Currus ad metam evertitur.

near

Breakdown of Currus ad metam evertitur.

• currus: the cart
• meta: the turning post
• evertere: to overturn

Questions & Answers about Currus ad metam evertitur.

What case is currus, and how do we know it is the subject?

Here currus is nominative singular, so it is the subject of the sentence.

A beginner might hesitate because currus is a 4th-declension noun, and some 4th-declension forms look the same in more than one case/number. But the verb helps us: evertitur is singular, so currus here must be singular too.

So the basic structure is:

• currus = the chariot / a chariot
• evertitur = is overturned / overturns

Together: The chariot overturns or The chariot is overturned.

Why is it ad metam and not ad meta?

Because ad takes the accusative case.

The noun is meta, metae, a first-declension noun. Its accusative singular is metam. So:

• meta = nominative singular
• metam = accusative singular

Since ad normally means to, toward, or sometimes at/near depending on context, it requires the accusative:

• ad metam = to the turning post / toward the turning post

What exactly does meta mean here?