Lingua Latina Cap XXX Question

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
Post Reply
shcromlet
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 7:05 pm

Lingua Latina Cap XXX Question

Post by shcromlet »

Around line 40, there is:

Sex horae iam sunt cum cibum non sumpsi.

I have translated this as "It has been six hours since I have taken a meal," which I think is loosely correct, but I am a little baffled by the sentence.

The first part is fairly clear, "Sex horae iam sunt" -- there are six hours now." But the second trips me up: "cum cibum non sumpsi".

cum cibum = with food
non sumpsi = perf ind act of "sumo" -- to take hold of, obtain, etc. -- so, "non sumpsi" = "I did not obtain"

Can you help me make sense of the second half of the sentence? Thanks!

User avatar
thesaurus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1012
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:44 pm

Re: Lingua Latina Cap XXX Question

Post by thesaurus »

shcromlet wrote:Around line 40, there is:

Sex horae iam sunt cum cibum non sumpsi.

I have translated this as "It has been six hours since I have taken a meal," which I think is loosely correct, but I am a little baffled by the sentence.

The first part is fairly clear, "Sex horae iam sunt" -- there are six hours now." But the second trips me up: "cum cibum non sumpsi".

cum cibum = with food
non sumpsi = perf ind act of "sumo" -- to take hold of, obtain, etc. -- so, "non sumpsi" = "I did not obtain"

Can you help me make sense of the second half of the sentence? Thanks!
Recall that "cum" has multiple uses; one is the preposition "with," but this requires the noun to be in the ablative case. You'll notice that "cibum" is accusative/nominative, so it can't be that usage. Otherwise, "cum" can have a variety of adverbial meanings, in this case, temporal. Note that the verb is in the indicative; "cum" with the indicative indicates time, as in "when" or "since". Other non-temporal uses of "cum" will probably be introduced later, but they involve the verb being in the subjunctive.
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

shcromlet
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 7:05 pm

Re: Lingua Latina Cap XXX Question

Post by shcromlet »

For some reason I was blindly convinced that cum took the accusative for "with". Silly mistake.

So, if I use cum as "where", the sentence makes sense: "There are six hours now where I have not taken food."

Thank you very much for the correction.

Post Reply