Translation
with; when
Examples
.
He came into the city with his friends.
mecum.
Come with me.
facta .
Peace was made with the enemy.
dixisset, .
When he had said this, he went away.
tacent, clamant.
When they keep silent, they are shouting.
Two different words wearing the same spelling, and telling them apart is a daily job when reading. The PREPOSITION "cum" takes the ABLATIVE and means "with", in the sense of accompaniment: "cum amicis", with his friends. The CONJUNCTION "cum" introduces a clause; with the SUBJUNCTIVE it means "when", "since" or "although", and with the INDICATIVE it is a plain "when".
The quickest test is what comes next. A noun or adjective in the ablative means preposition; a finite verb, especially a subjunctive such as "esset" or "dixisset", means conjunction.
With the personal pronouns the preposition attaches to the end of the word instead of standing in front of it: "mecum" (with me), "tecum" (with you), "nobiscum" (with us), "secum" (with himself). Cicero spells the archaic form "quom", and the corpus behind this list also records "quum".
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cum: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "cum" (with; when): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 1.