Servae in triclinio cenam parant, dum convivae in atrio exspectant.

Servae is nominative plural, so it means the female slaves / maidservants as the subject of parant.

The ending -ae in a first-declension noun can mean different things in different contexts, but here it is nominative plural because:

• parant means they prepare
• so the subject must be plural
• servae matches that plural verb

So servae parant = the slave women prepare.

Because cenam is the direct object of parant.

• cena = dinner in the nominative form
• cenam = dinner in the accusative form

Since the servants are preparing dinner, dinner is the thing being acted upon, so Latin uses the accusative case:

• Servae cenam parant = The servants prepare dinner

A very common pattern in Latin is:

• subject in the nominative
• direct object in the accusative

Both triclinio and atrio are in the ablative singular because they follow in meaning in or inside a place.

So:

• in triclinio = in the dining room
• in atrio = in the atrium

With in, Latin often works like this:

• in + ablative = in / on a place, showing location
• in + accusative = into / onto a place, showing motion toward

Here nobody is moving into the rooms; they are simply located there, so the ablative is used.

Dum here means while.

It connects two actions happening at the same time:

• the servants are preparing dinner
• while the guests are waiting

So it introduces a clause of simultaneous action.

In this sentence:

• Servae in triclinio cenam parant
• dum convivae in atrio exspectant

the idea is the servants prepare dinner while the guests wait in the atrium.

They are both present indicative active, and they describe actions going on at the same time.

• parant = they prepare / are preparing
• exspectant = they wait / are waiting

In Latin, the simple present can often cover both English ideas:

• they prepare
• they are preparing

Likewise:

• they wait
• they are waiting

Because dum means while, it is natural that both verbs are in the present here.

The ending -ant tells you the verb is:

• third person plural
• present tense
• active voice

So:

• parant = they prepare
• exspectant = they wait

This matches the plural subjects:

• servae with parant
• convivae with exspectant

A learner often starts to recognize -ant as a very common ending for they ... in first-conjugation verbs.

We know from the combination of form and verb agreement.

Convivae can have more than one possible grammatical value in isolation, but here the verb exspectant is plural: they wait.

That strongly points to convivae being nominative plural, the subject of exspectant.

So:

• convivae exspectant = the guests wait

Latin often becomes clear when you look not just at one word, but at how it fits with the verb.

Classical Latin has no definite article (the) and no indefinite article (a/an) as regular separate words.

So a noun like servae can mean:

• slaves
• the slaves
• sometimes even some slaves

Likewise:

• cenam can mean dinner or the dinner
• convivae can mean guests or the guests

English needs articles almost all the time, but Latin usually leaves that idea to be understood from context.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show each word’s job in the sentence.

So in this sentence:

• Servae is the subject because of its form and agreement with parant
• cenam is the object because it is accusative
• in triclinio and in atrio show location

That means Latin can often move words around for emphasis without changing the basic meaning.

However, the order here is quite natural and clear:

• subject
• place
• object
• verb
• then the dum clause

English relies much more heavily on position, but Latin relies more on endings.

Triclinium is a Roman dining room.

So in triclinio means in the dining room.

It is a useful cultural word, because Roman houses often had rooms with specific names, such as:

• atrium = central hall or main reception area
• triclinium = dining room

Knowing these words helps the sentence feel more specifically Roman, not just like a general modern-house description.

Grammatically, there is no difference in construction.

Both are:

• in
  • ablative
• used to show location

So the pattern is exactly the same:

• in triclinio = in the dining room
• in atrio = in the atrium

This is a good sentence for noticing repetition in Latin structure: once you understand one phrase, the other works the same way.