Femina pia panem pauperi dat; vir autem impius tantum ridet.

Because panem is the accusative singular form of panis (bread).

In this sentence, panem is the direct object of dat (gives), so Latin puts it in the accusative case:

• panis = bread, as a dictionary form / subject form
• panem = bread, as the thing being given

So femina pia panem pauperi dat literally has the structure:

• femina pia = the pious woman
• panem = bread
• pauperi = to the poor person
• dat = gives

Because pauperi is dative singular, and the dative case is often used for the indirect object.

In English we say:

• She gives bread to the poor person

In Latin, to the poor person is shown by the dative ending:

• pauper = poor person / poor man / poor woman
• pauperi = to the poor person

So pauperi answers the question to whom?

It is originally an adjective meaning poor, but here it is being used substantively, meaning the adjective stands in for a noun.

So pauperi means something like:

• to the poor person
• to the poor man
• to the poor woman

Latin does this very often. English does something similar in phrases like the poor, but Latin uses it even more freely.

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• femina is feminine singular nominative
• so the adjective becomes pia

And:

• vir is masculine singular nominative
• so the adjective becomes impius

That is why we get:

• femina pia = pious woman
• vir impius = impious man

The endings change because the nouns are different.

They are in the nominative case, which is the case normally used for the subject.

Also, the verbs are both third person singular:

• dat = he/she gives
• ridet = he/she laughs

So the sentence is organized as two clauses:

1. Femina pia panem pauperi dat
2. vir autem impius tantum ridet

In each clause, the nominative noun is the subject:

• femina = subject of dat
• vir = subject of ridet

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

A very common Latin pattern is to place the verb at or near the end, especially in simple prose. So:

• Femina pia panem pauperi dat
• vir autem impius tantum ridet

This does not mean Latin always puts the verb last, but it is very common.

Latin relies more on case endings than on word order, so the meaning stays clear even when the order changes.

Yes, often they could.

For example, the first clause could also be arranged as:

• Pia femina pauperi panem dat
• Panem femina pia pauperi dat
• Pauperi femina pia panem dat

The basic meaning would stay the same because the endings show each word's job:

• femina = subject
• panem = direct object
• pauperi = indirect object

However, different word orders can give different emphasis. Latin writers often move words around to highlight contrast or importance.

Autem means something like however, but, or on the other hand.

It introduces a contrast between the two clauses:

• the pious woman gives bread to the poor person;
• but/however the impious man only laughs.

A useful thing to notice is that autem is often not the first word in its clause in Latin. It commonly comes in the second position, as it does here:

• vir autem impius

So a very natural understanding is:

• the man, however, being impious, only laughs

Here tantum means only or just.

So tantum ridet means:

• only laughs
• just laughs

It emphasizes that the man does nothing helpful. He does not give anything; he merely laughs.

Because Latin has no articles.

English uses:

• a woman
• the woman
• a poor person
• the poor person

Latin usually does not have separate words for those ideas. So:

• femina can mean a woman or the woman
• vir can mean a man or the man

You decide from the context which English article sounds best.

They are both:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

So:

• dat = he/she gives
• ridet = he/she laughs

Because Latin verb endings already include the subject information, Latin does not need to add a separate word for she or he unless it wants extra emphasis.

It is shown both by meaning and by grammar.

• femina is a feminine noun
• vir is a masculine noun

Their adjectives then match them:

• pia matches the feminine noun femina
• impius matches the masculine noun vir

So gender in Latin is a grammatical category, and adjectives must agree with the noun's gender.

It is mainly modern punctuation used to make the contrast clear.

The semicolon shows that the sentence has two closely related clauses:

1. Femina pia panem pauperi dat
2. vir autem impius tantum ridet

It helps the reader feel the strong contrast between the woman's kindness and the man's unkindness. In older Latin writing, punctuation was much less standardized than in modern printed texts.