Tessera parva est.

• tessera is a noun
• parva is an adjective
• est is a verb

So the sentence is built very simply:

• subject noun: tessera
• describing word: parva
• linking verb: est

A natural grammatical description is: The tessera is small / The token is small, depending on the meaning you were given.

Because parva has to agree with tessera.

In Latin, adjectives must match the nouns they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Tessera is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

That is why Latin uses parva, not parvus or parvum.

Because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Tessera parva est, the sentence is telling us something about tessera. It is the thing that is small, so it is the subject, and subjects are normally put in the nominative case in Latin.

Est means is.

It is the third-person singular present tense form of esse, which means to be.

So:

• sum = I am
• es = you are
• est = he/she/it is

Here est links the subject tessera with the adjective parva. It does not show action; it simply states a condition or quality: the tessera is small.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So tessera can mean:

• a tessera
• the tessera

Which one sounds best depends on the context.

English requires an article in most sentences, but Latin usually does not. Learners often have to remember not to look for a separate word meaning the.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because Latin uses word endings to show grammar.

English depends heavily on position:

• The girl sees the boy is different from
• The boy sees the girl

Latin often does not need fixed word order in the same way, because endings show which word is doing what.

So Tessera parva est is perfectly normal Latin. It literally looks like:

• tessera = the subject
• parva = small
• est = is

English usually says The tessera is small, but Latin can arrange the words more freely.

Yes. Those are also possible Latin word orders.

For example:

• Tessera parva est
• Parva tessera est
• Tessera est parva

All can mean essentially The tessera is small.

The differences are mostly about emphasis or style, not basic meaning. Latin authors often move words around to highlight a word, create rhythm, or fit the surrounding context.

In this sentence, parva is a predicate adjective.

That means it is not just sitting beside the noun as part of a noun phrase like small tessera. Instead, it is connected to the noun through est:

• tessera parva est = the tessera is small

So the structure is:

• tessera = subject
• est = linking verb
• parva = predicate adjective

You know because the forms match.

Both are:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

That matching is the main clue in Latin. Even if the words were separated more widely in the sentence, a Latin reader would still connect them because of agreement.

Tessera is a first-declension noun.

A learner usually recognizes that because the dictionary form ends in -a, and the nominative singular here is also -a.

First-declension nouns are often feminine, and tessera is one of them.

Parva is a first-and-second-declension adjective.

Its basic forms are:

• parvus = masculine
• parva = feminine
• parvum = neuter

Since tessera is feminine, Latin uses the feminine form parva.

A common classroom pronunciation would be something like:

TES-se-ra PAR-wa est

A few helpful points:

• tessera has a hard t
• ss is pronounced clearly
• v in restored Classical pronunciation sounds like English w, so parva sounds roughly like par-wa
• est is pronounced with a clear e and t

Different Latin traditions pronounce Latin differently, so your teacher may use a slightly different system.

Sometimes, yes.

Latin often omits forms of to be, especially in certain styles or contexts, if the meaning is still clear. So you may sometimes see a sentence where English would need is, but Latin leaves it understood.

However, in a simple beginner sentence like Tessera parva est, keeping est is completely normal and helpful.

Usually parva means small, but like English small, the exact sense depends on context.

It can refer to:

• physical size
• amount
• importance
• degree

In this sentence, if the meaning shown to you is a physical object, then small is probably the most natural interpretation.