Cum aurora venit, mater prima surgit et aquam calidam parat.

Here cum means when, not with.

Latin cum has more than one use:

• cum
  • ablative noun/pronoun = with
    • for example, cum amico = with a friend
• cum
  • verb introducing a clause = when, since, or although, depending on context

In Cum aurora venit, cum introduces a time clause: When dawn comes.

So the sentence starts with a subordinate clause:

• Cum aurora venit = When dawn comes

Because aurora is the subject of venit.

In aurora venit:

• aurora = dawn
• venit = comes

The thing doing the action of coming is dawn, so aurora is the subject, and subjects are normally in the nominative case.

Because venit here is present tense.

This sentence describes something that happens regularly or generally:

• When dawn comes, mother gets up first and prepares warm water.

Latin often uses the present tense for habitual actions, just like English does:

• When dawn comes...
• Mother gets up...
• She prepares...

Be careful, though: venit can also sometimes be a perfect form from venio in other contexts, depending on the verb and form. But here, from the meaning and context, it is clearly present: comes.

Because Latin has no articles.

Latin does not have words that exactly match English a, an, or the. So mater can mean:

• mother
• the mother
• sometimes even a mother

The context tells you which English translation sounds best.

Here, English usually prefers mother or the mother, depending on the style of the translation.

Yes, prima agrees with mater, but the sense in English is gets up first.

Grammar:

• mater = feminine nominative singular
• prima = feminine nominative singular

So prima matches mater in gender, number, and case.

Literally, it is something like:

• mother rises first or even
• mother, being first, rises

Latin often uses an adjective where English would use an adverb-like expression. So although prima is grammatically an adjective agreeing with mater, the natural English meaning is:

• mother gets up first

Because Latin often uses an adjective agreeing with the subject instead of an adverb.

A learner might expect an adverb because English says:

• She rises first

But Latin commonly says:

• mater prima surgit

Here prima agrees with mater, not with the verb.

So the idea is:

• mother rises as the first one which English naturally turns into
• mother rises first

This is a normal and very common Latin way of expressing the idea.

Because aquam calidam is the direct object of parat.

In mater ... aquam calidam parat:

• parat = prepares
• what does she prepare? aquam calidam = warm water

Direct objects go in the accusative case, so:

• aqua → nominative
• aquam → accusative

And the adjective must agree with the noun:

• aquam = feminine accusative singular
• calidam = feminine accusative singular

So:

• aqua calida = warm water as a subject
• aquam calidam = warm water as an object

Yes, Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

Here:

• aquam calidam = warm water

But Latin could also say:

• calidam aquam

Both are grammatical, because the endings show which words belong together:

• aquam and calidam both have feminine accusative singular endings

Latin word order often depends on style, emphasis, or rhythm rather than strict sentence structure.

So in this sentence, aquam calidam is a normal, straightforward order, but it is not the only possible one.

Because Latin word order is flexible.

Many textbooks teach that Latin often puts the verb at the end, and that is true very often. But Latin does not have a fixed rule like English does.

So all of these are possible kinds of order in Latin:

• subject before verb
• verb at the end
• object before verb
• adjective before or after noun

In this sentence:

• mater prima surgit et aquam calidam parat

the order is fairly simple and easy to follow. It is not unusual that surgit appears before the final phrase, and parat ends the sentence.

Because this is a simple temporal clause: when dawn comes.

With cum, Latin can use either the indicative or the subjunctive, but the meaning changes.

Here:

• cum aurora venit

uses the indicative because it simply tells when something happens.

Very broadly:

• cum
  • indicative often gives a straightforward time idea: when
• cum
  • subjunctive often appears in more literary clauses meaning when, since, or although with a stronger sense of background, cause, or concession

So in this sentence, the indicative is the natural choice for a plain statement of time.

No. Latin usually does not need an explicit subject pronoun if the verb ending already shows the person and number.

For example:

• surgit = he/she/it rises
• parat = he/she/it prepares

Because mater is already named, Latin does not need to add ea (she).

English often repeats the subject:

• When dawn comes, mother gets up first and prepares warm water.

Latin is happy to say it once and then continue with the verbs.

It can mean either, depending on context, but here warm is the most natural translation.

The adjective calidus, -a, -um can cover a range like:

• warm
• hot

Since the sentence says someone is preparing water in an everyday domestic context, English usually prefers:

• warm water

If the context were stronger, it might be translated as hot water.

It can be either, depending on context.

• aurora can mean dawn
• It can also be the proper name Aurora, the goddess of dawn

In this sentence, it is clearly the ordinary noun meaning dawn:

• When dawn comes...

Nothing here suggests a mythological or poetic personification, though Latin literature sometimes does use Aurora as a divine figure.

In Latin, you often tell this by endings, not just by position.

Here is the basic structure:

• Cum aurora venit

  • aurora is the subject of venit

• mater prima surgit

  • mater is the subject
  • prima agrees with mater

• et aquam calidam parat

  • aquam is the direct object of parat
  • calidam agrees with aquam

So the endings help you connect the words:

• aurora → nominative subject
• mater → nominative subject
• prima → nominative feminine singular, matching mater
• aquam → accusative object
• calidam → accusative feminine singular, matching aquam

That is one of the most important habits in reading Latin: look at the endings first, and the word order second.