Serva pannum humidum per pavimentum trahit, ut sordes tollat.

Serva is in the nominative singular, which is the usual case for the subject of a sentence. It also fits the verb trahit = she drags / pulls.

So:

• serva = the female slave / servant / maid
• trahit = drags

Together, they give The maid drags...

Serva is the feminine form of servus.

• servus = male slave/servant
• serva = female slave/servant

Depending on context, English might translate it as slave-girl, maid, or female servant.

Because pannum humidum is the direct object of trahit.

• pannus = cloth, rag
• pannum = cloth/rag in the accusative singular
• humidus = damp, wet
• humidum = damp/wet in the accusative singular masculine, agreeing with pannum

Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So pannum humidum means a/the damp cloth.

In normal reading, no: it is understood with pannum.

Why?

• It is placed right next to pannum
• It makes better sense as damp cloth
• Latin often groups adjective + noun closely like this

A learner may notice that pavimentum is also an -um word, but here the most natural reading is definitely pannum humidum = damp cloth.

Per is a preposition that takes the accusative case.

So:

• per = through, across, over
• pavimentum = floor in the accusative singular

In this sentence, per pavimentum means something like:

• across the floor
• over the floor

English may use different wording, but the Latin idea is movement over or across the surface.

Trahit is:

• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood
• third person singular

It comes from trahere = to drag, pull.

So trahit means:

• he drags
• she drags
• it drags

The subject noun serva tells us that here it means she drags.

Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So serva can mean:

• a maid
• the maid

And pannum humidum can mean:

• a damp cloth
• the damp cloth

Context tells you which English article sounds best.

Ut tollat introduces a purpose clause.

• ut = so that, in order that
• tollat = she may remove / she might remove

So the clause explains why the maid drags the damp cloth:

• Serva ... trahit, ut sordes tollat.
• The maid drags ... in order to remove the dirt.

This is a very common Latin construction.

Because after ut in a purpose clause, Latin uses the subjunctive, not the ordinary indicative.

So:

• tollit = she removes
• tollat = that she may remove / in order that she remove

Since the main verb trahit is present, Latin uses the present subjunctive in the purpose clause: tollat.

It comes from the verb tollere, which often means:

• to lift
• to take away
• to remove

In this sentence, remove is the natural meaning:

• ut sordes tollat = in order to remove the dirt

Because Latin sordes is very often a plural-form noun meaning:

• dirt
• filth
• grime

So even though English often uses singular dirt, Latin commonly uses sordes.

Here it is the object of tollat:

• sordes = the dirt / filth

Its form here is accusative plural.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammar.

This sentence is arranged in a very natural Latin way:

• Serva = subject
• pannum humidum = object
• per pavimentum = prepositional phrase
• trahit = main verb
• ut sordes tollat = purpose clause

A Latin writer could change the order for emphasis, but the endings would still show who is doing what.

That is a very common Latin habit. Latin often places the verb late, especially in simple narrative sentences.

So:

• Serva pannum humidum per pavimentum trahit
• literally, The maid a damp cloth across the floor drags

English normally wants the verb earlier, but Latin often saves it for the end or near the end of the clause.