Altitudo magna est.

Altitudo is a noun meaning height, depth, or altitude/elevation, depending on context. In this sentence, since the meaning has already been given, you can understand it as height.

It is the kind of abstract noun English often forms with -ness or -ity. So you can think of altus (high/deep) becoming altitudo (height/depth).

Latin usually does not have articles like English the and a/an. So Altitudo magna est could be translated as:

• The height is great
• A height is great
• simply Height is great

Which English version sounds best depends on context. Latin often leaves that unstated.

Here altitudo is in the nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence.

You can tell because the sentence is built like:

• Altitudo = the thing being talked about
• magna = what is being said about it
• est = is

So the basic structure is subject + predicate adjective + verb.

Magna agrees with altitudo.

The noun altitudo is feminine, so the adjective magnus, magna, magnum must also be feminine singular nominative here. That gives magna.

So:

• altitudo = feminine singular nominative
• magna = feminine singular nominative

This is a basic Latin rule: adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

You usually learn the gender when you learn the noun in vocabulary form. Altitudo is a third-declension feminine noun.

A dictionary entry might look like:

• altitudo, altitudinis, f.

The f. tells you it is feminine.

It is doing both in a sense, but grammatically it is a predicate adjective.

That means it is linked to the subject by a form of to be:

• Altitudo magna est = The height is great

This is different from an attributive phrase like:

• altitudo magna = a great height / the great height

With est, the sentence is making a statement: the height is great.

Est is the third-person singular present form of esse, meaning to be.

So est means is.

That is why the sentence translates as ... is ...

A very useful pattern in Latin is:

• X Y est = X is Y

Here:

• Altitudo = X
• magna = Y
• est = is

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings carry a lot of the grammatical information.

These can all mean essentially the same thing:

• Altitudo magna est
• Magna altitudo est
• Altitudo est magna

The differences are mostly about emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

For a beginner, Altitudo magna est is a very straightforward order.

In Latin, putting the verb at the end is very common, though not required. So Altitudo magna est sounds natural and normal.

English usually prefers The height is great, with the verb in the middle, but Latin often saves the verb for later.

Yes. Magnus, magna, magnum can mean great, large, big, or sometimes important, depending on context.

In this sentence, great is a very natural translation, but in another context it could be better translated as great in size or large.

Yes. Altitudo is a third-declension noun.

Its nominative singular ends in -do, and its genitive singular is altitudinis. That genitive form helps show which declension pattern it belongs to.

So if you learned it as:

• altitudo, altitudinis

that would tell you a lot more than the nominative alone.

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

ahl-TEE-too-doh MAHG-nah est

In a more classical-style pronunciation:

• Altitudo: ahl-tee-TOO-doh
• magna: MAHG-nah
• est: est

The g in magna is a hard g, like in go, not like the g in giant.