Mater panem cultro secat et duo frusta parva infantibus dividit.

Mater is nominative singular. In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally in the nominative case, and here mater is the person doing both actions: she cuts and divides.

It is the dictionary form of mater, matris (mother), a third-declension noun.

Because panem is the accusative singular of panis (bread).

Here panem is the direct object of secat: it is the thing being cut. Latin marks that job with the accusative case.

• panis = nominative singular
• panem = accusative singular

So Mater panem secat means Mother cuts the bread.

Because Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition to show the means or instrument by which something is done.

So:

• cultro = with a knife / by means of a knife

This is called the ablative of means or ablative of instrument.

A native English speaker often expects a preposition because English needs with, but Latin often does not.

Secat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from seco, secare = to cut.

So secat means she cuts or, depending on context, she is cutting.

Because Latin has no articles.

So a noun like mater can mean:

• mother
• a mother
• the mother

and panem can mean:

• bread
• a loaf
• the bread

The context tells you which English article is best.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show how words function in the sentence.

English depends heavily on order:

• The mother cuts the bread

Latin can move words around more easily because the endings already show:

• mater = subject
• panem = direct object
• cultro = instrument

So Mater panem cultro secat is perfectly normal Latin even though it is not arranged like English.

Because all three words must agree appropriately.

• frusta is the plural of frustum (piece, chunk), a neuter noun.
• duo is the form of two used with a neuter plural noun.
• parva is the neuter plural form of parvus (small).

So:

• duo = two
• frusta = pieces
• parva = small

Together: two small pieces.

Because frustum is a neuter noun.

In Latin, neuter plural nominative and accusative usually end in -a, so:

• singular: frustum
• plural: frusta

That is why frusta is correct.

Here it is accusative plural, because it is the direct object of dividit: these are the things being divided or handed out.

This can be confusing because with neuter plural nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are often identical. So frusta parva could look the same in either case, and you have to decide from the sentence function.

Here the function makes it accusative.

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the noun much more freely than in English.

So both of these are possible in principle:

• duo frusta parva
• duo parva frusta

The version in your sentence is perfectly normal. The meaning is still two small pieces.

Infantibus is dative plural here.

It means to the infants/children or for the infants/children. These are the people who receive the pieces, so Latin uses the dative for the recipient.

So:

• duo frusta parva = the things being divided
• infantibus = the people receiving them

Yes, the form infantibus can be either dative plural or ablative plural in Latin.

We know it is dative here because of its role in the sentence. It names the recipients of the pieces:

• Mother divides two small pieces to/for the children

That is a dative idea, not an ablative one.

Dividit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from divido, dividere = to divide, to distribute.

Mater does not need to be repeated because the same subject continues for both verbs:

• Mater ... secat
• et ... dividit

Latin, like English, can leave the subject unstated the second time when it is already clear.

They describe two related but different actions:

• secat = cuts
• dividit = divides / distributes

So first the mother cuts the bread with a knife, and then she divides or gives out two small pieces to the children.

In other words, secat is the cutting action itself, while dividit is the sharing-out of what has been cut.