Sic puella discit et quomodo in pago vivant coloni et cur parvum praedium, si bene curetur, omnibus utile esse possit.

The main verb is discit = the girl learns.

Everything after that is what she learns, and it comes in two parts:

• quomodo in pago vivant coloni = how the farmers live in the village
• cur parvum praedium, si bene curetur, omnibus utile esse possit = why a small farm, if it is well cared for, can be useful to everyone

So the sentence is built around discit + two indirect questions.

This is the common Latin pattern et ... et ..., which means both ... and ....

So here:

• et quomodo ...
• et cur ...

means:

• both how ...
• and why ...

Latin often uses repetition like this where English might use both ... and.

Sic means thus, so, or in this way.

It usually connects the sentence to what came before. In context, it suggests something like:

• In this way the girl learns ...
• Thus the girl learns ...

So sic is not changing the grammar of the sentence; it is just showing how this sentence fits into the wider passage.

Vivant is subjunctive because it is inside an indirect question introduced by quomodo after discit.

A direct question would be something like:

• Quomodo in pago vivunt coloni? = How do the farmers live in the village?

But once that question becomes dependent on discit, Latin changes the verb to the subjunctive:

• discit quomodo in pago vivant coloni

This is a standard rule: indirect questions take the subjunctive.

For the same reason as vivant: cur introduces another indirect question.

Direct question:

• Cur parvum praedium omnibus utile esse potest? = Why can a small farm be useful to everyone?

Indirect question after discit:

• discit cur ... possit

So possit is subjunctive because it belongs to a clause reporting a question rather than asking it directly.

Curetur is:

• present subjunctive
• passive
• 3rd person singular
• from curo, curare = to care for, tend

So it means it may be cared for, it be cared for, or in smoother English here, if it is well cared for.

Why the subjunctive? The simplest explanation for a learner is that this si-clause sits inside a larger reported idea, and Latin often uses the subjunctive in such dependent settings. It is also natural here because the condition is being discussed as part of the idea the girl learns, not asserted directly by the narrator.

Omnibus is dative plural from omnis.

It is used with utile, because utilis / utile often takes the dative of the person or thing to whom something is useful.

So:

• omnibus utile = useful to everyone

This is very common Latin usage:

• mihi utile = useful to me
• nobis utile = useful to us
• omnibus utile = useful to everyone

This is a combination of:

• utile = useful
• esse = to be
• possit = may be able / can

Latin often says to be useful with utile esse.

So:

• parvum praedium ... utile esse possit
• literally: a small farm may be able to be useful
• more natural English: a small farm can be useful

Also, utile agrees with praedium:

• praedium is neuter singular
• utile is neuter singular

Because Latin word order is much freer than English word order.

English usually needs:

• the farmers live

Latin can say:

• coloni vivant
• vivant coloni

Both are grammatically clear because the ending -i shows that coloni is nominative plural.

Here vivant coloni may simply sound better rhythmically, or it may place a little emphasis on the verb first: how the farmers live.

In pago means in the village, in the district, or in the countryside community, depending on context.

• pagus = a rural district, village, or country settlement
• pago is ablative singular
• with in
  • ablative, it means in or within a place

So this is a normal place where expression:

• in pago = in the village / in the district

It can easily be understood in a general sense: a small farm as a type of thing.

Latin often uses the singular this way, just as English does:

• A small farm can be useful to everyone

That does not have to mean one particular farm. It can mean any small farm or the small farm as a general idea.

In an indirect question, Latin still keeps its own word order habits rather than copying English structure.

So:

• quomodo introduces the question
• vivant is the subjunctive verb
• coloni is the subject

Latin is more interested in endings and clause structure than in fixed word order. For an English speaker, it helps to identify the parts by form:

• quomodo = question word
• vivant = verb
• coloni = nominative plural subject

Then you can rearrange it in natural English: how the farmers live.

Because the two clauses are built differently.

In the first:

• quomodo in pago vivant coloni
• the main idea is simply the farmers live

In the second:

• parvum praedium ... omnibus utile esse possit
• the main idea is a small farm to be useful to everyone can...
• more naturally: a small farm can be useful to everyone

The infinitive esse is needed because utile is an adjective, and Latin expresses the idea as to be useful = utile esse. Without esse, the construction would be incomplete.