Senex sedem petit.

Senex is the subject of the sentence: the person doing the action.

Grammatically, it is:

• nominative singular
• a third-declension noun
• meaning old man, elder, or old person depending on context

So senex is the one who petit.

The ending -em shows that sedem is accusative singular, which usually marks the direct object in Latin.

Here, sedem is the thing being sought or aimed at.

Its dictionary form is:

• sedes, sedis = seat, place, dwelling, position

So:

• sedes = nominative singular
• sedem = accusative singular

Petit is:

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

It comes from the verb petere.

So petit means he/she seeks, aims for, heads for, or tries to get, depending on context.

Because the subject senex is singular, the verb is singular too.

Not always. Petere is a very flexible Latin verb.

It can mean things like:

• seek
• aim at
• make for
• go toward
• attack
• request

In Senex sedem petit, the sense is probably something like:

• The old man seeks a seat
• The old man heads for a seat

So the exact English wording depends on context.

Latin normally has no articles. It does not have separate words for the or a/an the way English does.

So Senex sedem petit could be understood as:

• The old man seeks a seat
• An old man seeks the seat
• The old man seeks the seat

Context tells you which English article is best.

We know from the case endings, not mainly from the word order.

• senex is nominative → subject
• sedem is accusative → direct object

So even if the order changed, the grammar would still show who is doing what.

That is one of the big differences between Latin and English:

• English depends heavily on word order
• Latin depends heavily on endings

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

For example, these could all mean basically the same thing:

• Senex sedem petit
• Sedem senex petit
• Petit senex sedem

The endings still show the roles of the words.

However, different orders can give different emphasis:

• putting sedem first may emphasize the seat
• putting petit first may emphasize the action

So the order is flexible, but not random.

Here it is a noun, not an adjective.

Senex means old man or elder. It already includes the idea of a person.

That is different from an adjective like senis? No—better comparison:

• senex = an old man / an elder
• senex vir = an old man, with vir explicitly added
• senex femina would not be the normal way to say old woman; Latin would usually use other wording depending on context

So in this sentence, senex stands by itself as the noun.

The usual dictionary entries are:

• senex, senis = old man, elder
• sedes, sedis = seat, place, dwelling
• peto, petere, petivi/petii, petitum = seek, aim for, request, head for

A learner should get used to the fact that Latin dictionaries often list:

• for nouns: nominative singular + genitive singular
• for verbs: the main principal parts

In a basic Classical Latin pronunciation, you could say it roughly as:

SEN-eks SEH-dem PEH-tit

A few helpful points:

• senex: the x sounds like ks
• sedem: both e vowels are pronounced clearly
• petit: this is PEH-tit, not like the English word petite

If you want a more careful Classical-style pronunciation:

• se-nex se-dem pe-tit

Latin often says a lot with very few words because grammatical information is packed into the endings.

In just three words, Latin already tells you:

• who is acting: senex
• what is affected: sedem
• what the action is: petit
• the time of the action: present
• the number of the subject: singular

English usually needs more helper words, especially articles like the or a.

That compactness is very normal in Latin.