Avia dicit ova in sartagine cocta esse et salem pistillo in mortario bene tritum esse.

Because ova is the subject of an indirect statement after dicit.

In Latin, after verbs like dicit (says), putat (thinks), scit (knows), and similar verbs, Latin often uses this pattern:

• accusative noun
• infinitive verb

So:

• Avia dicit ova ... cocta esse = Grandmother says that the eggs have been cooked

Even though ova is the thing that has been cooked, it appears in the accusative because it is the subject of the infinitive esse inside indirect statement.

The same thing happens with:

• salem ... tritum esse = that the salt has been well crushed

So both ova and salem are accusatives because both belong to what is being reported after dicit.

Cocta esse is the perfect passive infinitive.

It is made from:

• a perfect passive participle: cocta
• plus esse

Here:

• coctus, -a, -um = cooked
• esse = to be

Together, cocta esse means:

• to have been cooked

Because ova is neuter plural, the participle must agree with it, so we get cocta.

So:

• ova cocta esse = the eggs to have been cooked / that the eggs have been cooked

Because the participle has to agree with ova in gender, number, and case.

• ova is neuter plural accusative
• so the participle must also be neuter plural accusative
• that form is cocta

This can look confusing because neuter plural nominative and neuter plural accusative have the same form. But in this sentence, ova is accusative because of indirect statement, and cocta matches it.

The same principle explains tritum with salem:

• salem is masculine singular accusative
• so the participle is tritum, masculine singular accusative

For the same reason as ova: it is the subject of another infinitive in indirect statement.

The second half of the sentence is:

• salem pistillo in mortario bene tritum esse

That means:

• that the salt has been well crushed with a pestle in a mortar

So salem is accusative because Latin says, literally:

• Grandmother says [the eggs to have been cooked] and [the salt to have been well crushed]

Because there are two separate indirect statements joined by et:

1. ova in sartagine cocta esse
2. salem pistillo in mortario bene tritum esse

Latin often repeats esse to make the structure clear. In English we might sometimes avoid repeating that ... has been, but Latin commonly keeps each infinitive phrase complete.

So the repetition helps show that there are two coordinated reported facts:

• that the eggs have been cooked
• and that the salt has been well crushed

Because in with the ablative usually means in or on in the sense of location.

Here, in sartagine means:

• in a frying pan
• or idiomatically in the pan

Latin distinguishes:

• in + ablative = location, in/on
• in + accusative = motion into, into/onto

So here the eggs are being described as cooked in the pan, not moving into the pan. That is why sartagine is ablative.

For exactly the same reason: in + ablative shows location.

• mortarium = mortar
• in mortario = in a mortar

The salt is described as having been crushed in a mortar, so Latin uses the ablative.

Because this is an ablative of means/instrument.

Latin often uses the ablative by itself to express the tool or means by which something is done:

• gladio pugnat = he fights with a sword
• litteris scribit = he writes with letters
• pistillo tritum = crushed with a pestle

So pistillo means:

• with a pestle
• using a pestle

You do not need cum here. In fact, with ordinary instruments, Latin very often uses the bare ablative.

Bene is an adverb meaning well.

It modifies tritum esse, so:

• bene tritum esse = to have been well crushed

It does not agree with anything, because adverbs do not agree like adjectives or participles do.

Because in indirect statement Latin normally uses an infinitive construction, not a subordinate clause with that plus a finite verb.

English says:

• Grandmother says that the eggs have been cooked

Latin prefers:

• Avia dicit ova ... cocta esse

So instead of a full clause such as quod ova cocta sunt, classical Latin usually uses:

• accusative + infinitive

And when the meaning is passive and completed, the infinitive often appears as:

• perfect passive participle + esse

That is why you see cocta esse and tritum esse.

Ova is plural.

It is the plural of ovum:

• singular: ovum = egg
• plural: ova = eggs

This is a neuter second-declension noun, and neuter plurals often end in -a. English speakers sometimes mistake that ending for a feminine singular ending, but here it is definitely plural.

That is also why the participle is plural:

• ova cocta
• not ovum coctum

Latin has no articles, so a noun like salem can mean:

• salt
• the salt
• sometimes even some salt

The exact English wording depends on context.

So salem ... tritum esse does not tell us by itself whether English should say salt, the salt, or some salt. The translator chooses what sounds most natural.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin relies heavily on endings to show grammatical relationships.

In this sentence:

• Avia is nominative, so it is the one speaking
• ova and salem are accusative, so they belong to the indirect statement
• sartagine, pistillo, and mortario show their roles by case endings
• cocta agrees with ova
• tritum agrees with salem

Because these endings make the relationships clear, Latin can arrange the words more freely. The order here also groups related ideas together:

• ova in sartagine cocta esse
• salem pistillo in mortario bene tritum esse

So the word order is not random; it is a natural Latin way of packaging the information.

Yes. A very literal version would be:

• Grandmother says the eggs to have been cooked in a frying pan and the salt to have been well crushed with a pestle in a mortar.

That is not natural English, but it shows the Latin structure clearly:

• dicit = says
• ova ... cocta esse = the eggs to have been cooked
• salem ... tritum esse = the salt to have been crushed

A smoother English translation would then be:

• Grandmother says that the eggs have been cooked in the pan and that the salt has been well crushed with a pestle in a mortar.