Mater filiam flentem videt; lacrimae in vultu puellae sunt.

Because filiam is the accusative singular form of filia.

In this sentence, the mother is the one doing the seeing, so mater is the subject. The daughter is the one being seen, so filiam is the direct object of videt.

• mater = mother
• filia = daughter
• filiam = daughter (as object)

A native English speaker often expects word order to show this, but in Latin the ending is what matters most.

Flentem is a present participle, from the verb flere, meaning to cry or to weep.

A present participle often works like an adjective, but with a verbal sense. So flentem means:

• crying
• weeping

In filiam flentem, it describes the daughter as crying.

So the phrase means something like the crying daughter or the daughter who is crying.

Because flentem has to agree with filiam.

Since filiam is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

the participle describing it must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

For this participle, the accusative singular form is flentem.

Flens is the nominative singular form, so it would not match filiam here.

Because of agreement.

Latin adjectives and participles agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• filiam is accusative singular feminine
• flentem is accusative singular feminine

But mater is nominative singular, so flentem cannot describe mater in this sentence.

So Latin grammar tells us clearly that it is the daughter who is crying.

Lacrimae means tears, which is plural. Since the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

So:

• lacrima = a tear
• lacrimae = tears
• sunt = are

This is normal subject-verb agreement:

• lacrimae ... sunt = tears are ...

Because in can take either the ablative or the accusative, depending on the meaning.

With in + ablative, it usually means in or on in a location sense. With in + accusative, it usually means into or movement toward something.

Here the tears are on/in the face, not moving into the face, so Latin uses the ablative:

• vultus = face/countenance
• vultu = on/in the face (ablative singular)

So in vultu means on the face or in the face as a location.

Puellae is genitive singular, meaning of the girl.

So:

• puella = girl
• puellae = of the girl

In lacrimae in vultu puellae sunt, the phrase means the tears are on the girl's face.

A common way to understand this is:

• vultus puellae = the girl's face

So puellae shows possession or close relationship.

Most likely, yes.

The first part says the mother sees her daughter crying. The second part says tears are on the girl's face.

Latin often switches between near-synonyms like filia and puella naturally. So the sentence is probably talking about the same person:

• the daughter
• the girl

A learner may wonder whether it could be a different girl. Grammatically, that is possible in isolation, but in normal reading the most natural interpretation is that they are the same person.

Latin has no articles equivalent to English the or a/an.

So a word like mater can mean:

• mother
• the mother
• a mother

and filiam can mean:

• daughter
• the daughter
• a daughter

The exact sense comes from context. In a sentence like this, English usually supplies the naturally.

Word order matters less in Latin than in English, because the endings show the grammatical roles.

So even if the words were rearranged, the basic meaning could stay the same as long as the forms stayed unchanged.

For example, Latin can place words in different positions for:

• emphasis
• style
• rhythm

In this sentence:

• Mater filiam flentem videt is a very natural order.
• lacrimae in vultu puellae sunt is also straightforward and clear.

English depends much more on position, but Latin depends much more on case endings.

Videt is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from videre = to see

So videt means he/she/it sees.

Since the subject is mater, the meaning is the mother sees.

This is a useful pattern to remember:

• video = I see
• vides = you see
• videt = he/she sees

The semicolon links two closely related statements:

• Mater filiam flentem videt
• lacrimae in vultu puellae sunt

The second part explains or supports the first: the mother sees the daughter crying, and we then learn that tears are on the girl’s face.

So the semicolon shows a pause stronger than a comma, but it keeps the two ideas connected. It is mostly a punctuation choice for clarity in the printed sentence, not a separate piece of Latin grammar.