Piscamur quam diu sol lucet.

Piscamur means we fish.

The ending -mur may look strange if you have mostly learned active verbs, because it is a passive-looking ending. But piscor, piscari is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive forms
• but active meaning

So piscamur is grammatically a passive-form verb, but it means we fish, not we are fished.

The dictionary form is piscor, piscari, piscatus sum.

This is a 1st-conjugation deponent verb meaning to fish or to go fishing.

If you break down piscamur:

• pisca- = the present stem
• -mur = we ending for this kind of verb

So it is 1st person plural present indicative: we fish / we are fishing.

It is indicative, not subjunctive.

For a 1st-conjugation verb, the present subjunctive would normally have -e- instead of -a-. So you would expect something like piscemur for the present subjunctive.

Because the form here is piscamur, it is present indicative:

• we fish
• we are fishing

Latin usually does not need a separate subject pronoun when the verb ending already shows the person and number.

In piscamur, the ending tells you:

• 1st person
• plural

So nos is unnecessary unless you want extra emphasis.

Latin often works this way:

• piscamur = we fish
• lucet = it shines

Quam diu means as long as.

It introduces a time clause. In this sentence, it tells you how long the fishing continues:

• Piscamur quam diu sol lucet = We fish as long as the sun shines

You may also see it written as quamdiu in one word. Both spellings are used.

Latin often writes this expression as either:

• quam diu
• quamdiu

Both mean the same thing: as long as.

A learner should simply recognize both spellings as a common idiom introducing a temporal clause.

Sol is nominative singular.

It is nominative because it is the subject of lucet:

• sol lucet = the sun shines

So:

• sol = the thing doing the action
• lucet = the action

Lucet is singular because its subject, sol, is singular.

• sol = the sun (one sun)
• lucet = shines

So the verb agrees with its subject in number:

• singular subject → singular verb

The dictionary form is luceo, lucere, luxi.

It means to shine or to give light.

In the sentence, lucet is:

• 3rd person singular
• present indicative active

So it means he/she/it shines, and here the subject is sol, so:

• sol lucet = the sun shines

Latin often uses the present tense for actions that are:

• happening now
• generally true
• described in a vivid, direct way

So Piscamur quam diu sol lucet can naturally mean:

• We fish as long as the sun shines
• We are fishing as long as the sun shines

The exact English translation depends on context, but the Latin present is very normal here.

Yes. Quam diu sol lucet is a subordinate temporal clause.

Main clause:

• Piscamur = We fish

Subordinate clause:

• quam diu sol lucet = as long as the sun shines

The subordinate clause tells you the time limit or duration of the main action.

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammar.

So these could express the same basic idea:

• Piscamur quam diu sol lucet
• Quam diu sol lucet, piscamur
• Sol quam diu lucet, piscamur (less straightforward, but still understandable in context)

The given order is clear and natural:

• main statement first
• time clause after it

Classical Latin has no definite or indefinite articles like English the or a/an.

So sol can mean:

• the sun
• sometimes just sun, depending on context

English needs an article here, so we translate sol as the sun.

Usually piscor means to fish, to go fishing, or to fish for something.

It focuses on the activity, not necessarily on success. So piscamur means we are fishing / we fish, not specifically we catch fish.

If Latin wanted to focus on actually catching something, it might use a different expression depending on context.

It could be either, depending on context.

It might be:

• a general statement: We fish as long as the sun shines
• a description of what is happening now: We are fishing as long as the sun shines

The Latin present tense can cover both ideas. Context would decide which English version is best.

A learner would probably want to notice these:

1. piscamur is from a deponent verb

   • passive form
   • active meaning

2. quam diu means as long as

   • a common temporal expression

3. sol is nominative

   • the subject of lucet

4. lucet is 3rd person singular present

   • agrees with sol

5. Latin does not need an expressed pronoun

   • piscamur already means we fish

So even though the sentence is short, it contains several very common Latin patterns.