Is this a correct translation for “When I came/had come home, I went to my girlfriend to tell her that she is beautiful”:
Cum domum venissem, ad amiculam meam ibam ut se bellam esse dicerem.
I’m not that good at subjunctive uses, and I’m not sure about the se either.
Just put ad amiculam…appellandam [ii]
No need to put meam really. You could even take out the form of ire. Or make it more specific - ambulavi occurri properavi etc. Be careful with the ‘ibam’ as this is imperfect, you need instead the perfect indefinite ii/ivi.
If you use a clause of purpose and wish to refer back to your girl, I would be inclined to use ipsam. Se would be used if she were the subject of the main clause (so she would have to go somewhere instead of you), and of course if you used eam it would mean some other girl.
I thought imperfect was the right tense to use for ire, since venissem is pluperfect. According to the sequence or tenses, I thought it was right. Pluperfect is secondary sequence, and to express something that happens at the same time in secondary sequence, you use imperfect, right?
I thought ipse would refer to myself, really. I have to practice a bit on this.
I thought imperfect was the right tense to use for ire, since venissem is pluperfect. According to the sequence or tenses, I thought it was right. Pluperfect is secondary sequence, and to express something that happens at the same time in secondary sequence, you use imperfect, right?
I thought ipse would refer to myself, really. I have to practice a bit on this.
Sequence of tenses doesn’t apply here. It’s used more for conditional clauses, and reported speech, indirect orders, indirect questions.
You shouldn’t use the subjunctive in the main clause. The only time you’d do that with and adverbial subordinate clause is (a) with conditional sentences expressing some element of unreality, or (b) with time clauses expressing some element of purpose. But enough of this…
When you’re stating plain facts, such as these, there is absolutely no reason to use the subjunctive.
I agree with Episcopus. Cum domum venissem, ivi ut amiculam pulchram appellarem.
Pulcher is normal classical latin for beautiful. I think a bellus is “pretty”, with a slight feeling of cuteness or contempt. Appellare is Latin for “to call, to pronounce”.
Or you could have: Simulac domum veni, ivi ut amiculam pulchram appellarem.
This would be as soon as I came home…
Notice simulac, postquam, antequam, ubi and ut (when it means as, just as) take the perfect not the pluperfect, which is never correct.
Scratch that…
Simulac domum veni, ivi ad amiculam ut ipsam pulchram appellarem.
Although it is a good idea to keep Latin sentences as simple as possible, and to try to avoid involving any English idioms, I think you really have to state that you’re going to your girlfriend to call her pretty and not to anyone else.
Notice how appello takes two accusatives. Factitive verbs (making, calling) do that. In the passive both accusatives become nominative. That’s completely irrelevant to you, but I do like to show off how much I know. 
Effeu! Look at all this pofflewoffle for one sentence.
Swedish has jag gick simple past, latin also has that ‘ivi’ - there is no reason to use the imperfect, let alone the subjunctive, because you simply ‘went’.
Note this very puffywuffy use of cum (that didn’t sound electron-like did it):
if venire had been in pluperfect indicative your sentence would have turned into habitual action, rendering cum “whenever”.
Ja e ledsen att ja inte kan ge dej nån svensk fórklaring eftersom min svenska alls inte e bra nog 
Den där mannen som fórsóker hjälpa dej skryter fór mycket, och ja skulle vilja se honom talande svenska, ditt vackrare språk! Också skulle jag se det du redan har skrivit i engelska (om huset och din vacker flicka!) i svenska. Hur skulle man kunna säga det bäst?
Tack hej hej
So it is correct to use the subjunctive?
Ja e ledsen att ja inte kan ge dej nån svensk fórklaring eftersom min svenska alls inte e bra nog Confused Den där mannen som fórsóker hjälpa dej skryter fór mycket, och ja skulle vilja se honom talande svenska, ditt vackrare språk! Också skulle jag se det du redan har skrivit i engelska (om huset och din vacker flicka!) i svenska. Hur skulle man kunna säga det bäst?
Tack hej hej
In Swedish you would say “När jag kom hem gick jag till min flickvän för att säga att hon var vacker/snygg”.
cum…venissem, subjunctive; ivi, indicative.
hehe thanks - “flickvän” I should have known! Great word! 
“Flickvän” is the same as “girlfriend” really, heh.
So do you not use the sequence of tenses at all in cum clauses?
what? you dont even distinguish between da (there exist a time when) and nǻr (for all times when)…? Svensker… Alt skal vǽre sǻ enkelt.
what? you dont even distinguish between da (there exist a time when) and nǻr (for all times when)…? Svensker… Alt skal vǽre sǻ enkelt.
“Då” and “när” are synonyms in Swedish.
Svensk er et mærkeligt sprog 
Isn’t this exactly how you’d do it in German? (Not that my German is perfect, but I’m guessing.)
“Als ich nach Hause gekommen war, ging ich zu meiner Freundin, um ihr zu erzählen, dass sie schön ist” or something like that?
Or does this make absolutely no sense at all?
Dansk er mye penere, men Riksmaal er da vakrest=)
Inte visste jag att jag kunde fórstå danska! Och du skriver tyska bra, men jag skulle säga “kam” i stället fór ‘gekommen war’, eftersom det är enklare.
That’s perfect Swedish, no errors at all (apart from the ó’s that should be ö’s)!
To be on topic, can someone answer this: Do you not use the sequence of tenses at all in cum clauses?
Do you not use the sequence of tenses at all in cum clauses?
As I understand it…
Cum domum venissem, ivi ut amiculam pulchram appellarem.
I believe that the perfect is a member of both the primary and historic sequence.
No “ó” on my keyboard! the one in fór!
Sequence of tenses? Just make sense. You don’t say in english “when I had come home I will go out” because that is crazy.