Mater in foro panem emit; tum domum redit.

Mater is nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence, the person doing the actions: buying and returning.

The basic dictionary form is also mater, so in this case the nominative looks the same as the form you would learn in vocabulary lists.

Latin does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So mater can mean mother, the mother, or sometimes even a mother, depending on context. Likewise, panem can mean bread or the bread. The reader figures this out from the situation rather than from a separate word.

Panem is accusative singular, the form used for the direct object.

The mother is the one acting, and the bread is the thing being bought, so Latin puts panis into the accusative: panem.

So:

• mater = subject
• panem = direct object

Because in changes meaning depending on the case that follows it:

• in + ablative = in / on a place, meaning location
• in + accusative = into / onto a place, meaning motion toward

Here the meaning is in the forum/marketplace, not into the forum, so Latin uses the ablative:

• in foro = in the forum

If the sentence meant into the forum, it would be in forum.

Foro is ablative singular of forum.

It is ablative here because it follows in with the meaning of location: in foro = in the forum.

This is a very common Latin idiom. With home, Latin often uses the accusative without a preposition to show motion toward.

So:

• domum = homeward / to home / home
• redit = returns

Together, domum redit means she returns home.

This is a special use connected with domus (house, home). You will also often see:

• domi = at home
• domum = home / to home
• domo = from home

Latin usually does not need a separate subject pronoun, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

Redit means he/she/it returns. Since the subject has already been given as mater, we understand that it means she returns.

The same idea applies to emit: it means he/she/it buys. From context, that is also mother.

This is a very good question, because without macrons the form can look ambiguous.

• Present: emit = buys
• Perfect: ēmit = bought

In texts that do not mark vowel length, both may appear as emit in plain spelling. Usually you tell from:

• context
• the surrounding verbs
• the overall sense of the passage

Here, because the next verb is redit (returns) and the sentence is presenting a simple sequence, a beginner usually reads emit as buys.

If macrons were shown, the difference would be clearer:

• emit = present
• ēmit = perfect

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show what each word is doing.

So Latin can move words around for emphasis or style. In this sentence:

• mater sets up the subject
• in foro gives the setting
• panem gives the object
• emit comes at the end, where Latin often likes to place the verb

An English speaker may expect something like Mater panem in foro emit, but Latin does not have to follow that order.

Tum means then or next.

It shows that the second action happens after the first one:

1. Mother buys bread in the forum.
2. Then she returns home.

So tum is helping to mark the sequence of events.

Yes. Both are third person singular.

• emit = he/she/it buys
• redit = he/she/it returns

Because the subject is mater, we translate both as she buys and she returns.

The semicolon is just modern punctuation to separate two closely connected parts of the sentence.

It shows that the two actions are linked:

• first, the buying
• then, the returning home

Ancient Latin manuscripts did not use punctuation in exactly the same way modern printed texts do, so the semicolon is mainly there to help the reader.