Soror ramulum e terra tollit, sed pater dicit ramulum viridem frangi non oportere.

Ramulum comes from ramulus, a diminutive of ramus. That means it suggests a small branch, a twig, or a little branch.

So:

• ramus = branch
• ramulus = little branch, twig
• ramulum = accusative singular of ramulus

This is very common in Latin: endings like -ulus, -ula, -ulum often make a noun smaller or more affectionate in tone.

The preposition e or ex means out of or from, and it takes the ablative case.

So:

• terra = ablative singular
• e terra = from the ground or out of the ground

It is not terram, because terram is accusative, and e/ex does not take the accusative.

Also, e and ex are just two forms of the same preposition. E terra is perfectly normal.

Tollit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

from tollere, meaning to lift, to pick up, or sometimes to remove.

So soror ramulum e terra tollit means that the sister is picking up / picks up the twig from the ground.

Literally, yes: viridis means green.

But with plants, branches, leaves, and wood, green often also suggests fresh, living, or not dried out. So ramulum viridem is not just a branch that happens to be green in color; it can suggest a living, fresh twig.

That helps explain why the father objects: a green twig is still alive, not dead wood.

Because Latin very often does not use a separate word meaning that after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and perceiving.

Instead, it usually uses an indirect statement, also called an accusative-and-infinitive construction.

So where English says:

• the father says that the green twig ought not to be broken

Latin says, more literally:

• the father says the green twig ought not to be broken

with the reported statement put into an infinitive construction.

Because the clause after dicit is in indirect statement.

In a normal direct statement, you could have:

• ramulum viridem frangi non oportet
• a green twig ought not to be broken

But after dicit, Latin changes the verb of the reported statement into the infinitive:

• oportet → oportere

So:

• pater dicit ... non oportere
• the father says ... ought not ...

That infinitive is exactly what we expect after dicit in this kind of construction.

This is one of the most important features of Latin indirect statement.

In an accusative-and-infinitive construction, the subject of the reported statement appears in the accusative.

So in:

• pater dicit ramulum viridem frangi non oportere

ramulum viridem is the thing being talked about in the reported statement. In English it feels like the subject of to be broken, so you might expect a nominative. But Latin uses the accusative here because it is the subject inside an indirect statement.

A very common comparison is:

• dicit puerum currere = he says that the boy is running

Even though the boy is the subject in English, Latin uses puerum, accusative.

Because adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here viridem describes ramulum, so it must match it.

• ramulum = masculine, singular, accusative
• viridem = masculine/feminine, singular, accusative

So ramulum viridem means the green twig, with both words in the accusative singular.

Because frangi is the present passive infinitive of frangere.

• frangere = to break (active)
• frangi = to be broken (passive)

That matters a lot here. The father is not saying that the twig should not break something; he is saying that the twig should not be broken.

So:

• ramulum viridem frangi non oportere
• that the green twig ought not to be broken

Oportet is an impersonal verb meaning something like:

• it is proper
• it is right
• it is necessary
• one ought

So non oportere means:

• not to be proper
• not to be right
• more naturally, ought not or should not

In this sentence, the idea is:

• the father says that the green twig should not be broken

It is more about what is right or proper than about physical ability.

Latin leaves that unspecified by using the passive:

• frangi = to be broken

So the sentence does not name the person who would do the breaking. The focus is on the general idea that a green twig should not be broken, not specifically on who should avoid breaking it.

If Latin wanted to name the agent, it could do so in another way, but here the passive keeps the statement general.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order, because the case endings show the grammatical relationships.

So this sentence can place words for emphasis:

• Soror ramulum e terra tollit
• sed pater dicit ramulum viridem frangi non oportere

A few things stand out:

• ramulum viridem is grouped together clearly
• non oportere comes at the end, which gives the reported statement a neat finish
• the important moral point, ought not, is saved for the end

So the order is natural Latin, and it also helps emphasize the father’s objection.