Faber lignum ad officinam portat, quia mensam parvam facere vult.

Faber is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular. It means craftsman, artisan, or in this context probably carpenter.

Latin often puts the subject near the beginning, but it does not have to. Word order is more flexible than in English because the endings show each word’s role.

Lignum means wood, timber, or a piece of wood. Here it is the direct object of portat: it is the thing being carried.

Its form is accusative singular, although for a neuter noun like lignum, the nominative and accusative singular look the same. So the form is the same, but the job it is doing in the sentence is different.

Ad means to or toward. Since the sentence involves movement to a place, Latin uses ad + accusative:

• ad officinam = to the workshop

By contrast:

• in officina would mean in the workshop or inside the workshop, not movement toward it.

So ad officinam is the natural choice for carrying wood to the workshop.

Because the preposition ad takes the accusative case.

So:

• ad officinam = to the workshop

This is a very common pattern in Latin:

• ad urbem = to the city
• ad villam = to the house/farmhouse
• ad scholam = to school

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. In English, you would normally say:

• The craftsman carries wood to the workshop

In Latin, the verb often comes at or near the end of the clause:

• Faber lignum ad officinam portat

This sounds very normal in Latin. The endings already show what each word is doing, so Latin does not rely on word order as heavily as English does.

Portat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present active indicative
• from portare = to carry

So it means:

• he carries
• she carries
• it carries

Here, the subject is faber, so it means the craftsman carries.

Quia means because. It introduces a clause that gives the reason:

• quia mensam parvam facere vult = because he wants to make a small table

So the whole sentence has this structure:

• main clause: Faber lignum ad officinam portat
• reason clause: quia mensam parvam facere vult

The subject of vult is still faber. Latin often leaves out a repeated subject when it is already clear from the context and from the verb ending.

So:

• vult = he wants

Since faber is already the obvious subject, Latin does not need to repeat it.

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• vult = wants
• facere = to make

Together:

• facere vult = wants to make

After verbs like volo (I want), Latin often uses an infinitive:

• vult facere = he wants to make
• vult portare = he wants to carry
• vult laborare = he wants to work

In your sentence, facere is the infinitive that completes the meaning of vult.

Yes. Both are possible.

Latin can say:

• mensam parvam facere vult
• mensam parvam vult facere

Both mean he wants to make a small table.

The version with facere vult is very natural, especially with the finite verb (vult) near the end of the clause.

Mensam is the direct object of facere. It is the thing the craftsman wants to make.

So:

• mensa = table as a subject
• mensam = table as an object

Because facere means to make, it needs an object here:

• mensam facere = to make a table

Because parvam is an adjective describing mensam, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since mensam is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

the adjective must match it:

• parvam

So:

• mensam parvam = a small table

Yes. Latin word order is flexible, so these are all possible:

• mensam parvam
• parvam mensam

Both mean a small table.

Sometimes word order can slightly change emphasis, but both are grammatically correct.

Classical Latin has no indefinite article like English a or an.

So:

• mensa can mean a table or the table
• mensam parvam can mean a small table or, depending on context, the small table

The context tells you which sense is intended. Here, English naturally translates it as a small table.

Facere can mean both to do and to make, depending on context.

Here, because the object is mensam parvam (a small table), the natural meaning is:

• to make

So:

• mensam parvam facere = to make a small table

The Latin present tense here is straightforward:

• portat = carries / is carrying
• vult = wants / is wanting (though English usually just says wants)

Depending on context, you might translate the sentence either as:

• The craftsman carries wood to the workshop because he wants to make a small table
• The craftsman is carrying wood to the workshop because he wants to make a small table

Latin present tense can cover both simple present and progressive ideas that English often separates.

It breaks down like this:

• Faber = subject
• lignum = direct object
• ad officinam = prepositional phrase showing direction
• portat = main verb
• quia = introduces a reason clause
• mensam parvam = object + adjective
• facere = infinitive
• vult = verb meaning wants

So the pattern is:

• [Subject] [Object] [Direction] [Verb], because [Object] [Infinitive] [Verb]

That is a very typical and useful Latin sentence pattern.