Prerequisites: Subordinate Clauses, Purpose and Result, Subjunctive, Infinitive and Participle Constructions
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This page covers the clauses that say when something happens and the circumstances around it. The conjunction cum has the widest range: with the indicative it fixes a point in time, and with the subjunctive it gives the circumstances, the cause or the concession. The page then treats the other temporal conjunctions (ubi, ut, simul ac, postquam, dum, donec, quoad, antequam, priusquam), states the sequence of tenses in full, and shows how to choose between a cum clause and an ablative absolute. The overview of the clause types is on Subordinate clauses.
cum with the indicative is a temporal conjunction meaning when, at the time when. The mood states a fact: the clause locates the main action in time without giving a reason or a circumstance.
| Use | Meaning | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point in time | when, at the time when | Cum Caesar vēnit, hostēs fūgērunt. | When Caesar came, the enemy fled. |
| Repeated action | whenever | Cum domum redierat, mātrem salūtābat. | Whenever he had returned home, he greeted his mother. |
| Future | when (it will happen) | Cum domum redierō, tē vidēbō. | When I return home, I shall see you. |
| cum prīmum | as soon as | Cum prīmum potuī, ad tē vēnī. | As soon as I could, I came to you. |
| cum ... tum | both ... and especially | Cum doctus est tum sapiēns. | He is both learned and, above all, wise. |
Fulsēre quondam candidī tibi sōlēs, cum ventitābās quō puella dūcēbat ...
Bright suns once shone for you, when you used to come where the girl led ... (Catullus 8.3–5; cum with the imperfect indicative for a repeated past action)
Nōbīs, cum semel occidit brevis lūx, nox est perpetua ūna dormienda.
For us, once the brief light has set, there is one endless night to sleep. (Catullus 5.5–6; cum semel with the perfect indicative)
cum inversum. The main idea is in the cum clause, which comes second, and the preceding clause only gives the setting. The first clause often has vix or nōndum, and the cum clause takes the indicative:
Vix ē cōnspectū Siculae tellūris in altum vēla dabant laetī ... cum Iūnō, aeternum servāns sub pectore vulnus, haec sēcum ...
They were hardly out of sight of the land of Sicily, sailing joyfully into the deep, when Juno, nursing her eternal wound beneath her breast, said to herself ... (Vergil, Aeneid 1.34–37)
cum identicum. The two actions are the same: the cum clause names an act in which the main action consists. It takes the indicative and is translated in with the participle or by:
Cum tacent, clāmant.
By their silence they cry out. (Cicero, First Catilinarian 1.21)
cum with the subjunctive gives the circumstances, the cause or the concession. The meaning is not stated by the conjunction and is read from the context.
| Use | Tense of the subjunctive | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circumstance (narrative, past) | imperfect or pluperfect | Cum Caesar vēnisset, hostēs fūgērunt. | When Caesar had come, the enemy fled. |
| Cum Caesar adesset, hostēs fūgērunt. | When Caesar was there, the enemy fled. | ||
| Cause | any | Cum aegrōtet, domī manet. | Since he is ill, he stays at home. |
| Concession | any | Cum sit dīves, miser est. | Although he is rich, he is wretched. |
Circumstantial cum is the usual way to tell a story in the past. It uses the imperfect subjunctive for an action that was going on and the pluperfect subjunctive for an action completed before the main verb, following the historic sequence.
Caesarī cum id nūntiātum esset, eōs per prōvinciam nostram iter facere cōnārī, mātūrat ab urbe proficīscī.
When it had been reported to Caesar that they were trying to make a march through our province, he hurried to set out from the city. (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.7.1; cum with the pluperfect subjunctive of an impersonal passive)
Causal cum has the sense since, because. Signal words are praesertim cum (especially since) and quippe cum (inasmuch as):
Quae cum ita sint, Catilīna, perge quō coepistī.
Since these things are so, Catiline, go on where you have begun. (Cicero, First Catilinarian 1.10; cum with the present subjunctive, causal)
Concessive cum has the sense although. It is often marked by tamen in the main clause: Cum sit dīves, tamen miser est. (constructed)
| Question | If yes |
|---|---|
| Is the clause a point in time or a fact, with the indicative? | temporal cum |
| Is the verb imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive in a past narrative? | circumstantial cum, when |
| Does the clause give a reason (signal words praesertim, quippe)? | causal cum, since |
| Is there a tamen in the main clause, or does the clause grant a point? | concessive cum, although |
| Is the main idea in the cum clause, after vix? | cum inversum |
| Does the cum clause name the same act as the main clause? | cum identicum |
The causal and concessive uses of cum are summarised with the other causal and concessive conjunctions on the page Subordinate clauses.
| Conjunction | Meaning | Mood and tense | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ubi, ut, ut prīmum, simul ac, simul atque | when, as soon as | perfect indicative | Ubi hoc audīvit, discessit. | As soon as he heard this, he left. |
| postquam | after | perfect indicative | Postquam Caesar vēnit, hostēs fūgērunt. | After Caesar came, the enemy fled. |
| dum | while | present indicative | Dum haec geruntur, hostēs advēnērunt. | While this was going on, the enemy arrived. |
| dum, donec, quoad | until | indicative (a fact) or subjunctive (an anticipated event) | Exspectāvī dum redīret. | I waited until he should return. |
| dum, dummodo, modo | provided that | subjunctive (negative nē) | Ōderint dum metuant. | Let them hate, provided that they fear. |
| antequam, priusquam | before | indicative (a fact) or subjunctive (an anticipated event) | Priusquam abīs, mē audī. | Before you go, listen to me. |
| quotiēns | as often as, whenever | perfect or pluperfect indicative | Quotiēns hostēs vīdit, fūgit. | Whenever he saw the enemy, he fled. |
ubi, ut, simul ac and postquam take the perfect indicative, though English often has the pluperfect: after he had come. The Latin states the earlier event as a simple past fact.
Ut vīdī, ut perīī, ut mē malus abstulit error!
As soon as I saw her, I was lost; how a wicked madness carried me away! (Vergil, Eclogues 8.41; ut with the perfect indicative)
dum meaning while takes the present indicative, even for a past event, because the clause describes a continuing action in which the main action takes place:
Dum loquimur, fūgerit invida aetās.
While we speak, envious time will have fled. (Horace, Odes 1.11.7; dum with the present indicative, and fūgerit usually taken as a future perfect)
dum, donec and quoad meaning until take the indicative when they state a fact and the subjunctive when the event is anticipated, intended or hoped for.
dum meaning provided that takes the subjunctive and is the conjunction of a proviso:
Ōderint dum metuant.
Let them hate, provided that they fear. (Accius, quoted by Suetonius, Caligula 30)
antequam and priusquam take the indicative for a fact that really happened and the subjunctive when the event is anticipated, prevented or intended: Priusquam veniat, domum parāmus. Before he comes, we prepare the house. (constructed)
The tense of a subjunctive in a subordinate clause depends on the time of the main verb, as stated in the table on Subordinate clauses. The full table, with all the main tenses:
| Main verb | Sequence | Subordinate action the same time or later | Subordinate action earlier |
|---|---|---|---|
| present: rogō I ask | primary | present: quid faciās | perfect: quid fēcerīs |
| future: rogābō | primary | present | perfect |
| future perfect: rogāverō | primary | present | perfect |
| perfect, I have asked: rogāvī | primary | present | perfect |
| historic present: rogō | either | present or imperfect | perfect or pluperfect |
| imperfect: rogābam | historic | imperfect: quid facerēs | pluperfect: quid fēcissēs |
| perfect, I asked: rogāvī | historic | imperfect | pluperfect |
| pluperfect: rogāveram | historic | imperfect | pluperfect |
A cum clause and an ablative absolute can both express the time or the circumstance (see Infinitive and participle constructions). The choice depends on the sentence:
| Situation | Choice | Example (constructed) |
|---|---|---|
| The noun of the circumstance is not in the main clause | either | Urbe captā discessit. or Cum urbem cēpissent, discessit. |
| The doer of the circumstance is the subject of the main verb and the verb is active (no perfect active participle) | cum clause | Cum hostēs vīdisset, Caesar fūgit. |
| The circumstance needs a time word or a tense the participle cannot give | cum clause | Cum redierō, tē vidēbō. |
| The circumstance is short and simple | ablative absolute | Sōle oriente iter fēcimus. |
The ablative absolute is compact, and the cum clause is more explicit and more flexible in tense.
| Conjunction | Mood | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cum | indicative | when, whenever; cum prīmum as soon as; cum inversum; cum identicum |
| cum | subjunctive | when (circumstance), since (cause), although (concession) |
| ubi, ut, simul ac, postquam | perfect indicative | as soon as, after |
| dum (while) | present indicative | while |
| dum, donec, quoad (until) | indicative or subjunctive | until |
| dum, dummodo (proviso) | subjunctive | provided that |
| antequam, priusquam | indicative or subjunctive | before |
Identify the conjunction, the mood and tense, and the meaning.
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