Puer sororem consolari conatur, quia illa lacrimat.

Because sororem is the direct object of consolari. The boy is trying to comfort his sister, so the sister is the person receiving the action.

• puer = subject, nominative, the boy
• sororem = direct object, accusative, the sister

This is very normal Latin syntax: the person or thing directly affected by the verb goes into the accusative.

Because it depends on conatur.

The verb conor means try or attempt, and in Latin it is commonly followed by a complementary infinitive:

• conatur consolari = he tries to comfort

So consolari is not the main verb of the sentence. It completes the meaning of conatur, just as English to comfort completes tries.

Because both conor and consolor are deponent verbs.

A deponent verb:

• has passive forms
• but an active meaning

So:

• conatur looks passive, but means he tries
• consolari looks passive, but means to comfort

This is one of the most important things to notice in this sentence. If you try to read them as ordinary passive forms, the sentence will not make sense.

Conatur is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• indicative mood
• from the deponent verb conor, conari, conatus sum

So it means he tries or he is trying.

Because the subject is puer (singular), the verb is also singular.

Yes. It comes from consolor, consolari, consolatus sum, a deponent verb meaning comfort or console.

Here consolari is the present infinitive, so:

• consolari = to comfort

Even though the form looks passive, the meaning is active because the verb is deponent.

Because Latin infinitives do not need a separate word like English to.

In English:

• to comfort

In Latin:

• consolari

The infinitive ending itself already shows that the verb means to comfort. So Latin packs that idea into one word.

Quia means because. It introduces a clause giving the reason:

• quia illa lacrimat = because she is crying

So the sentence has:

1. a main clause: Puer sororem consolari conatur
2. a subordinate clause of reason: quia illa lacrimat

Illa is the feminine singular form of ille, illa, illud. It can mean:

• that girl/woman
• she, often with some emphasis or contrast

Here it works like she, referring to the sister. Latin often uses a demonstrative pronoun like ille/illa where English would simply use a personal pronoun.

Using illa can make the reference a little clearer or more emphatic than a bare implied subject would.

Mostly from context.

• illa is feminine singular
• sororem is feminine singular
• the sentence naturally makes sense as The boy tries to comfort his sister, because she is crying

So the most likely referent is sororem.

Latin often relies on context like this. Grammatically, illa could refer to some other feminine person already known from the context, but in this standalone sentence the sister is the obvious reference.

It is present because the crying is happening at the same time as the trying:

• conatur = is trying / tries
• lacrimat = is crying / cries

Latin present tense can often be translated either as simple present or progressive present in English, depending on context.

So lacrimat could be understood as:

• she cries
• she is crying

Here she is crying usually sounds more natural in English.

Yes, but it is not rigid.

Latin word order is flexible because endings show grammatical roles. Here the order is:

• Puer = subject
• sororem = object
• consolari = infinitive
• conatur = main verb
• quia illa lacrimat = reason clause

A very literal pattern would be:

• The boy his sister to comfort tries, because she cries

That sounds odd in English, but it is perfectly natural in Latin.

Also, putting conatur after consolari is common, since the infinitive and its governing verb often stay close together.

Normally no. With conor + infinitive, the subject of the infinitive is usually the same as the subject of conor unless Latin clearly says otherwise.

So here:

• puer is the one who conatur
• therefore puer is also the one who consolari

In other words, the boy tries to comfort, not the boy tries for someone else to comfort.

Here are the main forms a learner would want:

• puer, pueri = boy
• soror, sororis = sister
• conor, conari, conatus sum = try
• consolor, consolari, consolatus sum = comfort, console
• quia = because
• ille, illa, illud = that; he, she, it
• lacrimo, lacrimare, lacrimavi, lacrimatus (or sometimes with slightly different principal parts in dictionaries) = cry, weep

Notice again that conor and consolor are deponent, so their principal parts include forms that look passive.