Pater securim et serram in officina servat.

In Latin, pater is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the subject of the sentence.

So pater means father or the father, depending on context. Latin does not have articles like the or a/an, so the noun by itself can cover either meaning.

They are the direct objects of servat (keeps, stores), so they appear in the accusative singular.

• securim = accusative singular of securis (axe)
• serram = accusative singular of serra (saw)

A native English speaker may expect nouns to stay unchanged, but in Latin the ending changes to show the noun’s job in the sentence.

Because securis is the dictionary form or nominative singular. In this sentence, the axe is being acted on, so Latin puts it in the accusative: securim.

This is especially worth noticing because securis is a third-declension noun, so its accusative singular is not formed the same way as a first-declension noun like serra → serram.

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

• in + ablative = in / on a place, showing location
• in + accusative = into / onto a place, showing motion toward

Here, in officina means in the workshop, where the objects are located. There is no movement into the workshop, so the ablative is used.

It is ablative singular.

This can be confusing because for many first-declension nouns, the nominative singular and ablative singular look the same in spelling:

• nominative: officina
• ablative: officina

You know it is ablative here because it follows in in the sense of location.

Servat is the verb. It is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from servare, meaning to keep, to store, or to preserve.

Because it is 3rd person singular, the subject must be he/she/it or a singular noun such as pater.

Because et simply joins the two nouns:

• securim et serram = the axe and the saw

Both nouns are in the same case because they are doing the same job in the sentence: both are direct objects of servat.

The word order is meaningful, but not as rigid as in English.

English depends heavily on position:

• The father keeps the axe is different from
• The axe keeps the father

Latin depends much more on endings than on position. So this sentence could be rearranged in several ways and still mean essentially the same thing, for example:

• Pater securim et serram in officina servat.
• In officina pater securim et serram servat.
• Securim et serram pater in officina servat.

The original order is perfectly natural, with the verb placed at the end, which is very common in Latin.

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

So:

• pater can mean father, a father, or the father
• serram can mean a saw or the saw

Context tells you which is best in translation.

Yes. Latin verbs often have a range of meanings depending on context. Servat can mean things like:

• keeps
• stores
• preserves
• watches over or guards

In this sentence, because the objects are tools and the location is in officina, keeps or stores is the most natural meaning.

Then Latin would probably use in with the accusative, not the ablative.

For example, a sentence about movement into the workshop would use:

• in officinam = into the workshop

So the contrast is:

• in officina = in the workshop where something is
• in officinam = into the workshop where something goes

That is one of the most important uses of case after prepositions in Latin.