Puer elephantem spectat.

Because puer is in the nominative case, which is the case normally used for the subject in Latin.

In this sentence:

• puer = the boy / a boy
• elephantem = the elephant / an elephant as the direct object
• spectat = looks at / watches

So puer is the one doing the action.

The ending -em shows that elephantem is in the accusative singular. The accusative case is commonly used for the direct object—the person or thing directly affected by the verb.

So in Puer elephantem spectat, the elephant is the thing being watched.

A learner can think of it like this:

• puer = the doer
• elephantem = the thing acted upon

Latin usually does not use articles like English the and a/an.

So puer can mean:

• the boy
• a boy

And elephantem can mean:

• the elephant
• an elephant

Which one sounds best depends on context. Latin often leaves that to the reader or listener.

Because Latin and English do not always build meanings in the same way.

In English, we often say look at with a verb plus a preposition. In Latin, spectare can take a direct object without needing a separate word for at.

So:

• English: The boy looks at the elephant
• Latin: Puer elephantem spectat

There is no extra Latin word for at here, because the verb itself works directly with the object.

The ending -at tells us that the verb is:

• third person
• singular
• present tense
• active

So spectat means he/she/it watches, he/she/it is watching, or he/she/it looks at, depending on context.

Since the subject here is puer (boy), we understand it as the boy watches or the boy is watching.

Yes. Latin present tense often covers both ideas that English separates:

• he watches
• he is watching

So Puer elephantem spectat could be translated as either:

• The boy watches the elephant
• The boy is watching the elephant
• The boy looks at the elephant

The exact English wording depends on context and what meaning has already been given.

Latin word order is usually more flexible than English word order, because the noun endings show each word’s job in the sentence.

So all of these could mean roughly the same thing:

• Puer elephantem spectat
• Elephantem puer spectat
• Spectat puer elephantem

The endings still show that:

• puer is the subject
• elephantem is the object

However, changing the word order can change emphasis or style. The version given, Puer elephantem spectat, is a very straightforward, beginner-friendly order.

You would look up the noun under its nominative singular form, not under the form used in the sentence.

In Latin, the form in the sentence may be changed by case. So elephantem is not usually the dictionary heading; it is a declined form.

A dictionary would normally give the noun in a base form such as the nominative singular, along with other information that helps you identify its declension.

The important beginner point is this:
elephantem is a changed form used because the noun is the direct object.

In a common classroom Classical Latin pronunciation, you could say it roughly like:

POO-er e-le-PHAN-tem SPEK-tat

A few helpful points:

• puer has two syllables: pu-er
• c in spectat is always hard, like k
• e is always pronounced, never silent

So the sentence is not pronounced like English spelling rules would suggest.

Because puer is already the normal nominative singular form of the word meaning boy.

Not all Latin masculine nouns end in -us in the nominative singular. Many do, but puer is one of the common exceptions.

So:

• puer = boy as the subject form

This is simply the correct basic form of the noun.

Spectat comes from the verb spectare, meaning to watch, to look at, or to observe.

It is a first-conjugation verb. A learner may notice that many first-conjugation present-tense forms have endings like:

• -o
• -as
• -at
• -amus
• -atis
• -ant

So spectat fits a very common and useful pattern in Latin grammar.