Mater timet ne infans vas fragile tangat.

After verbs of fearing, Latin uses ne to introduce the thing that is feared. That is different from what English speakers often expect.

So after a verb like timeo:

• ne means that, that perhaps, or that ... may/will
• ut means that ... not

This is the opposite of what happens in purpose clauses, where ut is normally positive and ne is negative. A useful old-fashioned English equivalent is lest.

Because it is in a clause dependent on a verb of fearing. Latin regularly uses the subjunctive after verbs like timeo, vereor, and metuo when they are followed by ne or ut.

So tangat is not subjunctive because the action is doubtful in some general sense; it is subjunctive because the grammar of a fear clause requires it.

The main verb timet is present tense, so it belongs to the primary sequence. In primary sequence, Latin normally uses the present subjunctive for an action that is happening at the same time as the main verb or is still in the future relative to it.

So timet ne ... tangat means the mother is now afraid of the possibility that the baby may touch or will touch the vase.

Mater is nominative singular. It is the subject of the main verb timet.

The dictionary form is mater, matris, a third-declension noun. In this sentence, mater is the one doing the fearing, so nominative is exactly what we expect.

Infans is also nominative singular. It is the subject of the subordinate verb tangat.

So the sentence has:

• mater as the subject of the main clause
• infans as the subject of the fear clause

That is a very common Latin pattern: one subject for the main verb, and another subject for the subordinate verb.

Because vas is a neuter noun. In Latin, neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.

Here vas is the direct object of tangat, even though its form looks the same as the nominative. You understand its role from the syntax: the baby is the one touching, and the vase is the thing touched.

Because fragile agrees with vas, which is neuter singular.

The adjective is fragilis, fragile:

• masculine/feminine nominative singular: fragilis
• neuter nominative/accusative singular: fragile

Since vas is neuter, the adjective must also be neuter: vas fragile.

Latin has no definite article and no indefinite article. So there is no separate word for the or a/an.

Whether English uses the mother, a mother, the baby, or a baby depends on context and on the translation you choose. Latin leaves that unstated unless some other word makes it clear.

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the case endings do most of the grammatical work.

This sentence places:

• mater first
• timet early
• the fear clause after it
• tangat at the end of the subordinate clause

That final placement of the verb is especially common in Latin. The phrase vas fragile could also be rearranged as fragile vas without changing the basic meaning.

No. In this sentence, ne does not mean a simple not. It introduces the event that the mother is afraid might happen.

So the feared event is positive: the baby touching the vase. If the mother were afraid that the baby might not touch the vase, Latin would normally use ut with the subjunctive instead.

Not in the standard way for this meaning. After a verb of fearing, Latin normally uses a subordinate clause with ne/ut + subjunctive, not an English-style infinitive construction.

So timet ne infans vas fragile tangat is the regular Latin way to express this kind of fear. An infinitive would not be the normal idiom here.