Astrologus astrologiam docet et caelum contemplatur.

Because astrologus is in the nominative singular form, which is the form Latin normally uses for the subject of a sentence.

The ending -us is a very common nominative singular ending for second-declension masculine nouns. So astrologus means the astrologer as the one doing the actions.

In this sentence, the astrologer is the one who teaches and contemplates.

They are different because they belong to different declensions, even though they are both accusative singular.

• astrologiam is from astrologia, astrologiae and is a first-declension noun. Its accusative singular ends in -am.
• caelum is from caelum, caeli and is a second-declension neuter noun. Its accusative singular ends in -um.

So both words are direct objects, but they look different because Latin noun endings depend on both case and declension.

It is accusative because it is the direct object of docet.

The verb doceo means teach, and in this sentence the thing being taught is astrologiam. So Latin puts that noun into the accusative case.

In other words:

• astrologus = the one doing the teaching
• astrologiam = what is being taught

Because caelum is the direct object of contemplatur.

The verb contemplor means look at, observe, or contemplate, and the thing being observed here is the sky/heaven. Latin therefore uses the accusative case for caelum.

So the sentence has one subject and two verbs, and each verb has its own direct object:

• astrologiam docet
• caelum contemplatur

Because contemplor is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb has:

• passive-looking forms
• but an active meaning

So contemplatur looks passive, but it means he/she contemplates or he/she observes, not is contemplated.

This is a very common thing for Latin learners to ask, because it looks strange at first. With deponent verbs, you have to remember that the form is passive in appearance, but the meaning is active.

Docet is the third person singular present active indicative of doceo, docere.

That means it means he teaches, she teaches, or it teaches, depending on context.

Here it matches the singular subject astrologus, so the meaning is the astrologer teaches.

The ending -t is the normal sign of third person singular in many Latin present-tense verbs.

Contemplatur is the third person singular present indicative of the deponent verb contemplor, contemplari.

So it means:

• he contemplates
• she contemplates
• he/she observes

Even though it has a passive-looking ending -tur, it is translated actively because the verb is deponent.

This matches the same singular subject astrologus.

Latin usually does not need a separate subject pronoun, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• docet = he/she/it teaches
• contemplatur = he/she/it contemplates

Since the subject noun astrologus is already stated, Latin does not need to add is (he).

English often requires a subject pronoun, but Latin often leaves it out unless it is needed for emphasis or contrast.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order, because the endings show the grammatical roles.

Here the sentence is:

Astrologus astrologiam docet et caelum contemplatur.

A learner might expect Latin always to put the verb at the end, but Latin does not have one single fixed order. This sentence is perfectly normal.

Because the endings make the grammar clear, Latin could rearrange the words for style or emphasis without changing the basic meaning. For example, a different order could still mean the same thing if the cases stay the same.

So word order matters for emphasis and style, but endings matter most for grammar.

Et means and. It connects the two verb phrases:

• astrologiam docet
• caelum contemplatur

So the sentence tells us that the astrologer does both actions:

1. teaches astrology
2. contemplates the sky

Yes. They are closely related in meaning:

• astrologus = astrologer
• astrologia = astrology

So the sentence uses a noun for the person and a noun for the subject being taught. English does the same with astrologer and astrology.

This can help vocabulary learning, but it is also useful to notice that they are different nouns, not different forms of the same word.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Caelum is a common Latin word that can refer to:

• the sky
• the heavens
• the vault of heaven

In this sentence, either sky or heaven could make sense, depending on how the meaning was presented to the learner. Since an astrologer is observing celestial things, sky is a very natural translation.

In a reconstructed Classical Latin pronunciation, it would be approximately:

ah-STRO-lo-gus ah-stro-lo-GEE-am DO-ket et KAI-lum kon-tem-PLAH-tur

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• ae is usually pronounced like ai in aisle
• g is always hard
• vowels are always pronounced clearly

So:

• caelum begins with a k sound
• docet begins with do-, not like English doe-sit
• contemplatur has a hard t and clear vowels

Yes. It is a complete sentence because one subject, astrologus, can govern more than one verb.

Here, the same subject does both actions:

• docet
• contemplatur

Latin does not need to repeat astrologus before the second verb. English works the same way:

• The astrologer teaches astrology and contemplates the sky.

So this is one complete sentence with:

• one subject
• two verbs
• two direct objects