Pistrinum contra macellum stat, et mater ibi panem recentem emit.

and

Breakdown of Pistrinum contra macellum stat, et mater ibi panem recentem emit.

• mater: the mother
• panis: the bread
• ibi: there

Questions & Answers about Pistrinum contra macellum stat, et mater ibi panem recentem emit.

Why is pistrinum the subject, even though it ends in -um, which often looks like an object?

Because pistrinum is a neuter second-declension noun.

For neuter nouns of this type:

• nominative singular = -um
• accusative singular = -um

So pistrinum can be either nominative or accusative in form. Here it is nominative because it is the thing that stat applies to:

• pistrinum ... stat = the bakery stands / is located

So the meaning and sentence structure show that pistrinum is the subject.

Why is macellum not the subject too?

Because macellum is governed by contra.

In this sentence, contra is a preposition meaning:

• opposite
• across from

And contra takes the accusative case, so:

• contra macellum = opposite the market

That means macellum is part of the prepositional phrase, not the subject of stat.

What exactly does contra mean here?

Here contra means opposite or in a locational sense.