“Cum” Clauses — Part I — Circumstantial

Another use of the subjunctive other than in indirect questions, are in another type of dependent clause called a cum clause, named for the Latin word cum. Although cum is an ablative preposition meaning with, it can also be used with the subjunctive.

There are two types of cum clauses, the first being a circumstantial cum clause. In this clause, cum is translated as when and indicates that the two events in the sentence are happening at the same time.

~For Example~

“Cum quattor dies navigavissemus, subito maxima tempestas coorta est.” would be translated: “when we had been sailing for four days, suddenly the greatest storm rose up”

Cum is translated as when because the use of “days” indicates that they had been sailing at the same time that the storm rose up.

Also, the subjunctive verb is in blue while cum and its translation is in purple.

These clauses can be kind of tricky, but they have gotten easier to understand as I’ve reviewed the chapter 42 translation!