Puella sine mora dicit se nihil tulisse et fratrem iocum facere solere.

Because se is the reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject of the main verb, which is puella.

So in dicit se nihil tulisse, the girl says that she carried/brought nothing. Latin uses se to show that the subject of the subordinate statement is the same person as the subject of dicit.

If Latin used eam instead, it would mean her in the sense of some other female, not the girl herself.

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, hearing, and similar verbs, Latin often does not use a separate word like English that.

Instead, it uses the accusative-and-infinitive construction:

• se ... tulisse
• fratrem ... solere

So rather than saying the girl says that..., Latin literally says something more like:

• the girl says herself to have brought nothing
• and her brother to be accustomed to joke

This is one of the most important Latin constructions to learn.

Tulisse is the perfect active infinitive of ferre.

Its principal parts are:

• fero
• ferre
• tuli
• latum

So tulisse comes from the perfect stem tul-.

It is an infinitive because it is part of the indirect statement after dicit. In Latin, indirect statements normally use:

• an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive

Here:

• se = accusative subject
• tulisse = infinitive

So se nihil tulisse means that she brought nothing.

In indirect statement, the tense of the infinitive shows time relative to the main verb, not directly absolute time.

Here the main verb is dicit = says.

• tulisse is a perfect infinitive, so it shows action earlier than dicit
• solere is a present infinitive, so it shows action at the same time as dicit

So the sentence means that:

• she says she had brought nothing / brought nothing
• and that her brother is accustomed to joke / usually jokes

This relative-time idea is very important in Latin infinitives.

Because fratrem is the subject of another indirect statement.

In English, we say:

• she says that her brother usually jokes

In Latin, after dicit, that becomes an accusative-and-infinitive construction:

• fratrem iocum facere solere

So fratrem is accusative because it is the subject of solere inside indirect statement.

This is exactly parallel to se earlier in the sentence.

Because solere itself normally takes another infinitive.

• solere = to be accustomed, to be in the habit of, or more naturally usually
• facere = to do / make

So:

• iocum facere = to make a joke / to joke
• solere
  • infinitive = to be accustomed to joke, or simply usually to joke

Inside the indirect statement, Latin has:

• fratrem = accusative subject
• solere = infinitive of the reporting construction
• facere = infinitive depending on solere

So the structure is layered:

• she says
  • her brother
  • to be accustomed
  • to joke

Literally, it means to make a joke, but in idiomatic English it often just means to joke or to be joking.

Latin often uses a noun + facere where English might prefer a simple verb. So iocum facere is a normal expression.

Depending on context, it can suggest:

• joking
• fooling around
• making fun
• saying something in jest

The exact shade of meaning depends on the passage.

Nihil means nothing, and here it is the object of tulisse.

So:

• se nihil tulisse = that she brought nothing

Learners often notice that nihil does not visibly look like a regular accusative form. That is normal: nihil is commonly used as an indeclinable form meaning nothing.

In this sentence, just treat it as the direct object of tulisse.

Sine is a preposition that takes the ablative. So:

• sine = without
• mora = ablative of mora, meaning delay

Together, sine mora means without delay, at once, or immediately.

This phrase is adverbial: it tells us how she says it.

• Puella sine mora dicit ...
• The girl says ... without delay / immediately

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order, because Latin endings show the grammatical relationships.

This sentence groups ideas rather than following strict English order:

• Puella = subject
• sine mora = adverbial phrase
• dicit = main verb
• then the two indirect statements follow:
  • se nihil tulisse
  • et fratrem iocum facere solere

Latin often places important or closely connected words in ways that feel unusual to English speakers. Here the order is perfectly normal Latin, even if English would usually rearrange it more rigidly.