Soror magistram secuta est et pauca verba in margine adscripta vidit.

Because it is the direct object of secuta est.

The verb sequor means follow, and the person being followed goes in the accusative case.
So:

• magistra = teacher (subject form, nominative)
• magistram = teacher (object form, accusative)

So soror magistram secuta est means the sister followed the teacher.

This is because sequor is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive forms
• but an active meaning

So although secuta est looks like a passive form, it actually means she followed, not she was followed.

This is the perfect tense of sequor:

• sequor = I follow
• secuta est = she followed / she has followed

Because the subject is soror, which is feminine singular.

In the perfect tense of a deponent verb, the participle agrees with the subject in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• secutus est = he followed
• secuta est = she followed
• secuti sunt = they (masculine or mixed) followed
• secutae sunt = they (feminine) followed

Since soror is feminine singular, Latin uses secuta est.

It is the perfect tense.

In English, the Latin perfect can often be translated in two ways:

• she followed
• she has followed

In this sentence, she followed is the more natural translation.

Because Latin usually does not need to state subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

Here, vidit means:

• he saw
• she saw
• it saw

But from the context, the subject is clearly still soror, so we understand she saw.

Latin often leaves out words like I, you, he, she, and they unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.

The sentence has one subject and two main verbs:

• Soror = the subject
• secuta est = first main verb
• vidit = second main verb

So the basic structure is:

• Soror magistram secuta est = The sister followed the teacher
• et ... vidit = and saw ...

Everything after et belongs to what she saw:

• pauca verba in margine adscripta

So the sentence means that the sister followed the teacher and saw a few words written in the margin.

Because verba is a neuter plural noun, and pauca is the adjective agreeing with it.

• verbum = word
• verba = words

Since verba is neuter plural, the adjective must also be neuter plural:

• pauca verba = a few words

This whole phrase is in the accusative plural, because it is the object of vidit.

Because verbum is a neuter noun.

Neuter nouns of the second declension have:

• singular nominative/accusative in -um
• plural nominative/accusative in -a

So:

• verbum = word
• verba = words

That is normal for neuter nouns in Latin.

Adscripta means written beside, added in writing, or written down additionally.

It comes from adscribo:

• ad- = to, toward, beside
• scribo = write

So adscripta verba means something like:

• words written in
• words added
• words written beside the main text

In this sentence, the natural English is words written in the margin.

Because of agreement.

• soror is feminine singular
• verba is neuter plural
• adscripta is neuter plural

So adscripta matches verba, not soror.

That tells you the phrase is:

• pauca verba ... adscripta = a few words ... written

not

• soror ... adscripta = which would not match grammatically

Because here it is being used as a participle, not as the main verb of a new clause.

Latin often uses a participle where English might prefer a relative clause or a passive clause.

So:

• pauca verba in margine adscripta vidit

literally means something like:

• she saw a few words written in the margin

You could expand the sense in English as:

• she saw a few words that had been written in the margin

But Latin does not need a full extra clause here.

Margine is ablative singular.

The preposition in can take two different cases:

• accusative for movement into/toward
• ablative for location

Here there is no movement. The words are in the margin, meaning located there, so Latin uses the ablative:

• in margine = in/on the margin

It can correspond to either in English, depending on what sounds most natural.

Latin in with the ablative often indicates location. With something like margine, English may say:

• in the margin
• on the margin
• in the margin of the page

In ordinary English, in the margin is the most natural translation here.

Because Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So a noun like soror can mean:

• sister
• the sister
• a sister

Which one you choose in English depends on the context.

The same is true for:

• magistram = the teacher / a teacher
• in margine = in the margin / in a margin

In this sentence, English naturally uses the sister, the teacher, and the margin.

It may feel unusual to an English speaker, but it is perfectly normal in Latin.

A more word-for-word order would be:

• The sister the teacher followed and a few words in the margin written saw

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

The sentence is arranged in a natural Latin way:

• subject first: Soror
• object before the first verb: magistram
• first verb: secuta est
• then the second clause
• object phrase before vidit

Latin often places descriptive participles like adscripta near the noun they modify.

Most likely, yes.

The natural sense is:

1. the sister followed the teacher
2. and then saw a few words written in the margin

Both verbs are in the perfect tense, so they present completed actions. The context suggests a sequence, even though Latin does not explicitly add a word like then.

Yes. Magistra is the feminine form of magister.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• female teacher
• mistress
• female instructor
• schoolmistress

In a basic learning sentence like this, teacher is the safest choice.

Yes. The grammar is the same, but English can phrase it in different natural ways:

• a few words written in the margin
• a few words added in the margin
• a few words noted in the margin
• a few marginal words

The most straightforward translation is a few words written in the margin.