Learn Hardcore Latin: Serva tunicam laceram sarcire conatur, sed filum nimis breve est. - The maid tries to mend the torn tunic, but the thread is too short.

Serva is a nominative singular feminine noun, so it is the subject of conatur. It means female slave, though some translations may use servant or maidservant depending on context.

Why are tunicam and laceram both ending in -am?

Because both words are feminine singular accusative.

tunicam is the direct object: it is the thing being mended.
laceram is an adjective meaning torn or ragged, and it must agree with tunicam in gender, number, and case.

So tunicam laceram means the torn tunic.

Why is laceram after tunicam instead of before it?

Latin adjectives can come either before or after the nouns they modify. So both laceram tunicam and tunicam laceram are possible. Here tunicam laceram is perfectly normal and does not change the basic meaning.

Why is sarcire an infinitive, and where is the word to?

Sarcire is the present active infinitive, meaning to mend or to repair. In Latin, the infinitive is a single word; there is no separate word corresponding to English .