Puer aprum videt.

Because of their case endings.

• puer is nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject
• aprum is accusative singular, the case normally used for the direct object

So Latin shows who is doing the action and who is receiving it by changing the endings, not mainly by word order.

The dictionary forms are:

• puer = boy
• aper = boar
• videt comes from video = see

More fully, you would usually learn them as:

• puer, pueri = boy
• aper, apri = boar
• video, videre, vidi, visum = see

So aprum is a form of aper, and videt is a form of video.

Because aper is the nominative singular form, but here the word is a direct object, so it must be in the accusative singular.

For this noun:

• nominative singular: aper
• accusative singular: aprum

The important thing to notice is that the noun’s stem is apr-, so when endings are added, the e disappears.

It stays puer because it is the subject, so it remains in the nominative singular.

Also, puer is one of those second-declension masculine nouns ending in -er. Not all masculine nouns end in -us. So:

• servus = slave
• puer = boy

Both can be nominative singular masculine, even though they look different.

videt is:

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

So it means he sees, she sees, or it sees, depending on the subject.

Since puer is singular, the verb is singular too.

Latin often does not need an expressed subject pronoun.

The ending -t in videt already tells you the verb is 3rd person singular, so Latin does not usually need a separate word like he.

If you added is or another pronoun, it would usually be for emphasis or contrast, not because it is required.

Classical Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So puer can mean:

• the boy
• a boy

And aprum can mean:

• the boar
• a boar

You decide from the context which English translation is best.

Less important than in English.

In English, The boy sees the boar and The boar sees the boy mean different things because word order does the job.

In Latin, the endings do most of that work. So these all mean basically the same thing:

• Puer aprum videt
• Aprum puer videt
• Videt puer aprum

The basic meaning stays the same because puer is nominative and aprum is accusative.

Because it is a very natural Latin order: subject - object - verb.

That order is common and often feels neutral or straightforward in Latin prose.

However, Latin authors can change the order for:

• emphasis
• style
• contrast
• rhythm

So this sentence is normal, but not the only possible order.

Because the ending -um here is accusative singular.

For aper, the forms are:

• nominative singular: aper
• accusative singular: aprum
• accusative plural: apros

So aprum means one boar, not more than one.

Both are second-declension masculine nouns, even though they end in -er rather than -us.

That is something English speakers often need to get used to: in Latin, declension is not determined only by the nominative ending you first notice.

For example:

• puer, pueri
• aper, apri

The genitive singular form, like pueri or apri, helps show that they belong to the second declension.

In a common Classical Latin pronunciation, approximately:

• puer = POO-er
• aprum = AH-prum
• videt = WEE-det

A few useful notes:

• puer has two syllables
• v in Classical Latin is pronounced like English w
• e is always pronounced, never silent

So the whole sentence is roughly:

POO-er AH-prum WEE-det

Yes, sometimes.

Latin present tense often corresponds to either:

• English simple present: sees
• English present progressive: is seeing

In a basic sentence like this, English usually prefers sees, but context can sometimes make is seeing reasonable.

So the Latin form itself is just present tense; English chooses the most natural wording.