Learn Hardcore Latin: Servus hospiti fructus dulces dat, et hospes eum laudat. - The servant gives sweet fruits to the guest, and the guest praises him.

The basic (dictionary) form is hospes (nominative case, used for a subject: the guest).
The dative singular hospiti is used for an indirect object, the person who receives something.

So:

Servus hospes fructus dulces dat would be wrong: hospes is nominative, so it would look like another subject.
Servus hospiti fructus dulces dat = The slave gives (sweet) fruits to the guest.

Latin usually shows “to/for” with the dative case, not with a separate word.

What case is fructus here, and how can it be both subject-form and object-form?

Fructus belongs to the 4th declension, where the endings are a bit unusual.

For fructus (fruit):

Singular:
- nominative: fructus (subject)
- accusative: fructum (direct object)
Plural:
- nominative: fructus (subjects)
- accusative: fructus (direct objects)

In this sentence, fructus is plural accusative = direct object of dat:
Servus … fructus dulces dat = The slave gives sweet fruits.

So even though fructus (plural) looks like a nominative form, here it functions as the accusative plural because it is what is being given. Context (and the verb) tell you it’s the object.

Why is dulces used, and how does it relate to fructus?

Dulces is an adjective meaning sweet, and it must agree with the noun it describes:

fructus = masculine, plural, accusative
dulcis, dulce (sweet) is a 3rd‑declension adjective. Its masculine/feminine plural accusative form is dulces.

So:

fructus dulces = sweet fruits (masculine, plural, accusative in both words)

If it were just one fruit:

fructum dulce = a sweet fruit (masculine singular accusative for fructum, neuter/masc sing accusative for dulce agreeing with it).

How do we know servus is the subject and not fructus dulces?

Formally, servus and fructus could both look like nominative forms (subjects). So how do we decide?

Servus is clearly nominative singular: typical 2nd‑declension -us ending.
Fructus could be nominative plural, but:
- It stands right before dulces, which is accusative plural.
- The verb dat (gives) needs a direct object, and fructus dulces fits that role well.
The usual pattern in such a sentence is:
- Subject (nominative): servus
- Indirect object (dative): hospiti
- Direct object (accusative): fructus dulces
- Verb: dat

So by grammar and by meaning, servus is the subject, fructus dulces is the direct object.

What case is eum, and why is it used instead of repeating servus?

Eum is the accusative singular masculine form of the pronoun is, ea, id (he, she, it / that).

In the second clause et hospes eum laudat:
- hospes = nominative, subject (the guest)
- laudat = praises
- eum = him (direct object)

So eum refers back to servus:

… and the guest praises *him (the slave).*

Latin often avoids repeating the noun and uses a pronoun instead, just like English. Writing et hospes servum laudat would be possible but more repetitive; eum is natural and clear.

How do we know that in the second clause it is the guest praising the slave, not the other way round?

In et hospes eum laudat:

hospes = nominative singular: the subject (the one doing the action).
eum = accusative singular: the object (the one receiving the action).
laudat = he/she/it praises.

Latin shows who does what to whom mainly by endings, not by word order.
So no matter how you shuffle the words:

hospes (nominative) is the praiser.
eum (accusative) is the one being praised.

For example, all of these still mean The guest praises him:

hospes eum laudat
eum hospes laudat
laudat eum hospes

The endings, not the order, tell you the roles.

What tense and person are the verbs dat and laudat?

Both dat and laudat are:

present tense (action happening now or generally)
3rd person singular (he/she/it)

Details:

Verb dare (to give):
- dat = he/she/it gives
Verb laudare (to praise):
- laudat = he/she/it praises

So the sentence describes actions as present and ongoing or habitual:
The slave gives … and the guest praises him.

Why isn’t there any word for “the” in Latin here (as in the slave, the guest)?

Latin generally does not have articles (a, an, the).

servus can mean a slave or the slave, depending on context.
hospes can mean a guest or the guest.

Which English article you choose in translation (a/an/the) depends on the situation, not on a special Latin word. Here:

Servus hospiti fructus dulces dat
can be translated as either
- A slave gives the guest sweet fruits
- The slave gives the guest sweet fruits

depending on what fits the larger context.

How flexible is the word order? Could we say Servus fructus dulces hospiti dat or something similar?

Latin word order is quite flexible compared with English. The grammatical roles are marked by endings, so you can rearrange much more freely.

All of these mean essentially the same thing:

Servus hospiti fructus dulces dat.
Servus fructus dulces hospiti dat.
Fructus dulces servus hospiti dat.
Hospiti servus fructus dulces dat.

The most common neutral pattern is Subject – (Indirect Object) – (Direct Object) – Verb, which your sentence follows:

Servus (subject)
hospiti (indirect object)
fructus dulces (direct object)
dat (verb)

But reordering is usually allowed, often for emphasis (for example, putting fructus dulces first to stress the fruits).

How would the sentence change if there were only one sweet fruit instead of several?

You would make fructus dulces singular:

fructum dulce = a sweet fruit (direct object, singular)

So the whole sentence would be:

Servus hospiti fructum dulce dat, et hospes eum laudat.
= The slave gives the guest a sweet fruit, and the guest praises him.

Changes:

fructus (plural accusative) → fructum (singular accusative)
dulces (plural) → dulce (singular, agreeing with fructum)