Magister ingenium pueri laudat.

Here ingenium is the direct object, so it is accusative singular: it is the thing being praised.

A useful detail: ingenium is a neuter second-declension noun, and in that declension the nominative singular and accusative singular look the same. So ingenium could be either one by form alone. In this sentence, context tells you it is accusative, because magister is already the subject.

Because pueri is genitive singular here. The genitive often shows possession or a close relationship, so ingenium pueri means the boy's talent/intelligence or the talent of the boy.

Latin usually expresses this idea with a case ending, not with an English-style apostrophe or the word of.

By form alone, yes: pueri can be either:

• genitive singular = of the boy
• nominative plural = the boys

But in this sentence it must be genitive singular. If pueri were the subject, the verb would normally be plural: laudant, not laudat. Also, magister is already the clear nominative singular subject.

Laudat is:

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

It comes from laudare, meaning to praise. So laudat means he/she praises, is praising, or sometimes does praise, depending on context.

Latin often likes to place the verb near or at the end of the sentence, so Magister ingenium pueri laudat is a very natural Latin order.

That said, Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order, because the endings show each word's job. So other orders are possible, such as Ingenium pueri magister laudat. The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis can shift.

Classical Latin has no articles. It does not have separate words that exactly match English the or a/an.

So magister can mean the teacher or a teacher, depending on context. The same is true for ingenium pueri: it could be the boy's talent or a boy's talent, depending on the situation.

Ingenium is a rich word. It can mean things like:

• natural ability
• talent
• intelligence
• character
• native disposition

So the sentence could suggest that the teacher is praising the boy's ability, cleverness, or natural gifts. The exact shade of meaning depends on context.

The dictionary forms are:

• magister, magistri = teacher/master
• ingenium, ingenii = natural ability, talent, intelligence
• puer, pueri = boy
• laudo, laudare, laudavi, laudatus = praise

Knowing the dictionary form helps you recognize what declension or conjugation a word belongs to.

A simple classroom-style pronunciation would be:

mah-GIS-ter in-GEH-nee-um POO-eh-ree LOW-daht

A few helpful points:

• g is always hard, as in go
• ae would sound like ai in words like aisle, but there is no ae here
• au in laudat sounds like ow in cow
• pueri is usually pronounced in separate vowel sounds: pu-e-ri

So the sentence flows as Magister ingenium pueri laudat.