Sara passa dal fioraio e compra un mazzo di fiori per sua madre.

Passare da is a very common Italian expression meaning to stop by, to drop by, or to go via a place/person.

So:

• passa dal fioraio = she stops by the florist’s / she goes to the florist’s

It is slightly different from va al fioraio, which is a more neutral she goes to the florist’s.
Passa dal fioraio often suggests a quick stop as part of what she is doing.

Dal is a contraction of:

• da + il = dal

Here, da does not literally mean just from. With shops, people, or professions, andare/passare da + person/profession often means to go to someone’s place.

So:

• dal fioraio = to the florist’s / at the florist’s place

This is similar to English expressions like:

• I’m going to the butcher’s
• She stopped by the doctor’s

It can mean the florist (the person), but in expressions like dal fioraio, it often refers naturally to the florist’s shop.

So:

• passare dal fioraio = literally to stop by the florist
• but in natural English it is usually to stop by the florist’s shop

Italian often uses the profession to stand for the place where that person works.

Passa is the third person singular, present indicative of passare.

The subject is Sara, so the verb must be she form:

• io passo = I stop by / I pass
• tu passi = you stop by
• lui/lei passa = he/she stops by

The same is true for compra, from comprare:

• Sara passa ... e compra ...
• Sara stops by ... and buys ...

Italian often uses the present tense for ordinary actions or to describe a sequence of events.

Italian usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So instead of saying:

• Sara lei passa...

Italian simply says:

• Sara passa...

Or even just:

• Passa dal fioraio...

if the subject is already clear from context.

This is different from English, where you almost always need she, he, I, etc.

Un mazzo di fiori means a bunch of flowers or a bouquet of flowers.

Breakdown:

• un mazzo = a bunch / bundle / bouquet
• di fiori = of flowers

So di here means of.

This is a very common structure in Italian:

• un bicchiere d’acqua = a glass of water
• una tazza di tè = a cup of tea
• un mazzo di fiori = a bunch of flowers

Because mazzo needs a complement telling you a bunch of what.

So:

• un mazzo di fiori = a bunch of flowers
• un mazzo di chiavi = a bunch of keys
• un mazzo di carte = a deck/pack of cards

In Italian, this is normally expressed with di.

This is a very important Italian pattern.

With singular family members, Italian often omits the article before the possessive:

• mia madre = my mother
• tuo fratello = your brother
• sua madre = his/her mother

So:

• per sua madre = for her mother

You would usually not say la sua madre in this basic case.

However, the article often returns when:

1. the family noun is plural

   • i suoi genitori = her parents

2. the family noun is modified

   • la sua cara madre = her dear mother

3. the relationship is less immediate or stylistically marked in some contexts

By itself, sua can mean:

• his
• her
• its
• sometimes even formal your

Italian possessives agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

Here:

• madre is feminine singular
• so the possessive is sua

To know whose mother it is, you look at the context. Since the sentence is about Sara, the natural interpretation is:

• per sua madre = for her mother

Literally, passare can mean to pass or to go by, but in the expression passare da + place/person, it very often means to stop by.

So in this sentence:

• Sara passa dal fioraio e compra...

the meaning is not just that she physically walks past the florist. It implies she goes there and then buys flowers.

That is why English would normally translate it as:

• Sara stops by the florist’s and buys...

not just:

• Sara passes by the florist...

Yes, if you specifically want to refer to a female florist, you could say fioraia.

• il fioraio = the male florist / the florist
• la fioraia = the female florist

But in many everyday situations, dal fioraio is a fixed, natural expression for at the florist’s, and it may refer to the shop more than to the person’s gender.

So learners will very commonly hear:

• vado dal fioraio
• passo dal fioraio

even when the shopkeeper’s gender is not important.

It can do either, depending on context.

Italian present tense can express:

1. an action happening now / in a narrative

   • Sara passa dal fioraio e compra...
   • Sara is stopping by the florist and buying...

2. a habitual action

   • Sara usually stops by the florist and buys...

Without extra context, it may simply describe a sequence of events in a neutral way. Italian present tense is often a little broader than English present simple.

Yes, Italian word order is fairly flexible, but this order is the most neutral and natural.

The sentence follows a simple pattern:

• subject + verb + place + e + verb + object + purpose

So:

• Sara
• passa dal fioraio
• e compra un mazzo di fiori
• per sua madre

You could move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• Per sua madre, Sara compra un mazzo di fiori.
• Sara compra un mazzo di fiori dal fioraio per sua madre.

But the original version sounds smooth and natural because it presents the actions in the order they happen.