Via angusta ad forum ducit.

The narrow road leads to the forum.

Breakdown of Via angusta ad forum ducit.

• via: the road
• forum: the forum
• ad: to
• ducere: to lead

Questions & Answers about Via angusta ad forum ducit.

What case is via, and how do we know?

Here via is nominative singular, because it is the subject of ducit.

A helpful detail: if macrons were written, nominative via and ablative viā would look different. Many beginner texts leave macrons out, so context has to tell you which case it is. In this sentence, the context clearly points to nominative:

• ducit is a singular verb, so it needs a singular subject
• angusta matches via as a nominative singular feminine adjective
• ad forum is a prepositional phrase showing destination, not a subject

So the basic structure is: The narrow road/street leads to the forum.

Why is angusta in that form?

Angusta is an adjective modifying via, so it has to agree with it in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

Since via is feminine nominative singular, the adjective must also be feminine nominative singular: angusta.

This is a very important Latin rule: adjectives change their endings to match the nouns they describe.

Why is the adjective after the noun? Why not angusta via?

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order. Both via angusta and are possible.