Mater servae imperat ut focum ante cenam tergat.

Mater is the nominative singular, because it is the subject of imperat.

• mater = mother
• imperat = orders / commands

So mater is the one doing the ordering.

Because imperare in Latin usually takes the person being commanded in the dative, not the accusative.

So:

• servae imperat = she gives an order to the slave-woman / servant
• not she orders the slave-woman in the same direct-object way English does

This is a very common difference between English and Latin.

Also, servae can have several possible meanings in isolation, but here it is best understood as dative singular because of imperat.

Here servae means to the female slave or to the maidservant.

It comes from serva, a first-declension noun meaning female slave or sometimes more loosely servant/maid.

In this sentence, it is:

• dative singular: to the slave-woman

After verbs of ordering, commanding, urging, persuading, and similar ideas, Latin often uses:

• ut
  • subjunctive

This expresses what someone is told to do.

So:

• imperat ut focum ante cenam tergat = she orders that she wipe the hearth before dinner

In more natural English, we usually say:

• she orders the servant to wipe the hearth before dinner

But Latin builds it differently.

Because it is inside an indirect command introduced by ut.

After imperare, Latin normally uses:

• ut
  • subjunctive for a positive command
• ne
  • subjunctive for a negative command

So tergat is not just an ordinary statement like she wipes. It is part of the command:

• ut ... tergat = that she wipe

Tergat is present subjunctive, third person singular.

It is present because the action is viewed as happening at the same time as or after the main verb imperat. In other words, the mother is giving an order now, for the wiping to happen now or soon.

This is the normal tense in this kind of indirect command after a present main verb.

The understood subject of tergat is the slave-woman, the one referred to by servae.

So the sense is:

• The mother orders the slave-woman to wipe the hearth

Latin does not need to repeat a pronoun like she here, because the context already makes it clear.

Because focum is the direct object of tergat.

• tergere means to wipe / clean
• what is being wiped? focum

So:

• focum = the hearth in the accusative singular

Because ante is a preposition that takes the accusative.

So:

• ante = before
• cenam = dinner / the meal in the accusative singular

Together:

• ante cenam = before dinner

The basic structure is:

• Mater = subject
• servae imperat = orders the servant
• ut focum ante cenam tergat = that she wipe the hearth before dinner

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships. So even if the words were rearranged, the meaning would mostly stay the same.

This sentence places servae early, which gives some emphasis to the person receiving the order.

Yes, in isolation servae could be several forms, including:

• dative singular = to/for the slave-woman
• genitive singular = of the slave-woman
• nominative plural = slave-women

But in this sentence, dative singular is the only reading that fits well with imperat.

So context and syntax tell you which meaning is right.

Latin sometimes uses an infinitive after certain verbs, but with imperare the normal construction is not an infinitive. Instead, it is:

• imperare alicui ut ...
• to order someone to ...

So English says:

• orders the servant to wipe

But Latin prefers:

• orders to the servant that she wipe

That sounds odd in English, but it is standard Latin grammar.

Because Latin has no articles.

So:

• mater can mean mother, a mother, or the mother
• servae can mean to a slave-woman or to the slave-woman
• focum can mean a hearth or the hearth

You figure out which is meant from context.