Translation
too little, not enough; scarcely
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Examples
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We have too little food.
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He wrote without enough care.
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This is not enough.
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There is too little wisdom in him.
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The soldiers were not brave enough.
Parum is an adverb and it does not decline. When it stands as the subject or object of a sentence it works as an indeclinable neuter noun and takes a partitive genitive: parum cibi, "too little food", parum sapientiae, "too little wisdom". Its comparative is minus and its superlative minime, borrowed wholesale from parvus, since parum has no forms of its own.
The trap is that parum is not the neuter of parvus - that is parvum - and it is not paulum. Paulum means "a little" and is neutral; parum means "too little" and is a complaint. Parum est ut, "it is not enough that", sets up a common ecclesiastical construction. Also note parumper, "for a little while", which looks related and means something quite different.
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parum: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "parum" (too little, not enough; scarcely): 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 taught in chapter 6, lesson 3: parum, paro, oleum and 7 more words.