Gnomon umbram iterum ostendit.

Gnomon is nominative singular, so it is the subject of the sentence.

It may look unusual because it is a third-declension noun and also a Greek loanword. Not all Latin nouns have the beginner-friendly endings like -a or -us. With a noun like this, you normally learn its dictionary form together with the genitive, for example gnomon, gnomonis.

Because umbram is accusative singular of umbra.

The accusative is used here for the direct object, the thing being shown. So:

• gnomon = the subject
• umbram = the object

The ending -am is the normal accusative singular ending for many first-declension nouns.

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

• gnomon is nominative, so it is the subject
• umbram is accusative, so it is the direct object

That is one of the biggest differences from English. In English, word order does most of this work. In Latin, endings do much of it.

Ostendit is a third-person singular verb form from ostendere.

It means he/she/it shows in the present indicative active.

A useful extra point: in Latin, ostendit can also be the perfect form, meaning he/she/it showed or has shown. The spelling is the same, so the context tells you which meaning is intended. If your lesson gives the present meaning here, then that is the reading you should take.

Because ostendit only tells you third person singular: he, she, or it. The verb form itself does not tell you gender.

The subject here is gnomon, which refers to a thing, so English normally uses it.

This is a good example of the difference between grammatical gender and natural gender. A Latin noun can be grammatically masculine, feminine, or neuter, but in English you often still use it for an object.

Because Latin has no articles.

So gnomon can mean:

• the gnomon
• a gnomon

and umbram can mean:

• the shadow
• a shadow

The correct English article comes from the context.

Iterum is an adverb, meaning again.

Adverbs do not change for:

• case
• number
• gender

That is because they do not function like nouns or adjectives. Here, iterum modifies the verb ostendit, telling you how or in what way the action happens: it happens again.

Yes. Latin word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbs.

For example, you could also see things like:

• Gnomon iterum umbram ostendit
• Iterum gnomon umbram ostendit

The basic meaning would stay the same. The difference is mostly one of emphasis or style, not core grammar.

Yes. Because Latin uses case endings, the words can often be rearranged without changing the basic meaning.

So Latin does not depend on word order as strictly as English does. Still, some orders are more natural in context than others. Putting the verb at the end, as in Gnomon umbram iterum ostendit, is a very common Latin pattern.

In a Classical-style pronunciation, roughly:

GNO-mon UM-bram I-te-rum os-TEN-dit

Two helpful points for an English speaker:

• the g in gnomon is pronounced; it is not silent as in English gnome
• ostendit has the stress on ten

So the sentence should sound much more fully pronounced than an English speaker might first expect.