Panis quem pistor vendit recens est.

Here is the role of each word:

• panis = bread; this is the main subject of the sentence.
• quem = whom/which/that; this introduces a relative clause and refers back to panis.
• pistor = baker; this is the subject of vendit inside the relative clause.
• vendit = sells.
• recens = fresh; this describes panis.
• est = is.

So the structure is:

• main clause: Panis ... recens est = The bread ... is fresh
• relative clause: quem pistor vendit = that the baker sells

Panis is nominative because it is the subject of the main verb est.

The main statement is:

• Panis recens est = The bread is fresh

Since bread is the thing being described as fresh, it must be in the nominative.

Because quem is the accusative singular masculine form of the relative pronoun.

A relative pronoun has to show:

1. gender and number from the noun it refers to
2. case from its job inside the relative clause

Here, quem refers back to panis, which is:

• singular
• masculine

So the pronoun must also be singular masculine.

But inside the relative clause, it is the direct object of vendit:

• The baker sells the bread

Since it is the direct object, it must be accusative. That gives quem, not qui.

Because quem is a relative pronoun, and relative pronouns normally refer back to a preceding noun, called the antecedent.

Here the antecedent is panis.

Also, the agreement helps:

• panis is masculine singular
• quem is masculine singular

So quem naturally points back to panis.

This is a very common point for learners.

The antecedent and the relative pronoun do not have to be in the same case.

• panis is nominative because it is the subject of est in the main clause.
• quem is accusative because it is the object of vendit in the relative clause.

So each word gets its case from its own clause:

• main clause: panis = subject → nominative
• relative clause: quem = object → accusative

This is one of the key ideas in Latin relative clauses.

Pistor is nominative because it is the subject of vendit.

Inside the relative clause:

• pistor vendit = the baker sells

So:

• pistor = the one doing the selling → nominative
• quem = the thing being sold → accusative

Because recens is a third-declension adjective.

Not all Latin adjectives use first/second-declension endings like -us, -a, -um.
Some use third-declension forms instead.

Recens has nominative singular forms:

• masculine: recens
• feminine: recens
• neuter: recens

So it agrees with panis in:

• gender: masculine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

Even though the ending does not look like panis, it still agrees grammatically.

Because recens belongs to the main clause, not the relative clause.

The main clause is:

• Panis recens est = The bread is fresh

So recens describes panis, not pistor.

The relative clause quem pistor vendit simply gives extra information about which bread we mean.

A useful way to see it is:

• The bread — which the baker sells — is fresh

The adjective fresh still describes bread.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show grammatical function.

English depends heavily on position:

• The baker sells the bread is different from
• The bread sells the baker

Latin can rely on endings instead:

• pistor is nominative, so it is the subject
• quem is accusative, so it is the object

That means Latin can arrange the words more flexibly.

In this sentence, the order is very natural:

• Panis — the main topic first
• quem pistor vendit — extra identifying information
• recens est — the statement about the bread

Latin often places the verb at or near the end of the clause, especially in simple prose sentences.

So recens est is a very normal ending for is fresh.

English usually puts is earlier, but Latin commonly saves the verb until later.

This does not change the meaning; it is mainly a matter of normal Latin style.

Yes. In this sentence, English usually prefers that:

• The bread that the baker sells is fresh

A more literal translation of quem would be which or whom, but English does not usually say the bread whom.

So that is the most natural English translation here, even though the Latin form is accusative masculine singular.

Yes, panis is masculine in Latin.

Grammatical gender in Latin does not always match what an English speaker might expect. Inanimate things can be masculine, feminine, or neuter.

So you simply learn the noun with its gender:

• panis, panis — masculine

That is why the relative pronoun is quem and the adjective is masculine singular as well.

If you remove the relative clause, the core sentence is:

• Panis recens est = The bread is fresh

Then Latin inserts the relative clause after panis:

• quem pistor vendit = that the baker sells

So the full sentence is built like this:

• Panis
  • quem pistor vendit
    • recens est

This is a very common Latin pattern: a noun, followed by a relative clause describing it, followed by the rest of the main clause.