Paupertas puellae miserae gravis est, sed liberalitas vicinae ei magno auxilio est.

Because it depends on paupertas and means the poverty of the wretched girl.

In Latin, a noun in the genitive often shows possession or close relationship. So:

• paupertas = poverty
• puellae miserae = of the wretched girl

A learner might first wonder whether puellae could be dative, since -ae can have more than one function. But here the most natural sense is genitive: poverty of the girl, not poverty to/for the girl.

Because miserae is an adjective modifying puellae, so it must agree with it in case, number, and gender.

Here:

• puellae = genitive singular feminine
• miserae = genitive singular feminine

So puellae miserae is a matched phrase meaning of the wretched girl.

Because gravis is nominative singular feminine here, matching paupertas, which is the subject.

So the structure is:

• Paupertas ... gravis est = The poverty ... is burdensome/serious

Meanwhile puellae miserae is in the genitive, so it cannot be the noun that gravis describes here.

This is a very common Latin pattern:
subject + genitive phrase + predicate adjective + est

Because paupertas is feminine singular, and gravis is the masculine/feminine nominative singular form of the adjective.

For this adjective:

• masculine/feminine nominative singular: gravis
• neuter nominative singular: grave

Since paupertas is feminine, Latin uses gravis.

It is most naturally genitive singular, meaning the generosity of the neighbor woman.

So:

• liberalitas = generosity
• vicinae = of the neighbor

Just as puellae miserae depends on paupertas, vicinae depends on liberalitas.

A beginner may notice that vicinae could also be dative singular or nominative plural in form, but here the sense clearly points to genitive singular.

Ei is a dative singular pronoun meaning to her or for her.

In this sentence, it refers to the poor girl mentioned earlier. So the sense is that the neighbor’s generosity is a great help to her.

Even though Latin does not repeat puellae here, ei points back to that person.

Because Latin often uses a special construction called the double dative:

• a dative of reference: ei = to her
• a dative of purpose: magno auxilio = for a great help / as a great help

So:

• ei magno auxilio est literally means it is to her for a great help
• smoother English: it is a great help to her

This is a very common Latin idiom.

Because it agrees with auxilio, which is dative singular neuter.

In the phrase magno auxilio:

• auxilio = dative singular of auxilium
• magno = dative singular neuter of magnus

The adjective must match the noun it describes, so both are dative singular neuter.

Latin often expresses ideas in more than one way. Here it uses an idiomatic noun phrase rather than a simple verb.

So instead of saying something like helps her greatly, Latin says:

• ei magno auxilio est = is a great help to her

This is very natural Latin. A literal word-for-word translation may sound strange in English, but the structure is standard.

Because the sentence contains two separate clauses joined by sed:

1. Paupertas puellae miserae gravis est
2. sed liberalitas vicinae ei magno auxilio est

Each clause has its own subject and its own predicate, so each has its own est.

Latin can sometimes omit forms of esse when they are obvious, but here repeating est is straightforward and clear.

The word order is flexible, but it is not random.

Latin uses endings, not position alone, to show grammatical relationships. So you identify the roles mainly by case endings:

• paupertas and liberalitas are nominative subjects
• puellae miserae and vicinae are genitives
• ei and magno auxilio are datives

The order still helps with emphasis and style. Here the two main ideas are placed in parallel:

• Paupertas ... gravis est
• sed liberalitas ... magno auxilio est

That balance makes the contrast between poverty and generosity especially clear.

In theory, the endings could suggest other possibilities in isolation, but not in this sentence.

For example:

• puellae can be genitive singular, dative singular, or nominative plural
• vicinae can also have several possible forms

But context settles the meaning:

• paupertas puellae miserae = the poverty of the wretched girl
• liberalitas vicinae = the generosity of the neighbor

Those are singular genitives. A plural reading would not fit the sentence nearly as well.

It has two linked clauses:

1. Paupertas puellae miserae gravis est

   • paupertas = subject
   • puellae miserae = genitive dependent on paupertas
   • gravis = predicate adjective
   • est = verb

2. sed liberalitas vicinae ei magno auxilio est

   • sed = but
   • liberalitas = subject
   • vicinae = genitive dependent on liberalitas
   • ei = dative of reference
   • magno auxilio = dative of purpose
   • est = verb

So the sentence is a neat contrast between a hardship and the help that counters it.