Here's why:
* Word Order: Latin relies heavily on inflection (changes in word endings) to indicate grammatical function. English, being an analytic language, relies much more on word order. Subject-verb-object order is crucial in English, while Latin has more flexibility.
* Case System: Latin has a complex case system (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative) marking grammatical roles of nouns and pronouns. English has largely lost this system, retaining only vestiges in pronouns (e.g., "he" vs. "him").
* Verb Conjugation: Latin verbs conjugate extensively to show tense, mood, voice, number, and person. While English verbs conjugate, the system is far simpler and less informative than Latin's.
* Gendered Nouns: Latin nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), which affects adjective agreement. English nouns do not have grammatical gender in the same way.
Applying Latin grammatical concepts to English often results in:
* Overly complex analyses: Trying to shoehorn English into a Latin framework obscures the simpler, more straightforward rules of English grammar.
* Inaccurate descriptions: Latin grammatical terms applied to English can be misleading or simply inapplicable.
* Missed nuances: The unique characteristics of English grammar are overlooked when using Latin as a model.
In short, while studying Latin can improve one's understanding of language in general and the historical development of English, it's crucial to analyze English grammar on its own terms, using models and frameworks appropriate to its own structure.