Breakdown of Mater de cura pueri cum medico loquitur.
Questions & Answers about Mater de cura pueri cum medico loquitur.
Mater is nominative singular.
- The basic dictionary form is māter, mātris (feminine, 3rd declension).
- In this sentence, mater is in the nominative case, which is normally used for the subject of a finite verb.
- The verb loquitur is 3rd person singular, so it matches a singular subject: mater.
So mater is the one doing the action: the mother speaks / is speaking.
Cura here is in the ablative singular, governed by the preposition de.
First-declension noun cura, curae has:
- nominative singular: cura
- ablative singular: cura
These two forms look the same in the first declension. We know it is ablative (not nominative) because:
- It comes after de, which always takes the ablative.
- The subject of the sentence is already mater, so cura is not functioning as a second subject.
So de cura means about the care / about the concern.
Pueri is genitive singular, from puer, pueri (boy).
- Genitive singular: pueri = of the boy.
With cura, it forms a genitive construction:
- cura pueri = the care of the boy / the boy’s care / care for the boy.
So de cura pueri means about the boy’s care or about the care of the boy.
Yes, pueri is formally ambiguous:
- nominative plural: boys
- genitive singular: of the boy
We know it is genitive singular because:
- It directly follows cura and depends on it; Latin commonly uses a genitive to show possession or close relation:
- cura pueri = the boy’s care.
- If it were nominative plural (boys), we would expect it to function as a subject or in another role clearly marked by the verb or context, but the subject is already mater, and the verb loquitur is singular, not plural.
If we wanted the care of the boys, we would normally have:
- cura puerōrum (genitive plural of puer).
De is a preposition that regularly takes the ablative case. Its main meanings are:
- from, down from
- about, concerning, regarding
In this sentence, it clearly has the sense about / concerning:
- de cura pueri = about the boy’s care, concerning the boy’s care.
So pattern: de + ablative = about X.
Cum is a preposition meaning with, and it also takes the ablative case.
- medicus, medici = doctor
- ablative singular: medicō
So:
- cum medicō = with the doctor.
Latin prepositions like cum control the case of the following noun. Cum almost always goes with the ablative.
Classical Latin does not have definite or indefinite articles like English the and a/an.
- mater can mean a mother or the mother, depending on context.
- pueri can mean of a boy or of the boy.
- medico can mean with a doctor or with the doctor.
The choice between a / the in translation is made by the translator according to the context, not by a specific Latin word in the sentence.
Loquitur is from a deponent verb, loquor, loqui, locutus sum, which is passive in form but active in meaning.
- Deponent verbs do not have normal active forms.
- Their passive endings (like -tur) are used with active translations.
Forms of loquor in the present indicative:
- loquor – I speak / I am speaking
- loqueris – you (sg.) speak
- loquitur – he/she/it speaks
- loquimur – we speak
- loquimini – you (pl.) speak
- loquuntur – they speak
So loquitur is 3rd person singular: he/she/it speaks, is speaking.
The subject is mater (the mother), which is singular, so the verb is also singular: loquitur (3rd person singular).
If the subject changed, the verb would change accordingly:
- ego – loquor (I speak)
- tu – loqueris (you speak, singular)
- mater et pater – loquuntur (the mother and father speak)
- mātrēs – loquuntur (the mothers speak)
The sentence with a plural subject would be:
- Matres de cura pueri cum medico loquuntur.
(The mothers speak with the doctor about the boy’s care.)
Yes. Latin word order is fairly flexible because case endings show grammatical roles. You could see, for example:
- Mater cum medico de cura pueri loquitur.
- De cura pueri cum medico mater loquitur.
- Cum medico de cura pueri mater loquitur.
All are understandable as long as the cases are correct.
However, some patterns are more common or more natural-sounding:
- preposition + its noun (de cura, cum medico) usually stay together;
- the verb often comes near the end.
The original order is clear and normal: Mater [de cura pueri] [cum medico] loquitur.
They express related but different ideas:
- de puero = about the boy (about him generally: his situation, character, health, etc.)
- de cura pueri = about the boy’s care or about caring for the boy (focusing on the care he receives, plans for treatment, worry about him, etc.)
So de cura pueri is more specific: the topic is the care / concern associated with the boy, not just the boy himself.
Mater de puero cum medico loquitur is a perfectly good Latin sentence, but its meaning shifts slightly:
- Mater de puero cum medico loquitur.
The mother speaks with the doctor about the boy.
Here the topic is the boy in general.
In the original:
- Mater de cura pueri cum medico loquitur.
The mother speaks with the doctor about the boy’s care / about caring for the boy.
So the original highlights care / treatment / concern, not just the boy himself.
You would make pueri plural in the genitive:
- nominative plural: pueri – boys
- genitive plural: puerōrum – of the boys
So the sentence becomes:
- Mater de cura puerōrum cum medico loquitur.
The mother speaks with the doctor about the care of the boys.