Quadrigae bigas praetereunt.

Quadrigae is the subject, and bigas is the direct object.

You can tell this from the case endings:

• quadrigae = nominative plural
• bigas = accusative plural

So the sentence structure is subject + object + verb: Quadrigae bigas praetereunt.

The ending -ae can be ambiguous in the first declension, so by itself quadrigae could in theory be:

• nominative plural
• genitive singular
• dative singular

But in this sentence, context makes the choice clear.

Praetereunt is a finite verb meaning they pass / they go past, so it needs a subject. Quadrigae fits that role as nominative plural. A genitive singular or dative singular would not make sense here.

So here quadrigae must be read as nominative plural.

Because bigas is a first-declension accusative plural form.

For a regular first-declension noun, the accusative plural ending is -as. Since bigas is the thing being passed, it appears in the accusative case as the direct object of praetereunt.

So:

• nominative plural: bigae
• accusative plural: bigas

These words are traditionally used in Latin as plural forms because they refer to a team or set of horses.

• bigae = a two-horse team / the chariot drawn by two horses
• quadrigae = a four-horse team / the chariot drawn by four horses

Latin often treats such words as grammatically plural even when English may use a singular expression like a two-horse chariot or a four-horse chariot.

So the grammar is plural, even if the English meaning may sometimes sound singular in context.

They can mean either, depending on context.

A word like quadrigae can refer to:

• the team of four horses
• the chariot drawn by them

Likewise bigae can refer to the two-horse team or the two-horse chariot.

Latin often uses one word for the whole racing or driving unit, and context tells you which nuance is most important.

Praetereunt is third person plural, present indicative active of praetereo.

So it means:

• they pass
• they go past
• they overtake

It is built from praeter- meaning past, beyond and eo meaning I go.

That is why the verb has the sense of going past someone or something.

Because Latin often builds that idea into the verb itself.

In English, we might say go past with two words. In Latin, praetereo already contains the idea of past:

• praeter- = past, beyond
• eo = go

So praetereunt already means they go past. That is why no extra preposition is needed here.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Common possibilities are:

• pass by
• go past
• pass
• overtake

If the context is racing, overtake may be the best choice. If the context is just movement, pass by may fit better.

So the exact English wording depends on the scene, even though the Latin form stays the same.

Yes, Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Because the endings show each word’s job, Latin can rearrange the sentence without changing the basic meaning. For example, these could still mean the same thing:

• Quadrigae bigas praetereunt
• Bigas quadrigae praetereunt
• Praetereunt quadrigae bigas

The choice of order often affects emphasis, not core meaning. The version here is a straightforward, beginner-friendly order: subject + object + verb.

Latin does not have definite or indefinite articles like English the and a/an.

So a Latin noun like quadrigae can, depending on context, be translated as:

• the quadrigae
• a quadriga
• simply quadrigae

English has to add an article when needed, but Latin usually leaves that idea to context.

Yes. They are grammatically feminine.

That matters because any adjective or participle describing them would have to agree with them in gender, number, and case. For example, if you added an adjective, it would normally appear in a feminine plural form to match them.

Their grammatical gender does not mean the chariots are biologically female; it is simply part of how Latin nouns are classified.