Puellam mendacii pudet, et matri veritatem tandem dicit.

Because pudet works differently from an ordinary personal verb.

With pudet, the person who feels shame is put in the accusative, not the nominative. So:

• puella = the girl as a normal subject
• puellam = the girl as the person affected by pudet

So Puellam mendacii pudet means literally something like The lie causes shame to the girl, but in natural English we say The girl is ashamed of the lie.

Because pudet regularly takes the genitive for the thing someone is ashamed of.

So the pattern is:

• person ashamed → accusative
• thing ashamed of → genitive

Here:

• puellam = the person who feels shame
• mendacii = the thing she is ashamed of

This is a standard construction with pudet.

Pudet is an impersonal verb.

That means it is usually used only in the third person singular, and it does not behave like an ordinary verb with a nominative subject such as puella currit (the girl runs).

Instead, Latin says:

• me pudet = I am ashamed
• te pudet = you are ashamed
• eum pudet = he is ashamed
• puellam pudet = the girl is ashamed

So even though the English translation uses the girl as the subject, Latin grammar does not.

We know from the context.

The first clause tells us that the girl is the person involved: puellam mendacii pudet. In the second clause, dicit is third person singular, so it means he/she says or he/she tells. Latin often leaves subject pronouns unstated when they are clear from context.

So in et matri veritatem tandem dicit, the understood subject is she, referring back to the girl.

Because dico often takes:

• a direct object in the accusative = the thing said
• an indirect object in the dative = the person told

So:

• veritatem = the truth
• matri = to her mother

This is the normal pattern for dico: alicui aliquid dicere = to say/tell something to someone.

Because it is the direct object of dicit.

The verb dicit means says/tells, and the thing being said is the truth, so Latin puts veritatem in the accusative.

So in the second clause:

• matri = indirect object, to her mother
• veritatem = direct object, the truth

Tandem means at last, finally, or eventually.

It adds the sense that she did not tell the truth right away, but only after some delay. In this sentence it modifies dicit:

• matri veritatem tandem dicit = she finally tells the truth to her mother

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles of the words.

English depends heavily on position:

• The girl tells the truth to her mother

Latin can move words around more freely because case endings make their functions clear:

• puellam = accusative
• mendacii = genitive
• matri = dative
• veritatem = accusative

So the sentence does not need to follow strict English-style order. The chosen order can help with emphasis or style.

Yes. Since the endings show the grammar, Latin could rearrange the words without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• Mendacii puellam pudet
• Pudet puellam mendacii

The original order, Puellam mendacii pudet, puts puellam first, which may give the girl some emphasis.

Both are present tense.

• pudet = is ashamed
• dicit = says/tells

So the sentence presents both actions as happening in the present of the narration: the girl is ashamed, and she tells the truth.

Yes: the construction of pudet.

A very useful rule is:

pudet + accusative of person + genitive of thing

For example:

• me erroris pudet = I am ashamed of the mistake
• eum facti pudet = he is ashamed of the deed
• puellam mendacii pudet = the girl is ashamed of the lie

That pattern is one of the main grammatical lessons in this sentence.