Serva vestimenta munda in armario suspendit, ne in mensa iaceant.

Here serva is the noun, nominative singular feminine: the maid or the female slave.

A learner may notice that serva can also be the imperative of servo. But in this sentence that does not fit the syntax. The verb that actually governs the sentence is suspendit: the maid hangs / hung. So serva is the subject, not a command.

Because suspendit is third person singular, and serva is a nominative singular noun that matches it naturally.

So the basic structure is:

• serva = subject
• vestimenta munda = direct object
• suspendit = verb

In other words: The maid hangs the clean clothes...

Vestimenta is accusative plural here, because it is the direct object of suspendit.

The noun is vestimentum, a neuter noun meaning garment or piece of clothing. Its nominative and accusative plural are both vestimenta. In this sentence it means clothes / garments.

So:

• singular: vestimentum
• plural: vestimenta

Because munda agrees with vestimenta.

Since vestimenta is:

• neuter
• plural
• accusative

the adjective must also be:

• neuter
• plural
• accusative

That gives munda.

This is a very common Latin pattern: adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

Because in takes the ablative when it means in/on with the idea of location, not motion toward.

So here:

• in armario = in the cupboard/closet/wardrobe
• in mensa = on the table

If Latin wanted to emphasize motion into something, in could take the accusative instead. But here the phrase is simply expressing where the clothes are hung or where they might end up lying.

Formally, suspendit can be either:

• present: hangs
• perfect: hung or has hung

This is one of those Latin forms where the present and perfect look the same in the third person singular.

Usually context tells you which one is meant. If your given translation is in the present, read it as hangs. If the sentence were part of a past narrative, it could be hung or has hung.

Because ne introduces a negative purpose clause.

The clause ne in mensa iaceant means something like:

• so that they may not lie on the table
• lest they lie on the table
• to keep them from lying on the table

In Latin, a purpose clause is normally:

• ut
  • subjunctive for positive purpose
• ne
  • subjunctive for negative purpose

So ne here does not just mean ordinary not. It signals purpose: in order that ... not.

Because it is inside that negative purpose clause introduced by ne.

So:

• ne
  • subjunctive
• gives the idea so that ... not or lest

The form iaceant is therefore not an ordinary statement like they lie. It is part of the purpose of the action: the maid hangs the clothes up so that they will not be lying on the table.

It is from iaceo, iacere, which means to lie, to be lying, or to lie idle.

So iaceant means may lie, be lying, or in this context might lie.

This is different from iacio, iacere, which means to throw. English speakers often confuse these because the forms look similar, but they are different verbs.

Here the meaning clearly requires iaceo: the clothes are not being thrown; they are being prevented from lying on the table.

The subject is understood to be vestimenta.

So the sentence means:

• the maid hangs the clean clothes in the closet
• so that they do not lie on the table

Latin often does not repeat a pronoun if the reference is already clear. The verb ending -ant shows a third person plural subject, and the nearest sensible plural noun is vestimenta.

Vestimenta is a neuter plural noun, and here it takes a plural verb: iaceant.

That is perfectly normal. In Latin, a neuter plural subject can take a plural verb, as it does here.

So the agreement is straightforward:

• vestimenta = plural
• iaceant = plural

A learner should simply read it as the clothes ... so that they may not lie on the table.

Yes. Latin word order is flexible, and this sentence uses that flexibility naturally.

A rough structural view is:

• Serva = subject
• vestimenta munda = object + adjective
• in armario = location
• suspendit = main verb
• ne in mensa iaceant = purpose clause

One nice effect is the contrast between:

• in armario
• in mensa

That helps highlight the idea: the clothes belong in the wardrobe, not on the table.

So even though the word order is not exactly what English would use, it is very idiomatic Latin.