identify it as a nominative singular masculine noun.

Because caementa is a neuter plural form.

Many English speakers first learn that -a can be singular feminine in the first declension, but here that is not what is happening. Caementa comes from caementum, a neuter second-declension noun. Its forms are:

• singular: caementum
• plural: caementa

So caementa means stones, rubble, or building stones, depending on context.

This is a very common thing in Latin: neuter plural nominative/accusative often ends in -a.

Because tollit is a transitive verb here, and caementa is in the accusative plural, which marks the thing being lifted or removed.

So:

• Aquarius = the one doing the action
• caementa = the thing being removed
• tollit = removes / lifts

Since caementa is neuter plural, its nominative and accusative forms are the same. In this sentence, the meaning and syntax show that it is the object, not the subject.

E canali means out of the channel or from the channel.

The preposition e (or ex) takes the ablative case, so canali is ablative singular of canalis.

So:

• canalis = channel, canal
• canali = from/out of the channel

This is a standard Latin pattern:

• e/ex + ablative = out of / from

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

Usually:

• ex is used before vowels and often before some consonants
• e is commonly used before consonants

Since canali begins with c, e canali is completely normal.

In many texts, though, you may also see variation. The important thing for a learner is that e and ex are the same preposition.

Tollit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It means he/she removes, he/she lifts, or he/she takes away, depending on context.

Because it is singular, it agrees with the singular subject Aquarius, not with the plural object caementa.

That is an important point: in Latin, the verb agrees with the subject, not the direct object.

Because the verb agrees with Aquarius, which is singular.

English speakers sometimes glance at the plural noun caementa and expect a plural verb, but that noun is the object, not the subject.

So the structure is:

• Aquarius = singular subject
• tollit = singular verb
• caementa = plural object

If the subject were plural, then the verb would be plural too.

Not as much as in English.

Latin word order is more flexible because the endings show the grammatical roles. So Aquarius caementa e canali tollit is natural, but other orders could still mean the same basic thing, for example:

• Caementa Aquarius e canali tollit
• E canali Aquarius caementa tollit

The endings still show:

• Aquarius = subject
• caementa = object
• canali = ablative after e

That said, word order can still affect emphasis. Putting a word earlier or later may draw attention to it.

Because Latin has no articles.

So Aquarius can mean:

• the water-carrier
• a water-carrier

and canali can mean:

• the channel
• a channel

You decide from the context which English wording is best. This is very normal in Latin and one of the first things English speakers have to get used to.

Yes. The verb tollo, tollere, sustuli, sublatum has a range of meanings depending on context, such as:

• lift
• raise
• take away
• remove

In this sentence, because of e canali (from the channel), removes or takes out is often the most natural English translation, even though the basic physical idea of lifting is still there.

Canalis is a third-declension noun.

Many third-declension nouns have an ablative singular in -e, but some i-stem nouns commonly have -i. Canalis is one of those nouns where canali is the normal ablative singular form.

So after e/ex, you get:

• e canali = from the channel

For a learner, the main takeaway is simply that canali is the correct ablative form used with e.

The endings tell you.

• Aquarius has a nominative singular ending, which fits the subject.
• Caementa is neuter plural nominative or accusative, so by form alone it could be either subject or object.

But then the verb helps:

• tollit is singular, so its subject must be singular.
• Aquarius is singular.
• Caementa is plural.

So Aquarius must be the subject, and caementa must be the object.

The pattern is:

subject + object + prepositional phrase + verb

More specifically:

• Aquarius = subject
• caementa = direct object
• e canali = prepositional phrase showing where from
• tollit = verb

A very literal breakdown would be:

The water-carrier rubble/stones from the channel removes.

More natural English would be:

The water-carrier removes the stones from the channel.

or

The water-carrier takes the rubble out of the channel.