Avia puellam blanda voce consolatur, donec quiescat.

Because their case endings tell you their roles.

• avia is nominative singular, so it is the subject: the grandmother
• puellam is accusative singular, so it is the direct object: the girl

Latin does not rely on word order as much as English does. Even if the words were rearranged, the endings would still show who is doing the action and who is receiving it.

This is a very common Latin use of the ablative: it can express means, manner, or the way something is done.

So blanda voce means something like:

• with a soothing voice
• in a gentle voice
• by means of a kind voice

This is often called an ablative of manner or sometimes an ablative of means/instrument, depending on how narrowly you want to classify it.

Because the phrase is not the direct object. It is an ablative phrase describing how the grandmother comforts the girl.

• voce is ablative singular of vox
• blanda is ablative singular feminine, agreeing with voce

So:

• blandam vocem would be accusative, which would suggest the phrase is functioning as an object
• blanda voce correctly matches the ablative use here

The adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Consolatur is from the verb consolor, consolari, consolatus sum, which is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive forms
• but an active meaning

So consolatur literally looks like a passive form, but it means:

• she comforts
• not she is comforted

This is something English speakers often have to get used to in Latin. Many common Latin verbs are deponent.

It is present tense, third person singular.

So consolatur means:

• she comforts
• she is comforting
• sometimes in context, she comforts habitually

Latin present tense can often be translated in more than one natural English way, depending on context.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

A very common neutral Latin pattern is:

• subject ... object ... verb

So Avia puellam ... consolatur is perfectly normal.

Latin often places the verb at or near the end, but this is not a strict rule. Word order is often used for emphasis, rhythm, or style, not just grammar.

Here donec means until.

So the second clause gives the limit or endpoint of the grandmother’s comforting:

• she comforts the girl until something happens

That something is expressed by quiescat.

In other contexts, donec can sometimes be translated a little differently, but until is the natural meaning here.

Quiescat is present subjunctive, third person singular.

After donec, Latin can use either the indicative or the subjunctive, depending on the sense. In a sentence like this, the subjunctive often presents the action as something anticipated, intended, or not yet realized from the point of view of the main action.

So the sense is roughly:

• the grandmother comforts the girl until she becomes quiet / calms down

If Latin used the indicative instead, the tone could feel more like a straightforward statement of fact. The subjunctive gives a slightly more prospective or expected sense.

The most natural subject is puella, meaning the girl.

Latin often leaves subjects unstated when they are understood from context. So in English we supply she:

• until she becomes quiet
• until she calms down
• until she rests

Grammatically, the ending -cat only tells you third person singular, not whether the subject is explicitly named. Context tells you that it is almost certainly the girl, not the grandmother.

It comes from quiesco, quiescere, which can mean things like:

• to rest
• to become quiet
• to calm down
• to be still

In this sentence, because the grandmother is comforting a girl, the most natural sense is:

• until she calms down
• or until she becomes quiet

The exact English wording depends on the context.

Grammatically, blanda describes voce, not avia.

That is because:

• blanda is feminine singular ablative
• voce is feminine singular ablative
• they match each other

So the phrase means with a gentle/soothing voice, not the gentle grandmother.

If Latin wanted to describe the grandmother directly, it would need a form agreeing with avia, such as avia blanda.

Yes. For example, Latin could rearrange the words without changing the basic meaning, such as:

• Avia blanda voce puellam consolatur, donec quiescat
• Puellam avia blanda voce consolatur, donec quiescat

The endings still show the grammar. However, different word orders can create different emphasis:

• putting puellam earlier may highlight the girl
• putting blanda voce earlier may highlight the soothing manner
• ending with consolatur gives the clause a neat, typical Latin shape

So word order in Latin is flexible, but not random.