“Laborare” infinitivus est, sicut “legere” et “scribere,” inquit magistra.

Infinitivus means infinitive. It is a grammatical term, not an action word in this sentence.

In Laborare infinitivus est, the word infinitivus is a predicate noun: it tells you what laborare is.

Because laborare is the infinitive form of the verb laboro.

A Latin infinitive is the form that often corresponds to English to + verb, so:

• laborare = to work
• legere = to read
• scribere = to write

In this sentence, the teacher is talking about the word laborare as a form, not using it to say that someone is working.

Because Latin usually builds the infinitive into a single word.

So where English has:

• to work
• to read
• to write

Latin has:

• laborare
• legere
• scribere

The idea of English to is included in the Latin infinitive form itself.

Because they belong to different conjugations.

The infinitive ending is not always exactly the same in appearance across verbs:

• laborare comes from a 1st-conjugation verb
• legere and scribere come from 3rd-conjugation verbs

All three are infinitives, even though the vowel before -re is different.

So the important point is not that every infinitive looks exactly alike, but that these are all standard infinitive forms for their verbs.

Yes. They are examples of other infinitives.

The teacher is saying that laborare is an infinitive, just like legere and scribere are. So those words are included to help the learner recognize the pattern.

Sicut means just as, like, or in the same way as.

Here it introduces a comparison:

• Laborare is an infinitive,
• like legere and scribere.

So sicut is connecting laborare with two similar examples.

Because the main subject is only laborare.

The basic sentence is:

• Laborare infinitivus est = Laborare is an infinitive

Then sicut legere et scribere adds a comparison: like legere and scribere.

So legere and scribere are not the grammatical subject of est here. They are just comparison words.

If all three were the subject, Latin would use the plural:

• Laborare, legere, et scribere infinitivi sunt
  = Laborare, legere, and scribere are infinitives

Because Latin word order is flexible, especially with verbs of speaking.

Inquit means says or, in smoother English, often said. It is very commonly inserted after or near direct quotation. So Latin can naturally put it after the quoted statement:

• Laborare infinitivus est... inquit magistra

This is like saying:

• Laborare is an infinitive..., said the teacher

Putting inquit magistra at the end is completely normal.

Magistra is nominative singular feminine.

That means it is the subject of inquit:

• magistra inquit = the teacher says/said

It is feminine because magistra means a female teacher. A male teacher would be magister.

Grammatically, inquit literally means says. But in English, when introducing dialogue in a story, we often translate it as said.

So:

• literal sense: the teacher says
• natural English in narration: said the teacher

This is very common with inquit. It is a special verb frequently used with direct speech.

Because the sentence is talking about the words themselves.

There is an important difference between:

• using a word
• mentioning a word

Here the teacher is mentioning the form laborare as a grammatical example. That is why modern texts often mark such words with quotation marks, italics, or bold type.

Also, modern punctuation is editorial. Ancient Latin manuscripts did not use punctuation in exactly the same way modern printed texts do.

Very literally, it is something like:

• Laborare infinitive is, like legere and scribere, says the teacher.

That sounds odd in English, but it shows how Latin works.

A natural English rendering is:

• Laborare is an infinitive, like legere and scribere, said the teacher.

Latin can move parts around more freely because the forms themselves show their grammatical role.

In a way, yes—but more precisely, it is an infinitive being treated as the thing under discussion.

Since the teacher is naming the form laborare and saying what kind of form it is, the infinitive is functioning like the subject of the sentence:

• Laborare = the item being talked about
• infinitivus est = is an infinitive

So it is still an infinitive, but in this sentence it is being discussed almost like a noun or label.