Cum puella infelix lacrimat, mater eam benigne consolatur.

Here cum means when and introduces a time clause: Cum puella infelix lacrimat = when the unhappy girl cries / is crying.

This is not the preposition cum meaning with. You can tell because it is followed by a whole clause, not just a noun in the ablative.

Because this cum clause is a straightforward temporal clause: when the girl cries. In that use, Latin commonly uses the indicative.

So:

• cum ... lacrimat = when she cries
• it is simply giving the time of the main action

A subjunctive after cum usually suggests a different nuance, such as since, although, or a more strongly contextual background idea.

Puella is nominative singular. It is the subject of lacrimat.

So in the clause

• puella infelix lacrimat

the girl is the one doing the crying.

Infelix means unhappy and it agrees with puella.

It is a third-declension adjective, and its nominative singular masculine and feminine form is the same: infelix.

So:

• puella infelix = an unhappy girl / the unhappy girl

Even though puella is first declension, the adjective does not have to look first-declension. Adjectives simply have to agree in:

• gender
• number
• case

not necessarily in declension type.

Mater is the subject of consolatur, so it is nominative singular.

In the main clause:

• mater eam benigne consolatur

the mother is the one performing the action of comforting.

Eam is accusative singular feminine. It is the direct object of consolatur.

It refers back to puella:

• puella = the girl
• eam = her

So the main clause means that the mother comforts her, that is, the girl mentioned in the first clause.

Because eam is accusative, while ea would be nominative.

Here the pronoun is the direct object of consolatur, so Latin uses the accusative:

• nominative: ea = she
• accusative: eam = her

English uses her for the object, and Latin does the same thing by changing the form.

Because consolatur comes from a deponent verb: consolor, consolari, consolatus sum.

Deponent verbs:

• have passive-looking forms
• but active meanings

So consolatur literally looks like a passive form, but it means she comforts, not she is comforted.

This is a very common point of confusion for learners.

Yes. Even though consolor is deponent, it can still take a direct object in the accusative.

So:

• mater eam consolatur = the mother comforts her

The fact that a verb is deponent does not mean it cannot have a direct object.

Benigne is an adverb meaning kindly, gently, or benevolently.

It modifies consolatur, telling us how the mother comforts the girl:

• mater eam benigne consolatur = the mother kindly comforts her

It comes from the adjective benignus.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin shows grammatical function mostly by endings, not by position.

English depends heavily on order:

• the mother comforts her

But in Latin, the endings already show:

• mater = subject
• eam = object
• consolatur = verb

So the sentence can place words in an order that feels natural or emphatic in Latin. Here, the subordinate cum clause comes first, and the main clause follows.

Yes. The Latin present tense often covers both ideas.

So lacrimat can mean:

• cries
• is crying
• sometimes even does cry, depending on context

Likewise, consolatur can mean:

• comforts
• is comforting

English chooses whichever sounds best in context.

Latin often leaves possessive ideas implied when the relationship is obvious from context.

So mater can naturally mean:

• the mother
• her mother

Here, because eam refers to the girl, English usually says her mother to make the relationship clear. Latin does not need to add eius unless the writer wants special emphasis or clarification.

You match them by sense, structure, and agreement.

In this sentence:

• puella infelix goes with lacrimat
• mater goes with consolatur

Both verbs are third person singular, so the singular nouns fit them. The clause division also helps:

• Cum puella infelix lacrimat = subordinate clause
• mater eam benigne consolatur = main clause

So each clause has its own subject and verb.

No. In this sentence, cum is not the preposition with. It is the conjunction when.

So you should read the clause as:

• when the unhappy girl cries

not

• with the unhappy girl crying

That second idea would require a different Latin construction.

Latin sometimes does omit an object pronoun when the meaning is clear, but including eam makes the sentence explicit: the mother comforts her, namely the girl just mentioned.

So eam helps tie the two clauses together clearly:

• girl cries
• mother comforts her

It is a very natural use of the pronoun.

They are:

• cum = when / with depending on use
• puella, puellae = girl
• infelix, infelicis = unhappy
• lacrimo, lacrimare = to cry, weep
• mater, matris = mother
• is, ea, id = he, she, it; this, that
• benigne = kindly
• consolor, consolari, consolatus sum = to comfort

Knowing the dictionary form is especially helpful for infelix and consolatur, since their forms are less obvious to beginners.