Equi iugales parati sunt.

Here equi is nominative plural of equus, so it means horses as the subject of the sentence.

A beginner often notices that equi can also be genitive singular in some contexts, meaning of the horse. But here that would not fit, because iugales, parati, and sunt all point to a plural subject.

Because equus is a second-declension masculine noun, and its nominative plural ending is -i.

So:

• equus = horse
• equi = horses

This is one of the most common plural patterns in Latin.

Iugales is an adjective modifying equi.

It is:

• nominative
• plural
• masculine

because it agrees with equi. Latin adjectives usually match the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

Because they belong to different adjective patterns.

• iugalis, iugale is a third-declension adjective, so its nominative plural masculine/feminine form is iugales
• paratus, -a, -um is a first/second-declension adjective, so its nominative plural masculine form is parati

Both words still agree with equi. They just show that agreement through different declensional endings.

Iugalis is related to iugum, meaning yoke. So iugales equi are horses connected with a yoke or team.

Depending on context, this can suggest ideas like:

• yoke-horses
• team-horses
• carriage-horses
• horses harnessed together

So the adjective gives a more specific kind of horse than just equi by itself.

Because it agrees with equi, which is masculine plural.

Parati is the masculine plural form of paratus, meaning ready or prepared. Since the horses are the ones being described as ready, the adjective must match them:

• equus paratus = a ready horse
• equi parati = ready horses

It can potentially be understood either way in form, because parati is historically the perfect passive participle of paro, and with sunt that can form a perfect passive expression.

But very often paratus also works simply as an adjective meaning ready.

So context decides:

• parati sunt = they are ready
• or possibly they have been prepared

If the meaning already given to you is are ready, then you should understand parati here as a predicate adjective.

Sunt is the third-person plural present of esse, meaning to be.

It links the subject to the adjective:

• equi iugales = the yoked/team horses
• parati sunt = are ready

So the whole sentence is built like a normal subject + linking verb + adjective structure.

Latin can sometimes omit forms of esse, especially in poetry or compressed style, but in ordinary straightforward prose it is very normal to include sunt.

Because Classical Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

Latin often leaves that idea to be understood from context. So equi can mean:

• horses
• the horses
• sometimes even some horses

depending on the situation.

No. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammar.

So these could express essentially the same basic idea:

• Equi iugales parati sunt
• Parati sunt equi iugales
• Iugales equi parati sunt

The order in your sentence is fairly straightforward and easy for a learner:

• Equi iugales = the subject phrase
• parati sunt = the predicate

In a common reconstructed Classical pronunciation, you could say it roughly as:

EH-kwee yoo-GAH-lays pah-RAH-tee soont

A few useful pronunciation points:

• qu sounds like kw
• iu at the start of iugales is like yu
• g is always hard, as in go
• ti in parati is a clear tee
• u in sunt is pronounced like oo

So the sentence sounds much more like ekwī yugālēs parātī sunt than an English-style reading.