Coquus ovum cum farina miscet, ut panis mollis sit.

Because coquus is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject in Latin. It means the cook.

So in:

Coquus ovum cum farina miscet

the word coquus is the one doing the action of mixing.

Because ovum is a neuter noun of the second declension, and its basic singular form is ovum, meaning egg.

Its nominative and accusative singular are both ovum. In this sentence it is the direct object of miscet, so it is in the accusative singular:

• nominative: ovum = egg
• accusative: ovum = egg

This is normal for neuter nouns: nominative and accusative forms are the same.

The preposition cum when it means with takes the ablative case.

So:

• cum farina = with flour

Here farina is the ablative singular form of farina, farinae.

This is a very common pattern in Latin:

• cum amico = with a friend
• cum aqua = with water
• cum farina = with flour

Miscet is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

from the verb misceo, miscere = to mix.

So miscet means he/she mixes or is mixing.

Because the subject is coquus (the cook), we understand it as:

the cook mixes

Here ut introduces a purpose clause. It means so that or in order that.

So:

ut panis mollis sit

means:

so that the bread may be soft
or more naturally in English, so that the bread is soft / will be soft

Latin often uses ut + subjunctive to show purpose.

Because after ut in a purpose clause, Latin normally uses the subjunctive, not the indicative.

• est = indicative, is
• sit = subjunctive, may be / might be / be

So:

• ut panis mollis sit = so that the bread may be soft

This is one of the most important patterns in Latin grammar: ut + subjunctive = purpose

Sit is the present subjunctive, 3rd person singular, of sum, esse = to be.

So it means something like:

• may be
• might be
• sometimes simply be in a purpose clause

In this sentence, it is used because the cook mixes the egg with flour for the purpose that the bread be soft.

Because panis is the subject of sit in the purpose clause.

Main clause:

• Coquus ... miscet = The cook mixes ...

Purpose clause:

• ut panis mollis sit = so that the bread may be soft

Within that clause, panis is the thing that is soft, so it must be in the nominative.

Because mollis is an adjective describing panis, and adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• case
• number
• gender

Since panis is:

• nominative
• singular
• masculine

mollis is also nominative singular masculine (though the form mollis can also be feminine nominative singular).

So:

• panis mollis = soft bread
• literally in the clause: the bread may be soft

In this sentence, mollis is best understood as a predicate adjective with sit:

• panis ... sit = the bread may be
• mollis = soft

So the structure is:

ut panis mollis sit
= so that the bread may be soft

Even though panis mollis can also mean soft bread as a noun phrase in other contexts, here the verb sit makes mollis part of the predicate.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings show each word’s role.

English depends heavily on word order:

• The cook mixes the egg with flour

Latin can move words around more freely:

• Coquus ovum cum farina miscet
• Ovum coquus cum farina miscet
• Cum farina coquus ovum miscet

These all keep basically the same meaning because:

• coquus is nominative = subject
• ovum is accusative = direct object
• cum farina is ablative phrase = with flour
• miscet is the verb

That said, the given order is perfectly natural.

Here it is most naturally a purpose clause:

The cook mixes egg with flour so that the bread may be soft.

Why purpose rather than result?

Because the main idea is that the cook does the mixing with a goal in mind. Also, a plain ut + subjunctive after a verb of action often expresses purpose.

A result clause usually has some word in the main clause that signals result, such as:

• tam
• ita
• sic
• tantus

None of those appear here, so purpose is the best reading.

Because Latin normally uses a prepositional phrase with cum to express mixing something with something.

So:

• ovum = the thing being mixed
• cum farina = with flour

Latin does sometimes use different constructions with verbs of mixing, but for a learner, miscere + accusative + cum + ablative is a very straightforward and common way to understand the sentence.

Not literally in grammar, because sit is subjunctive, not indicative. But in smooth English, sometimes we do not translate the subjunctive very explicitly.

So these are all reasonable translations:

• so that the bread may be soft
• so that the bread will be soft
• so that the bread is soft (less literal, but possible in natural English depending on context)

For learning Latin grammar, though, it is best to remember:

sit = may be / be in this sentence.

Here are the basic forms a learner would usually memorize:

• coquus, coqui = cook
• ovum, ovi = egg
• farina, farinae = flour
• misceo, miscere, miscui, mixtum = mix
• panis, panis = bread
• mollis, molle = soft
• sum, esse, fui = be

Knowing these dictionary forms helps you recognize why the words appear as they do in the sentence.