Serva pannum humidum capit et parietem sordidum tergit.

Because serva is in the nominative singular, which is the case Latin normally uses for the subject of a verb.

• serva = female slave / maidservant
• nominative singular ending: -a

So serva is the person doing the actions: capit and tergit.

Because Latin distinguishes grammatical gender here:

• servus = a male slave/servant
• serva = a female slave/servant

So the -a ending here is not just a random ending; it shows this is the feminine form of the noun.

They are in the accusative singular, because they are the direct objects of the verbs.

The servant is doing two actions:

• she takes the cloth
• she wipes the wall

So:

• pannum = the thing being taken
• parietem = the thing being wiped

Latin marks direct objects with the accusative case.

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• pannum is masculine singular accusative
• humidum must also be masculine singular accusative

And:

• parietem is masculine singular accusative
• sordidum must also be masculine singular accusative

Even though the nouns have different declensions, the adjectives still match them.

Because paries, parietis is a third-declension noun, and many third-declension masculine nouns form the accusative singular in -em.

So:

• nominative: paries = wall
• accusative: parietem = wall as a direct object

By contrast, pannus is a second-declension noun:

• nominative: pannus
• accusative: pannum

So the different endings come from different declension patterns.

Both are third person singular present active indicative.

That means:

• third person singular = he/she/it
• present = happening now
• active = the subject is doing the action
• indicative = a normal statement of fact

So:

• capit = she takes
• tergit = she wipes

Since the subject is serva, we understand both verbs as she takes and she wipes.

Because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

For example:

• capit = he/she/it takes
• tergit = he/she/it wipes

Then the noun serva tells you exactly who the subject is. Latin often leaves pronouns out unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.

The word order is less strict in Latin than in English because the endings show each word’s role.

In this sentence:

• Serva = subject
• pannum humidum = object of capit
• parietem sordidum = object of tergit

So even if the order changed, the endings would still help you understand the grammar.

Still, the given order is very natural. It presents:

1. the subject
2. the first object and verb
3. the second object and verb

So it feels orderly and easy to follow.

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the nouns they describe. Both are common.

So:

• pannum humidum = the damp cloth
• parietem sordidum = the dirty wall

Putting the adjective after the noun is a very normal Latin pattern. It does not change the basic meaning.

Because of both position and agreement.

• humidum is placed next to pannum
• sordidum is placed next to parietem

Also, each adjective matches its noun in gender, number, and case.

So the pairings are:

• pannum humidum = damp cloth
• parietem sordidum = dirty wall

Latin often lets agreement show which words belong together.

You would normally look them up like this:

• serva, servae = female servant, slave
• pannus, panni = cloth, rag
• humidus, humida, humidum = damp, moist
• capio, capere, cepi, captum = take
• et = and
• paries, parietis = wall
• sordidus, sordida, sordidum = dirty, filthy
• tergo, tergere, tersi, tersum = wipe, clean

This is useful because the sentence shows inflected forms, not always the dictionary headword.

You can think of it as joining two coordinated actions, each with the same subject:

• Serva pannum humidum capit
• et parietem sordidum tergit

In English, that is The servant takes a damp cloth and wipes the dirty wall.

The subject serva is stated once, but it applies to both verbs.