Agrimensor cardinem et decumanum iterum metitur.

They are both accusative singular, because they are the direct objects of metitur.

The subject is agrimensor and the thing being done is measuring, so the things being measured go into the accusative:

• cardo, cardinis → cardinem
• decumanus, -i → decumanum

A native English speaker often has to get used to the fact that Latin shows a noun’s job in the sentence mainly by its ending, not by word order.

Because metitur comes from a deponent verb.

The dictionary form is:

• metior, metiri, mensus sum = measure

Deponent verbs use passive-looking forms but have active meanings. So:

• metitur does not mean is measured
• it means measures

This is one of the most important things to notice in the sentence.

Metitur is:

• present tense
• indicative mood
• third person singular

So it means he measures, she measures, or it measures, depending on the subject. Here the subject is agrimensor, so the surveyor measures.

Agrimensor is nominative singular, so it is the subject of the sentence.

Its ending is the dictionary form of the noun:

• agrimensor, agrimensoris = surveyor

Since metitur is third person singular, it matches a singular subject, and agrimensor fits that role perfectly.

Latin has no articles. There is no separate word for the or a/an.

So:

• agrimensor can mean the surveyor or a surveyor
• cardinem can mean the cardo or a cardo
• decumanum can mean the decumanus or a decumanus

Which one is best in English depends on the context.

Iterum is an adverb, meaning again or a second time.

It modifies the verb metitur, telling you how often or in what repeated way the action happens:

• metitur = measures
• iterum metitur = measures again

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings already show each word’s role.

This sentence has a very normal arrangement:

• subject: Agrimensor
• objects: cardinem et decumanum
• adverb: iterum
• verb: metitur

Placing the verb at the end is especially common in Latin prose. But other orders are possible for emphasis, such as:

• Iterum agrimensor cardinem et decumanum metitur
• Cardinem et decumanum agrimensor iterum metitur

The core meaning stays the same because the case endings still mark the relationships.

In Roman surveying, these are the two main layout lines of a planned space:

• cardo = the principal line running one way
• decumanus = the principal line running the other way

In many contexts, they are the two main crossing axes of a surveyed grid or town plan.

For grammar purposes in this sentence, the important thing is simply that they are the two things being measured.

Because Latin nouns belong to different declensions, and each declension forms its cases differently.

Here:

• cardo, cardinis is third declension
  • accusative singular: cardinem
• decumanus, -i is second declension
  • accusative singular: decumanum

So even though both are direct objects, they do not have to look the same. Their shared function comes from being accusative, but each noun follows its own declensional pattern.

Yes. Et means and, and here it joins cardinem and decumanum.

So the structure is:

• metitur what?
  • cardinem
  • et decumanum

Both nouns depend on the same verb as direct objects.

Historically, yes, it is related to an adjective, but in sentences like this it functions as a noun.

Latin often uses adjectives substantively, meaning the adjective stands on its own as a noun because the fuller expression is understood from context. In technical vocabulary, this becomes very natural.

So for a learner reading this sentence, the practical point is:

• treat decumanum here as a noun in the accusative singular
• it is one of the two objects of metitur