Miles currens dicit reginam cras ad urbem venturam esse.

Currens is a present active participle of currere, meaning running.

So miles currens means the running soldier or more naturally the soldier, running... / the soldier while running...

A participle lets Latin attach an extra idea to the noun without making it a separate full clause. If Latin used currit, that would create another main verb: The soldier runs and says... That is possible in Latin, but it is a different structure.

Here, currens describes miles and agrees with it:

• miles = nominative singular
• currens = nominative singular

It is an attributive/predicative participle modifying miles.

It tells us something about the soldier at the time he is speaking. In English, we might translate it in several ways depending on context:

• The soldier running says...
• The running soldier says...
• The soldier, while running, says...

All of these reflect the same basic Latin structure.

Because it is the subject of the indirect statement after dicit.

This is a very common Latin construction called the accusative and infinitive:

• a verb of saying, thinking, knowing, hearing, etc.
• followed by an accusative subject
• and an infinitive

So in:

• dicit reginam ... venturam esse

the person being said to do the action is reginam, so Latin puts it in the accusative.

Even though reginam is the logical subject of venturam esse, grammatically it is accusative because that is how indirect statement works in Latin.

Because after dicit, Latin normally uses indirect statement, not a full finite clause.

So instead of:

• He says that the queen will come to the city tomorrow

Latin usually says:

• He says the queen to be about to come to the city tomorrow
• that is, reginam cras ad urbem venturam esse

This sounds unnatural in English if translated literally, but it is standard Latin grammar.

So:

• English: He says that the queen will come
• Latin: He says the queen will come using accusative + infinitive

Venturam is the future active participle, feminine accusative singular, from venire (to come).

Its basic dictionary-style forms are:

• masculine: venturus
• feminine: ventura
• neuter: venturum

Here it is venturam because it agrees with reginam:

• reginam = feminine accusative singular
• venturam = feminine accusative singular

So reginam ... venturam esse means the queen to be going to come, i.e. that the queen will come.

Together they make the future infinitive.

The future infinitive in Latin is formed with:

• future active participle
  • esse

So:

• venturam esse = to be about to come / to be going to come

In indirect statement, this expresses action future relative to the main verb:

• dicit = he says
• venturam esse = that she will come

Without esse, the construction would be incomplete in standard prose.

Because of both meaning and grammar.

Grammatically:

• miles is nominative singular
• reginam is accusative singular
• venturam is feminine accusative singular

So venturam can only agree with reginam, not with miles.

Also, in an indirect statement, the future participle usually agrees with the accusative subject of the infinitive. Here that accusative subject is reginam.

Cras means tomorrow. It is an adverb of time.

It modifies the action of venturam esse, so it tells us when the queen will come.

Latin word order is flexible, so cras can stand in different places. Here it comes before ad urbem venturam esse, but it belongs with the future action:

• reginam cras ad urbem venturam esse
• that the queen will come to the city tomorrow

Ad with the accusative often expresses movement toward a place.

So:

• ad urbem = to the city / toward the city

That fits naturally with venire, since coming involves motion toward a destination.

A learner might compare this with in urbem, which can also mean into the city and often emphasizes entry into it. Ad urbem can sound more like to the city or up to the city. In many contexts the difference is small, but ad is perfectly normal here.

Yes.

The main clause is:

• Miles currens dicit
• The running soldier says

So miles is the subject of dicit.

Then after that comes the indirect statement:

• reginam cras ad urbem venturam esse

So there are really two layers:

1. Main statement: The soldier says
2. Reported content: that the queen will come to the city tomorrow

Not in this construction.

English often uses that:

• He says that the queen will come

Latin normally does not use a separate word for that with verbs like dicit. Instead, it uses the accusative-and-infinitive construction:

• dicit reginam ... venturam esse

So the idea of English that is built into the grammar of the indirect statement rather than expressed by a separate word.

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

So in this sentence, the endings tell you a lot:

• miles = nominative subject
• reginam = accusative subject of the infinitive
• venturam = agreeing with reginam
• ad urbem = destination

Because those relationships are marked by form, Latin does not need to rely as heavily on position as English does.

A more English-like arrangement of the sense would be:

• Miles currens dicit reginam ad urbem cras venturam esse
• or even other variations

The chosen word order may reflect emphasis or style, but the grammar still works because of the endings.

Because Latin has no articles.

Latin does not have separate words for the or a/an. Whether a noun is definite or indefinite is understood from context.

So:

• miles can mean a soldier or the soldier
• reginam can mean a queen or the queen
• urbem can mean a city or the city

In a real translation, context tells you which sounds best.

Yes. That is often a very helpful way to understand a participle.

So:

• miles currens could be unpacked as the soldier who is running
• or the soldier, as he is running

This is not always the smoothest final English translation, but it is a good way to understand the structure. Participles often correspond to English phrases like:

• running
• who is running
• while running

depending on context.