Post cenam pater ad fanum parvum in horto it et ramum lauri cum pauco ture ibi ponit.

Because post is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means after. So:

• post cenam = after dinner

The basic dictionary form is cena, but after post it becomes cenam.

Pater is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

Here, pater is the one doing the actions:

• it = he goes
• ponit = he places

So the nominative is the correct case.

Latin usually does not need an expressed subject pronoun, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• it = he/she/it goes
• ponit = he/she/it places

Since pater is already there as the subject, adding is or another pronoun would usually be unnecessary.

Ad takes the accusative case and usually means to or toward.

So:

• fanum is accusative singular
• parvum agrees with fanum in case, number, and gender

That gives:

• ad fanum parvum = to the small shrine

Because fanum is a neuter noun, not a masculine one.

So its adjective must also be neuter:

• fanum = neuter singular
• parvum = neuter singular

If the noun were masculine, you might expect parvus, but here the neuter form parvum is required.

Because in can take two different cases depending on the meaning:

• in + ablative = in / on a place, meaning location
• in + accusative = into / onto a place, meaning motion toward

Here the meaning is location:

• in horto = in the garden

So Latin uses the ablative horto.

It is the 3rd person singular present of the irregular verb eo, ire, meaning to go.

So:

• eo = I go
• is = you go
• it = he/she/it goes

English speakers often expect something more like a regular verb, but eo is irregular, and it is the normal form here.

Ramum is accusative because it is the direct object of ponit. It is the thing being placed.

Lauri is genitive singular, meaning of laurel.

So:

• ramum = a branch
• lauri = of laurel

Together:

• ramum lauri = a branch of laurel or a laurel branch

This is a very common Latin pattern: noun + genitive to show of.

Because cum has more than one use.

It can be:

• a preposition meaning with
• a conjunction meaning when, since, or although

Here it is followed by a noun phrase:

• cum pauco ture

That shows it is the preposition with, and prepositional cum takes the ablative.

Because cum as a preposition takes the ablative.

The noun here is tus, turis (neuter), meaning incense. Its ablative singular is ture.

The adjective paucus, -a, -um must agree with it, so:

• ture = ablative singular
• pauco = ablative singular neuter

So:

• cum pauco ture = with a little incense

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• case
• number
• gender

Since ture is:

• ablative
• singular
• neuter

the adjective must also be:

• ablative
• singular
• neuter

That gives pauco.

Ibi is an adverb meaning there.

It tells you where the second action happens:

• he goes to the shrine in the garden
• and there he places the laurel branch and incense

So ibi points back to the place just mentioned.

Because the sentence describes two actions done by the same subject:

• it = he goes
• ponit = he places

Latin often links verbs with et just like English uses and.

So the structure is:

• pater ... it
• et ... ponit

Both verbs are in the present tense and share the same subject, pater.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show how words function.

So Latin can say:

• post cenam pater ad fanum parvum in horto it et ramum lauri cum pauco ture ibi ponit

without needing a rigid English-style order.

A few useful points:

• important words are often placed early or late for emphasis
• adjectives can come before or after nouns
• adverbs like ibi can appear where the author wants them for style or clarity

So the order may feel unusual to an English speaker, but the endings make the relationships clear.

In Latin, adjectives can come either before or after the noun. Both are common.

So:

• fanum parvum
• parvum fanum

can both mean small shrine.

Sometimes the choice is stylistic, sometimes for emphasis, and sometimes just the author’s preferred rhythm. English is usually more fixed, but Latin is more flexible.

In practice, it helps explain where the shrine is:

• ad fanum parvum in horto = to the small shrine in the garden

So in horto most naturally describes fanum.

But because Latin word order is flexible, a learner may briefly wonder whether it connects with the verb. The meaning of the whole phrase makes the intended grouping clear: the shrine is located in the garden, and the father goes to it.