Filia rogat utrum alibi quoque pictor laborare soleat; ille respondet se saepe in templo pingere.

Utrum introduces an indirect yes/no question: whether.

So in Filia rogat utrum ... soleat, the daughter is not asking for a specific piece of information like where or when; she is asking whether something is true.

A direct version might be something like:

• Num pictor alibi quoque laborat? = Does the painter also work elsewhere?

When this becomes indirect after rogat (asks), Latin commonly uses utrum:

• rogat utrum ... = asks whether ...

Because utrum alibi quoque pictor laborare soleat is an indirect question, and in Latin indirect questions normally take the subjunctive.

So:

• direct: Pictor alibi quoque laborare solet?
• indirect: Filia rogat utrum pictor alibi quoque laborare soleat.

That is why you see soleat rather than solet.

Soleo means to be accustomed, to be in the habit of, or more naturally in English, usually.

So:

• laborare soleat = usually works / is accustomed to work

Latin often expresses usually does X by using:

• soleo + infinitive

Examples:

• currere solet = he usually runs
• scribere solebat = he used to write regularly

So here pictor laborare soleat means the painter usually works.

They are related but not identical.

• laborare = to work
• pingere = to paint

In the first clause, the daughter asks generally whether the painter works elsewhere too. In the second clause, the man gives a more specific answer: he often paints in the temple.

So the second clause narrows the idea:

• general activity: work
• specific activity: paint

• alibi = elsewhere, in another place
• quoque = also, too

Together:

• alibi quoque = elsewhere too / also in other places

So the daughter is asking whether the painter works not only here, but elsewhere as well.

Because pictor is the subject of laborare soleat.

Even inside an indirect question, Latin keeps the subject in the nominative if it is the subject of a finite verb:

• pictor ... soleat = the painter ... usually works

This is different from the second clause, where Latin uses an indirect statement:

• respondet se ... pingere

There the subject of the infinitive is se, in the accusative. So the two clauses are built differently.

Ille here means that man, and in context it works like he.

Latin often uses:

• a repeated noun,
• a demonstrative like ille,
• or no explicit subject at all,

depending on what is clearest or most natural.

So ille respondet means he replies, referring back to the painter. Using ille helps mark the shift from the daughter to the painter as the speaker.

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, answering, and similar verbs, Latin very often uses an indirect statement:

• accusative subject + infinitive

So:

• respondet se pingere = he replies that he paints

Here:

• se = the subject of the infinitive, in the accusative
• pingere = infinitive

Latin prefers this construction after respondet rather than a that-clause like English uses.

Se is a reflexive pronoun in the accusative singular/plural, and here it refers back to the subject of the main verb, ille.

So:

• ille respondet se saepe in templo pingere means
• he replies that he often paints in the temple

The important point is:

• se refers back to the one doing the replying

If Latin had used eum instead, it would normally mean that another man paints, not the speaker himself.

Because it is part of the indirect statement after respondet.

In Latin, after verbs like say, think, hear, answer, and similar verbs, the content of the statement is often expressed with:

• accusative + infinitive

So:

• se ... pingere = that he paints

The infinitive does not mean to paint in a simple dictionary sense here; it is functioning as part of the whole reported statement.

Because in with the ablative usually means in or inside a place, with no motion involved.

• in templo = in the temple
• in templum = into the temple

Here the meaning is location, not movement:

• he often paints in the temple

So the ablative templo is exactly what we expect.

Yes. Saepe means often, and it is an adverb.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order, so adverbs like saepe can appear in several places without changing the basic meaning much.

Here:

• se saepe in templo pingere

means:

• that he often paints in the temple

The placement of saepe before in templo pingere is completely natural.

Because they express two different kinds of subordinate idea.

The first half is an indirect question:

• rogat utrum ... soleat = asks whether ...

Indirect questions use:

• a question word like utrum
• a subjunctive verb

The second half is an indirect statement:

• respondet se ... pingere = replies that ...

Indirect statements use:

• accusative subject + infinitive

So the difference is not random. Latin is using two standard constructions:

• indirect question
• indirect statement