Postea prima mica e novo pane cadit, et infans ridet.

Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an. A noun by itself can mean either, depending on context.

So:

• mica can mean a crumb or the crumb
• pane can mean bread, the bread, or sometimes a loaf, depending on context
• infans can mean an infant or the infant

The context and the meaning already given to the learner tell you which English article makes the best sense.

Postea is an adverb. It means something like afterward, later, or then.

Because it is an adverb:

• it does not change its form
• it does not agree with a noun
• it does not control a case

It simply gives the time setting for the action. Putting it first is very natural, because it sets the scene before the rest of the sentence.

We know this from the case and the verb ending.

• mica is nominative singular
• prima agrees with mica, so it is also nominative singular feminine
• cadit is third person singular, so it needs a singular subject

That makes prima mica the subject: the first crumb.

Also, cadere is normally an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take a direct object. So the crumb is the thing doing the falling, not something being acted on.

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here the noun is mica, which is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• masculine: primus
• feminine: prima
• neuter: primum

So prima mica means the first crumb.

Pane is ablative singular.

It is ablative because it follows the preposition e. The preposition e/ex means out of or from, and it takes the ablative case.

So:

• e pane = from the bread / out of the bread
• e novo pane = from the new bread

Also, novo is ablative singular too, because it agrees with pane.

E and ex are two forms of the same preposition.

In general:

• e is commonly used before consonants
• ex is commonly used before vowels or h

Since novo begins with a consonant, e novo pane is perfectly normal.

You may still see ex before consonants sometimes, especially depending on author or style, but e novo pane is exactly what you would expect.

Because e/ex usually means out of or from within, while de often means down from, about, or concerning, and can also mean from in some contexts.

With a crumb coming from bread, e novo pane gives the very natural sense of something coming out of/from the bread.

So e is the more literal and concrete choice here.

Both are present active indicative, third person singular.

That means:

• cadit = falls / is falling
• ridet = laughs / is laughing

The ending -t tells you the subject is he/she/it or any singular noun.

More specifically:

• cadit comes from cadere = to fall
• ridet comes from ridere = to laugh

So each verb matches its singular subject:

• prima mica cadit
• infans ridet

Latin usually does not need subject pronouns, because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

For example:

• cadit already means he/she/it falls
• ridet already means he/she/it laughs

And in this sentence, the actual subjects are stated explicitly:

• prima mica
• infans

So adding pronouns would be unnecessary unless you wanted special emphasis or contrast.

Infans is a third-declension noun in the nominative singular here, and it is the subject of ridet.

A few important things about it:

• its dictionary form is infans
• its genitive is infantis
• it can refer to a baby or infant of either sex

So it is often treated as a common-gender noun: the same form can refer to a male or female infant.

In this sentence, all you need grammatically is that it is nominative singular and matches the singular verb ridet.

No. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order, because case endings show what each word is doing.

This sentence has a very natural order:

• Postea sets the time
• prima mica introduces the subject
• e novo pane adds where it comes from
• cadit finishes the clause with the verb
• then et infans ridet adds the second action

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Postea e novo pane prima mica cadit
• Prima mica postea e novo pane cadit

Those would still mean basically the same thing, though the emphasis might shift a little.

Yes. Panis is the normal Latin word for bread, but like English bread, it can sometimes refer to a loaf or piece of bread depending on context.

So e novo pane could be understood naturally as:

• from the new bread
• from the fresh loaf
• from the newly baked bread

The exact English wording depends on the translation style, but grammatically the Latin is straightforward: from new bread or from the new bread.

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the noun. Both positions are possible.

So:

• prima mica
• mica prima

could both be grammatical.

Putting prima before mica is very natural and often feels straightforward and descriptive. English speakers may expect adjective-before-noun order anyway, so this order is easy to follow.

The important thing is not the position, but the agreement:

• prima matches mica in gender, number, and case.