Puella palam fatetur se stilum amisisse, et magistra ei saltem alterum dat.

Because Latin often uses indirect statement instead of a that-clause.

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving, and admitting, Latin commonly uses:

• an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive

So:

• fatetur = she admits
• se stilum amisisse = that she has lost the stylus

Literally, it is something like she admits herself to have lost the stylus.

This is a very common Latin construction, and English usually translates it with that.

Se is the reflexive pronoun, and it refers back to the subject of the main verb.

Here the subject is puella, so:

• Puella ... fatetur se ... amisisse
• The girl admits that she lost ...

Latin uses se because the girl is admitting something about herself.

If Latin used a different pronoun such as eam, that would normally mean her in a non-reflexive sense, referring to some other female, not back to puella.

Amisisse is the perfect active infinitive of amitto, amittere, amisi, amissum.

So it means:

• to have lost

In indirect statement, the tense of the infinitive shows time relative to the main verb:

• present infinitive = action happening at the same time
• perfect infinitive = action happening earlier
• future infinitive = action happening later

So fatetur se stilum amisisse means she admits that she had lost / has lost the stylus before the moment of admitting it.

Because fateor, fateri, fassus sum is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs:

• have passive-looking forms
• but active meanings

So fatetur is grammatically a passive-looking form, but it means:

• she admits
• not she is admitted

This is something Latin learners have to get used to. Many common verbs are deponent.

Palam is an adverb.

Here it means something like:

• openly
• publicly
• plainly

It modifies fatetur, telling us how the girl admits it.

So:

• Puella palam fatetur = The girl openly admits

Because stilum is the direct object of amisisse.

The verb amitto takes a direct object in the accusative:

• stilum amittere = to lose a stylus / pen

So in the indirect statement:

• se stilum amisisse
• that she lost the stylus

Se is the accusative subject of the infinitive, and stilum is the accusative object of the infinitive.

Those are doing different jobs even though they are both accusative.

Ei is dative singular.

Here it is the indirect object of dat:

• magistra ei ... dat
• the teacher gives ... to her

It refers to the girl.

So the teacher gives something to the girl.

The form ei can mean:

• to him
• to her
• to it

You decide which from the context. Here it is clearly to her.

Alterum means another one, a second one, or literally the other one (of two), depending on context.

Here it stands for a noun that is not repeated, probably stilum:

• magistra ei saltem alterum dat
• the teacher gives her at least another one

So alterum is masculine accusative singular because it is understood as something like:

• alterum stilum

Latin often omits a noun when an adjective or pronoun can stand by itself and the meaning is clear.

This is a subtle vocabulary question.

Very roughly:

• alius = another, a different one
• alter = the other of two, or a second one

In many contexts, English simply says another for both.

Here alterum can suggest a replacement one or a second one. It fits the idea that the first stylus has been lost, so the teacher gives her one more.

A learner should at least recognize that alterum here means another one.

Saltem means:

• at least
• anyway, in some contexts

Here it softens or qualifies the teacher’s action:

• magistra ei saltem alterum dat
• the teacher gives her at least another one

It suggests something like:

• even if nothing else can be done,
• she is given at least a replacement.

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

This sentence is arranged naturally, but not in the rigid English way.

For example:

• Puella comes first to introduce the topic.
• palam is placed near fatetur to modify it clearly.
• se stilum amisisse stays together as the indirect statement.
• magistra is placed before ei saltem alterum dat as the subject of the second clause.

So the order helps with emphasis and flow, but the endings are what really tell you who is doing what.

A good way is:

• Puella palam fatetur
• se stilum amisisse
• et magistra ei saltem alterum dat

That gives:

1. The girl openly admits
2. that she has lost the stylus
3. and the teacher gives her at least another one

This is often the easiest way to read Latin: find the main verb first, then identify any attached construction such as an indirect statement.