Questions & Answers about Serva cochleari parvo lac miscet et puero dat.
Serva is nominative singular. In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally in the nominative case, so serva is the one doing the actions of miscet and dat.
It comes from serva, servae, a first-declension feminine noun.
Cochleari parvo is in the ablative singular because it expresses means or instrument: the action is done with a small spoon.
Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition for this idea. So:
- cochleari parvo = with a small spoon
This is called the ablative of means or instrumental ablative.
Because adjectives in Latin agree with the nouns they modify in case, number, and gender.
Here:
- cochleari = ablative singular neuter
- parvo = ablative singular neuter
So parvo matches cochleari, giving the phrase cochleari parvo = with a small spoon.