Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquuntur.

The students talk with the teacher about war.

Breakdown of Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquuntur.

• discipulus: the student
• magister: the teacher
• cum: with
• bellum: the war
• loqui: to talk
• de: from

Questions & Answers about Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquuntur.

In this sentence, which word is the subject, and how do I recognize it?

The subject is discipuli.

You recognize it as the subject because:

• It is in the nominative case (the case normally used for the subject).
• Its ending -i shows nominative plural for a second‑declension masculine noun.
• The verb loquuntur is 3rd person plural, so it agrees in number with discipuli (also plural).

Why does discipuli end in -i and not -us?

The base form of the word is discipulus (a student, masculine, singular, nominative).

• discipulus = a (single) student (nominative singular)
• discipuli = (the) students (nominative plural)

In second‑declension masculine nouns:

• -us → nominative singular
• -i → nominative plural

Because the sentence talks about more than one student, Latin uses the plural ending -i.

What case is magistro, and why is it used here?

Magistro is in the ablative singular.

It is ablative because it is governed by the preposition cum, which regularly takes the ablative case to express association or accompaniment, meaning with someone.

So:

• magister = teacher (nominative singular)
• magistrum = teacher (accusative singular)
• magistro = teacher (ablative or dative singular)

Here, cum magistro = with the teacher, so magistro must be ablative.

What case is bello, and why isn’t it bellum?

Bello is in the ablative singular.

The preposition de takes the ablative case, not the accusative. De often means:

• about / concerning
• down from / from

So:

• bellum = war (nominative or accusative singular)
• bello = war (ablative or dative singular)

In this sentence, de bello = about war. Because de requires the ablative, we use bello, not bellum.

Why is the verb loquuntur and not something like loquunt or loquuntus?

Loquuntur is the correct 3rd person plural present indicative form of the verb loqui, which is a deponent verb.

• For normal (non‑deponent) verbs, 3rd person plural active ends in -nt (e.g. amant = they love).
• Loqui is deponent, so it has passive endings but an active meaning.

The present forms of loquor (I speak) look like:

• loquor – I speak
• loqueris – you speak
• loquitur – he/she/it speaks
• loquimur – we speak
• loquimini – you (pl.) speak
• loquuntur – they speak

So loquuntur is the only correct 3rd person plural present indicative form; loquunt or loquuntus are not Latin forms.

What is the dictionary form of loquuntur, and what kind of verb is it?

The dictionary (lexical) entry is:

loquor, loqui, locutus sum – to speak, talk

Features:

• It is a deponent verb: it looks passive (forms with -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -mini, -ntur) but is translated actively.
• loquuntur is:
  • person: 3rd
  • number: plural
  • tense: present
  • voice (form): passive in form
  • meaning: active → they speak / they are speaking

Why do we use cum with magistro? Could we leave cum out?

Cum with the ablative is the standard preposition for with (a person), expressing accompaniment:

• cum magistro = with the teacher

Classical Latin can sometimes use loqui with the ablative alone to mean speak with someone, so you may sometimes see an ablative of a person without cum. However:

• For learners, cum + ablative is the clearest and safest way to express with someone.
• In this sentence, cum magistro is perfectly regular and idiomatic.

So while you might encounter just an ablative with loqui in classical texts, you should normally keep cum when you want to say with (a person).

Is this cum the same word as the cum that means when?

Yes, it is the same word form, but it functions differently:

1. Cum as a preposition (as in this sentence):

   • Takes the ablative.
   • Means with: cum magistro = with the teacher.

2. Cum as a conjunction:

   • Introduces a clause.
   • Common meanings: when, since, although, depending on context.
   • Example: Cum discipuli loquuntur, magister tacet. = When the students speak, the teacher is silent.

In your sentence, cum is clearly a preposition, because it is followed directly by a noun in the ablative (magistro), not by a whole clause with a verb.

Why do we say de bello loquuntur instead of just using a direct object, like “they speak war”?

Latin typically does not use loqui with a direct object in the accusative to mean talk about something.

Instead, loqui is often followed by:

• de + ablative → to talk about something
  
  • de bello loquuntur = they talk about war
• Or sometimes an ablative without de.

English often uses a direct object (speak the truth, tell stories), but Latin with loqui prefers de + ablative (or bare ablative) to express the topic of conversation.

So de bello loquuntur is the normal Latin way to say they speak about war.

Are there other common translations for loquuntur in English besides “they speak”?

Yes. Depending on context, loquuntur can be translated as:

• they speak
• they talk
• they are talking
• they are conversing

In this particular sentence, something like The students are talking with the teacher about war or The students speak with the teacher about war both fit well. The verb loqui often suggests conversational speech.

Can the word order in this sentence be changed, and would the meaning change?

Latin word order is relatively flexible because case endings show each word’s role.

All of these keep essentially the same meaning:

• Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquuntur.
• Discipuli de bello cum magistro loquuntur.
• Cum magistro discipuli de bello loquuntur.
• De bello discipuli cum magistro loquuntur.
• De bello cum magistro discipuli loquuntur.

Possible nuances:

• Putting discipuli first can emphasize the students.
• Putting de bello first can highlight the topic (war).
• Putting cum magistro first can stress with the teacher.

But grammatically, the roles do not change because the case endings stay the same.

How would I say the same idea in the past or future tense?

Using the same verb loqui in other tenses:

• Past (imperfect):
  Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquebantur.
  → The students were speaking / used to speak with the teacher about war.

• Future (simple future):
  Discipuli cum magistro de bello loquentur.
  → The students will speak with the teacher about war.

Only the verb form changes (loquuntur → loquebantur / loquentur); the rest of the sentence stays the same.

How would the sentence change if I wanted the teacher to be the one speaking with the students?

You would switch the subject and the people he is with:

• Magister cum discipulis de bello loquitur.

Breakdown:

• Magister – nominative singular, subject: the teacher
• cum discipulis – ablative plural: with the students
• de bello – about war
• loquitur – 3rd person singular present of loqui: he speaks / is speaking

So this means: The teacher speaks with the students about war.

Is there any article like the or a in discipuli, magistro, or bello, or do I have to add that in English myself?

Latin has no articles (no words for the or a/an).

• discipuli just means students in general.
• magistro just means teacher in the ablative.
• bello just means war in the ablative.

When translating into English, you must choose:

• the students vs students
• the teacher vs a teacher
• about war vs about the war

Context (larger passage, previous sentences, etc.) tells you whether English should use the or a, but Latin itself does not mark that distinction.