Hic panis recentior est quam ille et melius olet.

Because panis is masculine in Latin, even though its ending may not look masculine to an English speaker.

• hic = nominative masculine singular, this
• hoc = nominative/accusative neuter singular, this

Since panis is masculine, the demonstrative has to agree with it:

• hic panis = this bread

Agreement is one of the most important habits in Latin: adjectives and demonstratives match the noun in gender, number, and case.

They are all in the nominative singular here.

• hic panis = this bread → subject of est and olet
• ille = that one → nominative because it stands for ille panis, understood as the thing being compared

So the structure is basically:

• Hic panis recentior est quam ille
  = This bread is fresher than that one

Latin often leaves out a noun if it is obvious from context, so ille means that one, with panis understood.

Because Latin very often omits a noun when it is easy to understand.

So:

• ille literally means that
• but in context it means that one or that bread

This is similar to English, where we can say:

• This bread is fresher than that one

instead of repeating bread.

Recentior is the comparative form of the adjective recens, recentis (fresh, recent).

So:

• recens = fresh
• recentior = fresher
• recentissimus = freshest

In the nominative singular, comparative adjectives have these forms:

• masculine/feminine: -ior
• neuter: -ius

So here:

• recentior agrees with panis and means fresher

Because Latin usually uses sum (to be) with predicate adjectives, just as English does.

So:

• Hic panis recentior est
  = This bread is fresher

The adjective recentior describes the subject hic panis, and est links them.

Quam means than in comparisons.

So:

• recentior est quam ille
  = is fresher than that one

A very common Latin pattern is:

• comparative adjective/adverb + quam

Examples:

• maior quam ille = bigger than that one
• citius quam ante = more quickly than before

So in this sentence, quam ille gives the second item in the comparison.

Yes. With a comparative, Latin can often use the ablative of comparison instead of quam.

So the idea could also be expressed as:

• Hic panis recentior est illo.

That means the same thing: This bread is fresher than that one.

The version with quam may feel clearer to beginners because it works more like English than.

Because melius is an adverb, while melior is an adjective.

Here the word is modifying the verb olet (smells), so Latin needs an adverb:

• bene = well
• melius = better
• optime = best

So:

• melius olet = smells better

If you used melior, that would be an adjective meaning better, and it would need to describe a noun, not the action of smelling.

Olet is the 3rd person singular present active indicative of oleo, olere.

It means:

• it smells
• it gives off a smell
• sometimes more specifically, it smells of something

Here the subject is hic panis, so:

• olet = it smells

Because the bread is singular, the verb is singular too.

By itself, olet can be neutral: it simply means smells or has an odor.

The context tells you whether the smell is good or bad. Here:

• melius olet = smells better

So the sentence clearly suggests a more pleasant smell.

Because Latin, like English, can leave the second comparison understood from context.

The sentence first sets up a comparison between this bread and that one:

• This bread is fresher than that one

Then it adds another comment:

• and smells better

The listener naturally understands: better than that one.

If someone wanted to make it fully explicit, Latin could repeat the comparison, but it is not necessary here.

The sentence is:

• Hic panis recentior est quam ille et melius olet.

Literally, word by word, it is something like:

• This bread fresher is than that one and better smells.

That sounds odd in English, but it is normal Latin.

A few things to notice:

• Hic panis comes first as the topic: this bread
• recentior est gives the description
• quam ille adds the comparison
• olet comes at the end of the second clause, which is very common in Latin

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

Yes. Et means and, and it joins two predicates about the same subject, hic panis.

So the sentence says two things about this bread:

1. recentior est quam ille = it is fresher than that one
2. melius olet = it smells better

The subject does not need to be repeated in the second part, because it is already clear.

Because they are doing different jobs.

• recentior is an adjective describing panis
• melius is an adverb modifying the verb olet

So:

• adjectives agree with nouns
• adverbs do not agree; they modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

That is why:

• recentior must match panis
• melius stays an adverb form and does not match anything

Yes, very much so. It shows two common comparison patterns at once:

1. comparative adjective + quam

   • recentior ... quam ille
   • fresher than that one

2. comparative adverb

   • melius olet
   • smells better

So it is a useful model for both:

• comparing things with adjectives
• comparing actions with adverbs