Magistra abacum tollit et dicit duos calculos adhuc deesse.

Abacum is the direct object of tollit, so it appears in the accusative case. The teacher is doing the action, and the abacus/counting board is the thing being lifted.

So:

• magistra = subject, nominative
• abacum = direct object, accusative

Tollit comes from tollere and can mean several things depending on context, such as:

• lift
• pick up
• raise
• sometimes even remove or take away

Here the most natural meaning is something like picks up or lifts the abacus.

Because Latin often uses an indirect statement after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and perceiving.

After dicit (she says), Latin does not usually say that and then a normal clause. Instead, it uses:

• an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive

So:

• dicit duos calculos adhuc deesse = she says that two counters are still missing

If this were a direct statement instead, it would be:

• duo calculi adhuc desunt = two counters are still missing

This is one of the most important features of Latin indirect statement.

In a normal sentence, the subject would be nominative:

• duo calculi desunt = two counters are missing

But in an indirect statement after dicit, the subject of the infinitive becomes accusative:

• duos calculos deesse = that two counters are missing

So duos calculos is not the object of deesse. It is the subject of the infinitive, put into the accusative because of the indirect statement construction.

Because duos must agree with calculos in case, number, and gender.

Calculos is:

• masculine
• plural
• accusative

So the numeral two must also be masculine plural accusative:

• nominative: duo calculi
• accusative: duos calculos

This agreement is completely normal in Latin.

Calculi are literally small stones or pebbles, but in this context they are counting stones or counters used on an abacus or counting board.

So duos calculos means two counters.

This is the same Latin word that gives English words like calculation and calculator.

Deesse is the infinitive of desum, a compound of esse (to be). It means:

• to be absent
• to be lacking
• to be missing

So duos calculos adhuc deesse means that two counters are still missing.

A useful thing to know is that deesse often implies that something is lacking to or for someone/something, even if that is not stated explicitly in the sentence.

Adhuc means still or up to this point. Here it modifies deesse:

• adhuc deesse = to still be missing

So the idea is not just that two counters are missing, but that they are still missing.

To an English speaker, yes, it may feel unusual, but it is perfectly normal Latin.

The sentence is:

• Magistra = subject
• abacum = object
• tollit = verb
• et dicit = and says
• duos calculos adhuc deesse = indirect statement

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships. English depends much more on position.

So even though the order may feel different, the grammar is clear from the forms.

Yes, but that would change the structure.

• duo calculi adhuc desunt = two counters are still missing
• dicit duos calculos adhuc deesse = she says that two counters are still missing

The first is a direct statement. The second is an indirect statement after dicit.

So the version in your sentence is exactly what we expect after dicit.