Filia hodie domi manere mavult, quia mater abest.

Because filia is the subject of the sentence: she is the one doing the preferring.

• filia = nominative singular, used for the subject
• filiam = accusative singular, usually used for a direct object

So in Filia hodie domi manere mavult, filia means the daughter as the subject: the daughter prefers...

Latin normally does not use articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• filia can mean daughter, the daughter, or sometimes a daughter
• mater can mean mother or the mother

Context tells you which is most natural. In this sentence, English usually supplies the daughter and the mother, or perhaps her mother, depending on the context already given.

Hodie means today. It is an adverb, so it modifies the action rather than a noun.

Its position is fairly flexible. Latin word order is freer than English word order, so hodie can often be moved for emphasis without changing the basic meaning.

Here it sits early in the sentence:

• Filia hodie domi manere mavult

That sounds natural and gives today some prominence: The daughter prefers to stay at home today...

Domi is a special form called the locative, used with a few words to show location.

With domus (home, house), Latin often uses:

• domi = at home
• domum = to home / homeward
• domo = from home

So here:

• domi manere = to stay at home

This is idiomatic Latin. English uses a preposition (at home), but Latin often does not need one here.

Yes, but domi is the more idiomatic and common way to say at home.

• domi = the usual compact expression for at home
• in domo = literally in the house/home, which can sound more specific or more physical

So domi is exactly the form many learners are expected to recognize as the normal expression.

Because it depends on mavult.

The verb mavult means prefers, and verbs like prefer, want, can, must are often followed by an infinitive in Latin, just as in English.

So:

• manere = to stay
• mavult manere = prefers to stay

This is called a complementary infinitive: the infinitive completes the meaning of the main verb.

Mavult means he/she prefers.

It comes from the irregular verb:

• malo = I prefer
• malle = to prefer
• malui = I preferred / have preferred

The form mavult is third person singular present active indicative, so here it means:

• she prefers

It is an irregular verb, so it does not follow the most common conjugation patterns.

Because Latin usually does not need to state the subject pronoun if the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

In mavult, the ending shows third person singular: he/she/it prefers.

And since filia is already present as the subject, adding ea would usually be unnecessary unless you wanted emphasis or contrast.

Quia means because. It introduces a clause giving the reason.

So the sentence breaks into two parts:

• Filia hodie domi manere mavult = the main statement
• quia mater abest = the reason, because mother is away

This is very similar to English structure.

Abest means is away, is absent, or is not here/present.

It comes from the compound verb absum, abesse, afui, which is built from:

• ab- = away, from
• sum = I am

So:

• abest = he/she is away

In this sentence:

• mater abest = mother is away or the mother is absent

Because mater is the subject of the clause quia mater abest.

Just as filia is the subject of the main clause, mater is the subject of the because clause.

So:

• mater = nominative singular
• abest = is away

Together they mean the mother is away.

Yes, it could be rearranged. Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings show the grammatical relationships.

For example, the basic meaning would still be clear in forms such as:

• Hodie filia domi manere mavult, quia mater abest.
• Filia domi hodie manere mavult, quia mater abest.

The exact order can shift emphasis:

• putting hodie earlier can stress today
• putting domi earlier can stress at home

But the given order is perfectly natural.

Yes, manere often means to remain, to stay, or to continue.

In this sentence, stay is the most natural English translation:

• domi manere = to stay at home

A more literal translation like to remain at home is also possible, but English usually prefers stay here.