Serva in mortario allium et salem miscet, dum pistillo parvo utitur.

Here, serva is a noun, not a verb. It is the nominative singular of serva, meaning a female slave, maidservant, or servant woman.

A learner may notice that serva can also be the singular imperative of servare (save! or keep!), but that is not what is happening here. In this sentence, miscet is already the finite verb, so serva works naturally as the subject.

Latin often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. The verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• miscet = he/she/it mixes
• utitur = he/she/it uses

Since serva is already named as the subject, Latin does not need an extra ea for she. English usually prefers an explicit subject, but Latin often does not.

Because in takes the ablative when it means in or on in the sense of location.

So:

• in mortario = in the mortar

This is different from in + accusative, which usually shows motion into something.

• in mortarium would mean into the mortar

Here the garlic and salt are being mixed in the mortar, so the ablative is correct.

Mortario is the ablative singular of mortarium, a neuter noun meaning a mortar, the bowl in which ingredients are crushed or mixed.

So in mortario means in the mortar, not the building material mortar in the modern English sense.

Because they belong to different declensions, even though they are doing the same grammatical job.

Both words are direct objects of miscet, so both are in the accusative singular:

• allium is a second-declension neuter noun
• salem is the accusative singular of sal, salis, a third-declension noun

So the difference in ending is just a difference in declension pattern, not a difference in function.

Miscet is:

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

It comes from miscere, meaning to mix.

So miscet means she mixes, he mixes, or it mixes, depending on the subject. Here, because the subject is serva, it means she mixes.

Here dum means while.

That is clear from the sense of the sentence: the servant is mixing the ingredients while using the small pestle. The two actions are happening at the same time.

Dum can sometimes mean until in other contexts, so this is a very good question to ask whenever you see it. In this sentence, while is the right interpretation.

Because utor, uti, usus sum is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs:

• have passive-looking forms
• but an active meaning

So utitur looks like a passive form, but it actually means he/she uses, not is used.

This is one of the most important things to learn about utor.

Because utor takes the ablative case, not a direct object in the accusative.

So:

• pistillo parvo utitur = she uses a small pestle

A very literal way to think about it is she makes use of a small pestle. That is why Latin puts pistillo parvo in the ablative.

This is a special feature of utor and a few other verbs, and it must simply be learned.

Because parvo is agreeing with pistillo.

Since pistillo is ablative singular, the adjective modifying it must also be ablative singular:

• pistillo = ablative singular
• parvo = ablative singular

If it were parvum, that would be accusative singular, which would not match the case required here.

The same person: the servant.

Latin does not repeat serva in the second clause because the subject is already clear from context. The verb utitur is also third person singular, which fits the same subject.

So the sentence naturally means that the servant mixes the garlic and salt while she uses a small pestle.

Because Classical Latin has no articles.

That means Latin does not have separate words exactly equal to English the or a/an. Whether you translate a noun as garlic, the garlic, or some garlic depends on context.

So:

• serva can be the servant or a servant
• mortario can be in the mortar or in a mortar
• pistillo parvo can be with the small pestle or with a small pestle

English has to choose; Latin usually does not state the difference explicitly.

No. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show each word’s role.

This sentence uses a very normal and clear arrangement, but other orders would also be possible, such as:

• Serva allium et salem in mortario miscet
• Dum pistillo parvo utitur, serva in mortario allium et salem miscet

The meaning would stay basically the same, though the emphasis might change. Latin often places verbs toward the end of their clauses, as in miscet and utitur, but that is a tendency, not an absolute rule.