Mater filiam amatam consolatur.

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

Deponent verbs use passive-looking forms but have active meanings. So:

• consolatur = he/she consoles
• not he/she is consoled

Here it is 3rd person singular present indicative, so it means she consoles.

Here is the breakdown:

• Mater = nominative singular → the subject
• filiam = accusative singular → the direct object
• amatam = accusative feminine singular → an adjective/participle describing filiam
• consolatur = verb, 3rd person singular present

So the structure is:

Mater
→ the mother

filiam amatam
→ the beloved/loved daughter

consolatur
→ consoles

Latin uses endings, not mainly word order, to show who is doing what.

Because mater is a third-declension noun, not a first- or second-declension noun.

Its dictionary form is:

• mater, matris = mother

In Latin, nominative singular endings are not all the same. A subject does not have to end in -a or -us. Many third-declension nominatives have varied endings, and mater is one of them.

So you recognize mater as nominative because:

1. it is the dictionary form,
2. it fits as the subject,
3. the verb consolatur is singular, matching mater.

Amatam is the perfect passive participle of amo, amare.

Its basic idea is:

• amatus, amata, amatum = loved

Here it is:

• feminine
• accusative
• singular

because it agrees with filiam.

So filiam amatam means:

• the loved daughter
• or more naturally, the beloved daughter

Because of agreement.

Amatam is:

• feminine
• accusative
• singular

filiam is also:

• feminine
• accusative
• singular

But mater is nominative singular, not accusative.

In Latin, adjectives and participles agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So amatam must describe filiam, not mater.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Grammatically, amatam is a perfect passive participle, so the literal sense is something like:

• having been loved
• loved

But in natural English, that often becomes:

• beloved

So in this sentence, beloved daughter is usually the most idiomatic translation.

In this sentence, no.

A learner might notice that -am can appear in other forms, but here amatam is clearly a participle agreeing with filiam.

Why?

1. It matches filiam in case, number, and gender.
2. The sentence already has its finite verb: consolatur.
3. The form amatam belongs to the participial adjective amatus, amata, amatum.

So here it functions like an adjective modifying filiam.

Yes, the words could be rearranged.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles. For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Mater filiam amatam consolatur
• Mater consolatur filiam amatam
• Filiam amatam mater consolatur

The differences are mainly in emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

The given order is very natural: subject first, object next, verb last.

Because filiam is accusative singular of filia.

• filia = daughter
• filiam = daughter as a direct object

Since the mother is doing the action of consoling, the daughter is the one receiving that action, so filiam must be in the accusative.

Yes. Even though a deponent verb has passive-looking forms, it usually behaves syntactically like an active verb.

So consolatur still takes a direct object in the accusative:

• filiam

That is why Mater filiam consolatur means The mother consoles the daughter, not The mother is consoled by the daughter.

No. Amatam is passive in meaning: loved.

If you wanted loving, Latin would use the present active participle:

• amantem = loving

So:

• filiam amatam = the loved/beloved daughter
• filiam amantem = the daughter who is loving or the loving daughter

That is an important distinction.

No. Classical Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• mater can mean mother, a mother, or the mother
• filiam amatam can mean a beloved daughter or the beloved daughter

English has to choose an article when translating, but Latin does not state it directly.