Mater infantem leniter consolatur.

Because mater is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject.

• mater = mother
• nominative singular of a third-declension noun

Even though English often relies on word order to show the subject, Latin usually shows it through case endings instead.

Because infantem is the direct object of the verb, so it must be in the accusative case.

• infans = nominative singular, meaning the infant / baby as a subject
• infantem = accusative singular, meaning the infant / baby as the object

So in this sentence, the mother is doing the action, and the infant is receiving it.

Because consolatur is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs are verbs that:

• have passive-looking forms
• but active meanings

So:

• consolatur looks passive in form
• but means she comforts or she consoles, not she is comforted

The dictionary form is consolor, consolari, consolatus sum.

Consolatur is third person singular.

That means it refers to:

• he
• she
• it

In this sentence, because the subject is mater, it means she comforts.

Leniter is an adverb.

It describes how the action is done:

• leniter = gently, softly

It modifies the verb consolatur.

A useful pattern to notice is that many Latin adverbs are formed from adjectives:

• lenis = gentle
• leniter = gently

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

This sentence could be rearranged in several ways, such as:

• Mater infantem leniter consolatur
• Infantem mater leniter consolatur
• Leniter mater infantem consolatur

All of these can mean basically the same thing.

However, word order in Latin often affects emphasis or style, even when the basic meaning stays the same.

Because Latin has no articles.

So mater can mean:

• mother
• the mother
• a mother

And infantem can mean:

• an infant
• the infant

The exact meaning depends on the context.

No. Gender and declension are not the same thing.

• mater is feminine
• but it is a third-declension noun, not first declension

Its forms include:

• nominative singular: mater
• genitive singular: matris

So a noun can be feminine without belonging to the first declension.

The verb form consolatur by itself only tells us third person singular. That could mean he, she, or it.

We know it means she because the subject is mater, which is a feminine noun meaning mother.

So the subject noun gives us the natural English pronoun.

The main dictionary forms are:

• mater, matris = mother
• infans, infantis = infant, baby
• leniter = gently
• consolor, consolari, consolatus sum = comfort, console

For nouns, Latin dictionaries usually give:

• nominative singular
• genitive singular

For verbs, dictionaries usually give the principal parts.

Yes. Consolatur is present tense.

So it means:

• she comforts
• she is comforting
• sometimes, depending on context, she comforts gently

Latin present tense can correspond to more than one English present expression.

Yes. Since leniter is an adverb, it can often be placed in different positions.

For example:

• Mater leniter infantem consolatur
• Leniter mater infantem consolatur
• Mater infantem consolatur leniter

These all still mean that the mother comforts the infant gently, though the emphasis may shift slightly depending on placement.