Nuntius citus ad urbem currit.

Because nuntius is in the nominative singular, the case usually used for the subject of a sentence.

• nuntius = messenger
• ending -us here marks it as nominative singular masculine

So nuntius ... currit means the messenger ... runs.

Citus is an adjective. It describes nuntius.

It means quick, swift, or fast. Since it agrees with nuntius, it has the same:

• gender: masculine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

So nuntius citus means a swift messenger or the swift messenger.

Because adjectives in Latin must agree with the nouns they describe.

Since nuntius is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective must also be:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the correct form is citus.

If the noun were feminine, you might get cita. If it were neuter, you might get citum.

Because ad takes the accusative case when it means to or toward a place.

The dictionary form is urbs meaning city, but in this sentence it must be accusative singular:

• nominative: urbs
• accusative: urbem

So:

• ad urbem = to the city / toward the city

Here ad means to or toward.

It is used for motion toward something:

• ad urbem currit = he runs to the city

This is different from:

• in urbe = in the city
• ex urbe = out of the city

So ad tells you the action is directed toward the city.

Currit is the:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from currere, meaning to run.

So currit means:

• he runs
• she runs
• it runs

In this sentence, it means the messenger runs.

We know because of the verb form currit.

From currere:

• curro = I run
• curris = you run
• currit = he/she/it runs

So currit clearly shows a present-time action.

Not exactly. Citus is an adjective, so it means quick or swift, not the adverb quickly.

So the sentence literally describes the noun:

• nuntius citus = a swift messenger

If you wanted to say the messenger runs quickly, Latin would more naturally use an adverb, for example:

• Nuntius celeriter currit.

That said, in English we might still translate the whole sentence naturally as The swift messenger runs to the city.

Yes. Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

So these can mean basically the same thing:

• Nuntius citus ad urbem currit.
• Citus nuntius ad urbem currit.
• Ad urbem nuntius citus currit.

Latin authors often change word order for:

• emphasis
• style
• rhythm

Even so, the order here is very straightforward and beginner-friendly.

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

So nuntius can mean:

• a messenger
• the messenger

and urbem can mean:

• a city
• the city

You decide from the context which English translation sounds best.

A basic Classical Latin pronunciation would be:

NOON-tee-oos KEE-toos ad OOR-bem KOOR-rit

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• u is pronounced like oo
• ti in nuntius is pronounced clearly as tee
• r is rolled or tapped if possible

Word by word:

• nuntius = NOON-tee-oos
• citus = KEE-toos
• ad urbem = ad OOR-bem
• currit = KOOR-rit

Yes. Ad with the accusative can often be translated as either to or toward, depending on context.

• to the city suggests arrival or intended destination
• toward the city emphasizes direction

In many beginner sentences, to the city is the most natural translation, but toward the city is also possible.

• nuntius is a 2nd declension masculine noun
• urbs is a 3rd declension noun

That is why their forms look different:

For nuntius:

• nominative singular: nuntius
• accusative singular: nuntium

For urbs:

• nominative singular: urbs
• accusative singular: urbem

Learning declensions helps you recognize what each word is doing in the sentence.

Yes, that is the most direct literal translation.

A very close breakdown is:

• nuntius = messenger
• citus = swift / quick
• ad = to / toward
• urbem = city (accusative form)
• currit = runs

So a natural full translation is:

The swift messenger runs to the city.