Serva poculum aqua complet, et infans ridet.

Latin usually shows a noun’s job by its case ending, not mainly by word order.

In this clause:

• serva is nominative singular: the subject
• poculum is accusative singular here: the direct object
• aqua is ablative singular: by/with water, expressing means or material

So Latin is not relying on English-style subject-verb-object order alone. The endings are doing most of the work.

That is a very good beginner question.

With second-declension neuter nouns, the nominative singular and accusative singular are the same. So poculum could be either form by shape alone.

You know it is the object here because:

• serva is clearly nominative, so it is the subject
• aqua is ablative
• the verb complet needs something that is being filled

So the sentence structure and the other case forms show that poculum is the thing being filled.

Because aqua here is not the direct object. It is in the ablative singular.

Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition to express means, instrument, or the substance used:

• aqua complet = fills with water
• compare things like gladio pugnat = fights with a sword

If it were aquam, that would be accusative, and it would suggest that water was the direct object, which is not what is happening here.

Because this is not really accompaniment; it is means/material.

Latin often uses bare ablative for this idea:

• aqua = with water
• gladio = with a sword
• vino = with wine

Cum is more typically used for with in the sense of together with someone or something:

• cum amico = with a friend

So aqua by itself is normal Latin for with water here.

The -t ending marks third person singular in the present tense.

So:

• complet = he/she/it fills
• ridet = he/she/it laughs

That means Latin does not need a separate subject pronoun like she or he in order to show person and number. The verb ending already tells you that.

In this sentence, the nouns serva and infans are added to show exactly who is doing the action.

Yes. Both verbs are present active indicative.

In Latin, the present tense often covers both:

• simple present: fills, laughs
• progressive present: is filling, is laughing

The exact English translation depends on context. Latin does not always separate those two ideas as clearly as English does.

Because Classical Latin does not have articles like English does.

So:

• serva can mean a slave girl or the slave girl
• poculum can mean a cup or the cup
• infans can mean a child/baby or the child/baby

Context tells you which is more natural in translation.

Infans is a third-declension noun.

A very important point for English speakers is that Latin -s does not automatically mean plural. In English, it often does; in Latin, it depends on the declension and case.

So here:

• infans = nominative singular
• genitive singular = infantis

This noun is also often treated as common gender, so it can refer to a male or female child depending on context.

No. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the case endings already show the grammatical roles.

This sentence uses a very common pattern with the verb at the end:

• Serva poculum aqua complet
• et infans ridet

But Latin could rearrange the words for emphasis, style, or rhythm, and the core meaning would still be recognizable as long as the forms stay the same.

For example, aqua serva poculum complet would still be understandable, though it would feel different in emphasis.

Because verb-final order is very common in Latin, especially in straightforward prose and teaching examples.

So both clauses here end with the verb:

• complet
• ridet

That said, Latin is not forced to do this every time. Authors can move the verb earlier for emphasis or style. But for learners, it is useful to expect that the verb will often come near or at the end of the clause.