Alia ancilla in cella parva candelam accendit.

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

So ancilla can mean a slave-girl, the slave-girl, or just slave-girl, depending on context. The same is true for cella and candela.

In this sentence, the surrounding context would tell you whether English should use a, the, or possibly no article at all.

Alia means another or a different.

It is describing ancilla, so alia ancilla means another slave-girl or a different slave-girl.

This word is feminine singular nominative here because it has to match ancilla.

Ancilla is in the nominative singular form, which is the form normally used for the subject of the sentence.

Also, accendit is a singular verb, so it matches a singular subject: ancilla.

So ancilla is the one doing the action.

Because it is the direct object: it is the thing being lit.

In Latin, first-declension nouns often end in:

• -a in the nominative singular
• -am in the accusative singular

So:

• candela = candle, as a subject
• candelam = candle, as a direct object

Here, the slave-girl is lighting the candle, so Latin uses candelam.

Because in can take two different cases depending on the meaning:

• in + ablative = in / inside / on, showing location
• in + accusative = into / onto, showing motion toward something

Here the sentence means that the action happens in the small room, not that someone moves into the room.

So Latin uses the ablative:

• in cella parva = in the small room

If the meaning were into the small room, Latin would use:

• in cellam parvam

Because parva is an adjective modifying cella, and Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Cella is feminine singular ablative here, so parva must also be feminine singular ablative.

The same kind of agreement happens in alia ancilla:

• alia matches ancilla

Even though the endings happen to look the same as the nominative feminine singular, the form is determined by agreement and sentence function.

Accendit is the verb, from accendere, meaning to light, to kindle, or to set alight.

Its ending -it tells you it is:

• third person
• singular
• present tense
• active voice

So it means he/she/it lights or is lighting.

Because the subject is ancilla, we understand it here as she lights or the slave-girl lights.

Latin adjective position is more flexible than English.

Both of these are possible:

• cella parva
• parva cella

Both mean small room.

Sometimes word order can create slight differences in emphasis or style, but very often either order is acceptable. In this sentence, cella parva is just a normal Latin way to say small room.

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because the endings show how the words function.

For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Alia ancilla in cella parva candelam accendit.
• Candelam alia ancilla in cella parva accendit.
• In cella parva alia ancilla candelam accendit.

The exact order can change the emphasis, but the endings still show:

• ancilla = subject
• candelam = object
• in cella parva = location
• accendit = verb

Latin often puts the verb near the end, which is what happens here.

Because many of them are.

The nouns ancilla, cella, and candela are first-declension feminine nouns.

Their forms here are:

• ancilla: nominative singular
• cella: ablative singular
• candelam: accusative singular

The adjectives alia and parva are feminine singular forms agreeing with the nouns they describe.

So this sentence is a good example of how Latin uses endings to show each word’s role.