Panis secandus est; deinde frusta inter puellas dividenda sunt.

to be

Breakdown of Panis secandus est; deinde frusta inter puellas dividenda sunt.

• puella: the girl
• panis: the bread
• deinde: then

Questions & Answers about Panis secandus est; deinde frusta inter puellas dividenda sunt.

What is secandus est / dividenda sunt called, and what does this construction mean?

This is the passive periphrastic: a gerundive plus a form of esse.

• secandus est = must be cut / is to be cut
• dividenda sunt = must be divided / are to be divided

The key idea is necessity or obligation. Latin often uses this construction where English would use must, should, or needs to be.

So:

• Panis secandus est = The bread must be cut
• frusta ... dividenda sunt = the pieces must be divided ...

The gerundive is a verbal adjective, so it behaves like an adjective and agrees with a noun.

Why does secandus match panis, but dividenda matches frusta?

Because the gerundive agrees with the noun it goes with in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• panis is masculine singular nominative
• therefore the gerundive is secandus: masculine singular nominative

And:

• frusta is neuter plural nominative
• therefore the gerundive is : neuter plural nominative