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Puella sportam cum pane et aqua fert, ut amicam aegrotam auxilio iuvet.

Puella sportam cum pane et aqua fert, ut amicam aegrotam auxilio iuvet.
The girl carries a basket with bread and water, so that she may help her sick friend.
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Questions & Answers about Puella sportam cum pane et aqua fert, ut amicam aegrotam auxilio iuvet.

Why is puella in the nominative?

Puella is the subject of the main verb fert (she carries). In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is typically in the nominative case.

What case is sportam, and why?

Sportam is accusative singular, because it is the direct object of fert: the girl is carrying something, namely a basket.

What does cum pane et aqua mean grammatically? Why are pane and aqua in the ablative?

Cum takes the ablative case, so pane and aqua are ablative singular. The phrase cum pane et aqua functions like an accompaniment/content phrase: the basket is with bread and water (i.e., containing or accompanied by them).

Why is there only one cum for pane et aqua?

Latin normally uses cum once and lets it govern both nouns joined by et:

  • cum pane et aqua = with bread and water
    Repeating cum is possible for emphasis, but it’s not required.
Why does the sentence use ut ... iuvet instead of an infinitive like to help?

Latin often expresses purpose with ut + subjunctive, not with an infinitive. So:

  • ut ... iuvet = in order that she may help / so that she helps
    This is a standard purpose clause construction.
Why is iuvet in the subjunctive?

Because it’s inside an ut-purpose clause. Purpose clauses require the subjunctive mood, so iuvet is present subjunctive.

Why is amicam aegrotam accusative, and how do we know what it goes with?

Amicam aegrotam is accusative singular because it is the direct object of iuvet: she helps her sick friend.
We know it belongs to iuvet (not fert) because it’s inside the ut clause, and it makes sense with help rather than carry.

Do amicam and aegrotam have to match? What exactly is the agreement?

Yes. Aegrotam is an adjective describing amicam, so it agrees in:

  • case: accusative
  • number: singular
  • gender: feminine
    So amicam aegrotam = a sick (female) friend.
Why is it auxilio and not auxilium?

Auxilio is ablative singular of auxilium and is used as an ablative of means (or instrument):

  • auxilio iuvare = to help with/by (means of) help, i.e. to help / to give help.
    It’s a very common Latin idiom.
Is the word order unusual? How flexible is it here?

Latin word order is flexible because endings show grammatical roles. This sentence uses a common pattern:

  • subject (puella) early
  • object (sportam) near the verb
  • purpose clause introduced by ut at the end
    Also, amicam aegrotam places the noun before its adjective, which is frequent (though aegrotam amicam is also possible with a slightly different emphasis).