Mater servae parvum donum mittit, quia illa beneficium fecit, et serva magnas gratias agit.

Because servae can be either:

• dative singular = to/for the slave-woman
• genitive singular = of the slave-woman

So the form by itself is ambiguous. The sentence structure tells you which one it is.

In Mater servae parvum donum mittit:

• Mater = subject, mother
• parvum donum = direct object, a small gift
• mittit = sends

A verb like mittit often takes:

• a thing being sent in the accusative
• a recipient in the dative

So servae is best understood as dative singular: to the slave-woman.

If it were genitive, you would expect something like the mother of the slave-woman, but that does not fit the sentence nearly as well.

Because it is the direct object of mittit.

Latin often uses the accusative case for the thing directly affected by the verb. Here, the thing being sent is the small gift, so:

• donum = accusative singular neuter
• parvum = accusative singular neuter, agreeing with donum

They must match in:

• case
• number
• gender

So parvum donum means a small gift as the object of sends.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show each word’s role.

Here:

• Mater is nominative, so it is the subject
• servae is dative, so it is the indirect object
• parvum donum is accusative, so it is the direct object
• mittit is the verb

So even if the order changes, the endings still show who is doing what.

This sentence has a very natural Latin feel:

• subject
• indirect object
• direct object
• verb

Also, Latin often places the verb near the end of the clause.

Yes, here illa is being used as a pronoun, meaning she.

It is the feminine singular nominative form of ille, illa, illud. Depending on context, it can mean:

• that woman
• she
• sometimes a more slightly emphatic that one

So in this sentence, quia illa beneficium fecit, illa is the subject of fecit.

A learner should notice that illa is grammatically feminine singular nominative, so it must refer to a female person already in the context.

Grammatically, illa could refer to either feminine singular noun already mentioned:

• mater
• serva

So grammar alone does not completely settle the reference.

You figure it out from context and meaning. Since the sentence explains why the gift is being sent, the intended sense is that the slave-woman did a favor, so the mother sends her a gift.

This is normal in Latin: pronouns often rely on context rather than strict mechanical rules.

Beneficium facere is a very common Latin expression.

Literally it means to do a kindness / perform a benefit, but idiomatically it means something like:

• to do a favor
• to show kindness
• to render a service

Latin often uses a noun + a very common verb such as facere to express an idea that English might express with a single verb.

So beneficium fecit is perfectly natural Latin.

Because the favor happened before the gift-sending and the thanking.

• mittit = sends / is sending
• agit = gives / is giving
• fecit = did / has done

So the sequence is:

1. she did a favor
2. the mother sends a gift
3. the slave-woman gives thanks

The perfect tense fecit marks the favor as a completed earlier action.

Because gratias agere is a fixed Latin idiom, and gratias is normally plural.

So:

• gratias agere = to give thanks / to thank
• gratias is accusative plural
• magnas agrees with gratias

Even though English often uses thanks without thinking much about number, Latin regularly uses the plural expression gratias agere.

So magnas gratias agit means she gives great thanks or more naturally she is very thankful / she thanks [someone] greatly.

It could be there, but Latin often leaves it out if it is obvious from context.

The full idea could be:

• serva matri magnas gratias agit = the slave-woman gives great thanks to the mother

But since the mother is the one who sent the gift, the recipient of the thanks is easy to understand, so the sentence can simply say:

• serva magnas gratias agit

This is very normal. Latin often omits words that are clear from context.

Because Classical Latin has no articles like English the and a/an.

So a noun like mater can mean:

• mother
• a mother
• the mother

And serva can mean:

• slave-woman
• a slave-woman
• the slave-woman

You decide which English article to use from the context.

That is why Latin learners must get used to reading the noun itself without expecting a separate word for the or a.

There are three finite verbs, and each has its own subject:

1. mittit
   Subject: Mater

2. fecit
   Subject: illa

3. agit
   Subject: serva

So the sentence has three linked clauses:

• Mater servae parvum donum mittit
• quia illa beneficium fecit
• et serva magnas gratias agit

This is a good example of how Latin can move smoothly from one clause to another while relying on case endings and context to keep the relationships clear.