Matertera dicit fabas cum porro meliores esse quam lenticulas sine sale.

Because after dicit Latin is using indirect statement (also called accusative + infinitive).

In English we say:

• Aunt says that beans are better than lentils.

In Latin, instead of using that + a finite verb, Latin usually does this:

• dicit
  • accusative subject
    • infinitive

So:

• fabas = beans as the subject of esse inside the indirect statement
• esse = to be
• meliores = better

That is why fabas is accusative, even though in English it would be the subject of are.

lenticulas is also accusative because it is being compared with fabas after quam, and Latin normally keeps the same case on both sides of the comparison.

Esse is the infinitive to be, and it is required by the indirect statement after dicit.

Latin does not say the equivalent of:

• Matertera dicit fabae ... sunt

Instead it says:

• Matertera dicit fabas ... esse

So the structure is:

• Matertera dicit = Aunt says
• fabas ... esse = that beans are ...

This is one of the most important Latin patterns to learn: after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, hearing, and so on, Latin often uses accusative + infinitive.

Meliores is the comparative of bonus:

• bonus = good
• melior = better

Here it must agree with fabas, so it is plural.

Since faba is feminine, you might expect a special feminine plural form, but in the comparative degree the masculine and feminine forms are the same:

• masculine/feminine plural nominative/accusative = meliores
• neuter plural nominative/accusative = meliora

So meliores agrees with fabas and means better.

Quam means than in comparisons.

Latin can compare in a couple of ways, but here it uses the straightforward pattern:

• meliores ... quam lenticulas

Because fabas is accusative in the indirect statement, the thing compared with it is also accusative:

• fabas ... meliores esse quam lenticulas

So literally the structure is:

• beans to be better than lentils

This is very normal Latin.

Porro is ablative singular of porrum (leek), because it follows the preposition cum.

• cum porro = with leek

The preposition cum takes the ablative, so:

• cum porro
• not cum porrum

Sale is ablative singular of sal (salt), because it follows sine.

• sine sale = without salt

The preposition sine always takes the ablative.

So the two prepositional phrases are:

• cum porro = with leek
• sine sale = without salt

Here it is definitely the preposition meaning with.

You can tell because it is followed by a noun in the ablative:

• cum porro

If it were the conjunction when/since/although, it would introduce a clause with a verb, not just a noun.

So here:

• fabas cum porro = beans with leek

not

• beans when leek...

Latin often uses the singular where English might use either singular or plural more idiomatically.

So cum porro literally means with leek, but in natural English the idea may be:

• with leek
• with leeks
• with some leek

depending on context and translation style.

The important Latin point is simply that porro is ablative singular after cum.

Matertera means maternal aunt, that is, your mother’s sister.

Latin can be more specific than English about family relationships. For example:

• matertera = mother’s sister
• amita = father’s sister

In many beginner translations both may simply be rendered as aunt, but the Latin word itself is more precise.

Because Latin usually does not need a separate word meaning that in this construction.

English says:

• Aunt says that beans are better ...

Latin says:

• Matertera dicit fabas ... esse ...

The idea of that is built into the accusative + infinitive structure, so there is no extra that-word here.

A helpful way to break it apart is this:

• Matertera dicit = Aunt says
• fabas ... esse = that beans are
• cum porro = with leek
• meliores = better
• quam lenticulas = than lentils
• sine sale = without salt

So the core grammatical skeleton is:

• Matertera dicit [fabas meliores esse quam lenticulas].

Then the two prepositional phrases add detail:

• fabas cum porro
• lenticulas sine sale

Mostly from word order and sense.

Latin word order is flexible, but related words are often placed near each other:

• fabas cum porro
• lenticulas sine sale

So the sentence naturally groups as:

• beans with leek
• lentils without salt

Also, semantically that is the most sensible reading. Latin authors do sometimes separate related words more dramatically, but this sentence is arranged quite clearly.

Not after dicit, if it wanted this normal indirect-statement structure.

If Latin wanted a direct statement, it could say something like:

• Fabae cum porro meliores sunt quam lenticulae sine sale.
• Beans with leek are better than lentils without salt.

But once the sentence becomes Aunt says that..., classical Latin normally shifts into indirect statement:

• Matertera dicit fabas cum porro meliores esse quam lenticulas sine sale.

So both patterns exist, but they belong to different kinds of sentence.

Because Latin word order is flexible, and predicate adjectives often come before esse.

So:

• meliores esse

is completely normal for to be better.

Latin does not have to keep the same order as English. The important thing is not the order by itself, but the grammatical relationships:

• fabas = accusative subject of esse
• meliores = predicate adjective agreeing with fabas
• esse = infinitive completing the indirect statement

Yes. Everything after dicit up to the end belongs to what Aunt is saying:

• fabas cum porro meliores esse quam lenticulas sine sale

Within that whole indirect statement:

• fabas is the accusative subject
• esse is the infinitive
• meliores is the predicate adjective
• quam lenticulas sine sale gives the comparison

So lenticulas sine sale is not outside the structure; it is part of the content of the statement.

In this sentence it is most naturally attached to lenticulas:

• lenticulas sine sale = lentils without salt

That is because the phrase comes immediately after lenticulas, and because it makes a neat contrast with:

• fabas cum porro

So the sentence sets up two food combinations against each other:

• beans with leek
• lentils without salt

That contrast is probably intentional.

The likely dictionary forms are:

• matertera, materterae = maternal aunt
• faba, fabae = bean
• porrum, porri = leek
• lenticula, lenticulae = lentil
• sal, salis = salt

And their forms here are:

• matertera = nominative singular
• fabas = accusative plural
• porro = ablative singular
• lenticulas = accusative plural
• sale = ablative singular

This is a good sentence for practicing how endings show grammatical function.

Probably these three points:

1. Indirect statement after dicit

   • dicit + accusative + infinitive

2. Comparison with meliores ... quam ...

   • better than ...

3. Prepositions taking the ablative

   • cum porro
   • sine sale

If you can spot those three things, the grammar of the whole sentence becomes much easier.