Learn Hardcore Latin: Mater puellae vestem albam dat, et pater puero vestem nigram dat. - Mother gives a white dress to the girl, and father gives a black garment to the boy.

Mater and pater are in the nominative singular form. The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence – the person doing the action.

mater = the mother (subject: the one who gives)
pater = the father (subject: the one who gives)

Forms like matrem and patrem are accusative singular, used for direct objects (the thing directly receiving the action). In this sentence, the mother and father are doing the giving, so they must be nominative, not accusative.

Why does puellae end in -ae and puero in -o, even though both mean “to the …”?

Both puellae and puero are in the dative singular, the case most often used for indirect objects (the person to whom something is given, said, shown, etc.).

puellae = to/for the girl
- puella is a 1st-declension noun (typical ending -a)
- dative singular ending: -ae → puellae
puero = to/for the boy
- puer is a 2nd-declension noun
- dative singular ending: -ō → puero

So the different endings are just because the words belong to different declensions (patterns of endings), but they both express the same grammatical role: the indirect object.

How do we know puellae means “to the girl” here and not “of the girl”?

For 1st-declension nouns like puella, the genitive singular (of the girl) and the dative singular (to/for the girl) are spelled the same: puellae.

You tell which case it is by meaning and context:

This sentence has dat, “gives”, which normally takes:
- a direct object (the thing given) → vestem
- an indirect object (the receiver) → to the girl / to the boy

So in Mater puellae vestem albam dat, the roles are:

mater – subject (nominative)
vestem – what is given (accusative)
puellae – who receives it → must be dative (to the girl), not genitive (of the girl).

If it meant “of the girl”, the sentence would mean something like “The mother gives the girl’s white dress”, which doesn’t fit the parallel with puero vestem nigram dat.

Why is it puero and not pueri?

Puer (boy) has different endings for the dative and genitive:

pueri = of the boy → genitive singular
puero = to/for the boy → dative singular

In pater puero vestem nigram dat, the father is giving a dress to the boy, so we need the dative: puero, not pueri.

This also shows a contrast with puellae:

puellae (1st declension) = dative or genitive singular (same form)
puero (2nd declension) = only dative singular
(the genitive would be pueri)

Why is it vestem and not vestis?

Vestis is a 3rd-declension noun meaning garment, clothing, dress.

vestis = nominative or genitive singular
vestem = accusative singular

In this sentence, vestem is the direct object, the thing given:

Mater … vestem albam dat. → The mother gives a white dress.
Pater … vestem nigram dat. → The father gives a black dress.

Direct objects in Latin normally take the accusative case, so vestem is correct.

Why do the adjectives albam and nigram end in -am?

Albam (white) and nigram (black) are adjectives modifying vestem.

Latin adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

gender
number
case

Here:

vestem is feminine, singular, accusative
so the adjectives must also be feminine singular accusative

The -am ending is typical for 1st/2nd-declension adjectives in the feminine accusative singular:

albus, alba, album → albam (fem. acc. sg.)
niger, nigra, nigrum → nigram (fem. acc. sg.)

So vestem albam = a white dress, vestem nigram = a black dress, with full agreement.

Can the adjective go before the noun? For example, could we say albam vestem instead of vestem albam?

Yes. In Latin, adjectives are relatively free in position and can come before or after their noun, especially simple descriptive ones.

So all of these are grammatically correct and mean the same thing:

vestem albam
albam vestem

Similarly:

vestem nigram
nigram vestem

Word order can suggest a subtle change in emphasis or style, but in basic prose both orders are acceptable and common.

Why is the verb dat put at the end of each clause, and why is it repeated?

Latin word order is flexible, but a common pattern is:

Subject – Indirect Object – Direct Object – Verb

That’s what we see:

Mater (subject) puellae (indirect object) vestem albam (direct object) dat (verb)
pater (subject) puero (indirect object) vestem nigram (direct object) dat (verb)

Putting the verb last is very typical and feels natural in Latin.

As for repetition: Latin often repeats the verb in parallel clauses for clarity and balance. The structure:

Mater … dat, et pater … dat.

nicely highlights the parallel actions of the mother and the father.

Could we write the sentence with only one dat, like:
Mater puellae vestem albam et pater puero vestem nigram dat?

Yes, that is possible and correct. Latin can allow a verb at the end to “cover” both parts:

Mater puellae vestem albam et pater puero vestem nigram dat.

Here, dat is understood for both mater and pater. The meaning is the same: The mother gives a white dress to the girl, and the father gives a black dress to the boy.

However, many authors prefer repeating the verb, especially when the clauses are nicely parallel, as in the original:

Mater puellae vestem albam dat, et pater puero vestem nigram dat.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” in the Latin sentence?

Latin has no articles. There is no separate word for “the” or “a/an”.

So a Latin noun like mater can be translated as:

mother
a mother
the mother

depending on context, not on any extra word in Latin.

In our sentence:

mater → the mother (or a mother)
pater → the father

English has to add the or a to sound natural, but Latin simply uses the noun form itself.

How can we tell which word is subject, which is direct object, and which is indirect object in this sentence?

You identify each role by its case ending:

Subjects (nominative)
- mater – nominative singular → subject of gives
- pater – nominative singular → subject of gives
Indirect objects (dative) – the receivers
- puellae – dative singular → to the girl
- puero – dative singular → to the boy
Direct objects (accusative) – the things given
- vestem albam – accusative singular → a white dress
- vestem nigram – accusative singular → a black dress

So even if you scrambled the word order, the endings would still tell you:

who is doing the action (nominative)
what is being given (accusative)
who is receiving it (dative)

Could we swap the order of the two clauses, like:
Pater puero vestem nigram dat, et mater puellae vestem albam dat? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can swap them:

Pater puero vestem nigram dat, et mater puellae vestem albam dat.

The meaning does not change: the same people are giving the same garments to the same children.

Changing the order would only affect emphasis or focus:

Original: starts with the mother.
Swapped: starts with the father.

Latin allows this kind of rearrangement quite freely because the case endings keep the relationships clear.