Infans quiete spirat, dum avia apud eum sedet.

Latin does not have articles like English the or a/an. So infans can mean either the baby or a baby, and avia can mean the grandmother or a grandmother, depending on context.

In a sentence like this, the context usually makes it clear which is meant.

Infans is nominative singular, and it is the subject of spirat.

So grammatically:

• infans = the one doing the action
• spirat = breathes / is breathing

A learner may also notice that infans is a 3rd-declension noun. Its nominative singular ends in -s, which is very common in that declension.

By itself, infans can refer to either a male or a female infant. The form infans does not change in the nominative singular.

In this sentence, the later pronoun eum shows that the baby is being referred to as masculine:

• apud eum = near him

If the baby were female, you would expect apud eam instead.

Here quiete is an adverb, not an adjective. It means quietly or calmly.

It modifies the verb spirat, telling us how the baby is breathing.

A helpful pattern to remember is that many Latin adverbs are formed from adjectives with -e:

• clarus → clare = clearly
• lentus → lente = slowly
• quietus → quiete = quietly

So quiete spirat means breathes quietly / is breathing quietly.

Latin often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the progressive.

So:

• spirat can mean breathes or is breathing
• sedet can mean sits or is sitting

Latin does not need a separate special form here to express an ongoing action. The context, especially with dum meaning while, makes the ongoing sense clear.

Here dum means while.

It introduces a clause describing something happening at the same time as the action in the main clause:

• main clause: Infans quiete spirat
• dum clause: dum avia apud eum sedet

So the idea is that the baby is breathing quietly while the grandmother is sitting beside him.

Sometimes Latin can use cum for when, but dum is a very natural choice for while when two actions are going on at the same time.

A learner should notice this difference:

• dum often gives a straightforward while sense
• cum can mean when, but it can also mean since or although, so it has a wider range of uses

In this sentence, dum is simple and clear.

Eum is accusative singular masculine, and it is used because apud takes the accusative case.

So:

• apud = near, by, at the side of
• eum = him

Together, apud eum means near him or beside him.

This is a useful vocabulary point: many Latin prepositions require a specific case, and apud takes the accusative.

Because the meaning is not just with him, but more specifically beside him / near him.

• cum eo usually means with him in the sense of accompanying him
• apud eum gives more of a sense of physical nearness: at his side, near him

So if the grandmother is sitting beside the baby, apud eum is a very good choice.

Because se would refer back to the subject of its own clause, which here is avia.

In the clause dum avia apud eum sedet, the subject is avia. So:

• apud se would mean near herself or at her own place
• apud eum means near him, referring to the baby instead

This is an important Latin rule: the reflexive pronoun se points back to the subject of its own clause.

Yes, Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

This sentence is arranged very naturally:

• Infans quiete spirat gives the main statement first
• dum avia apud eum sedet adds the accompanying situation

Latin could rearrange the words for emphasis, for example:

• Dum avia apud eum sedet, infans quiete spirat
• Infans dum avia apud eum sedet quiete spirat

But the original order is clear and smooth. Even though Latin is flexible, word order still affects style and emphasis.