Mercator autem discedere non vult, quia amphorae adhuc in portu manent.

Autem is a very common Latin particle meaning something like however, but, or moreover.

It often comes after the first word of its clause, not at the very beginning. So Latin prefers:

Mercator autem ...

rather than putting autem first.

This is normal Latin word order for this kind of connecting word. A learner should get used to words like autem, enim, and igitur often appearing in or near second position.

Mercator is nominative singular.

It is the subject of vult, so it means the merchant. Even though the ending -or may look unfamiliar at first, this is a regular third-declension noun:

• nominative singular: mercator
• genitive singular: mercatoris

So here mercator is simply the subject: the merchant.

Because it depends on vult.

Latin often uses a complementary infinitive after verbs of wanting, being able, beginning, daring, and so on. Here:

• vult = he wants
• discedere = to leave / to depart

So discedere non vult means he does not want to leave.

This is very similar to English, which also says wants to leave.

These mean different things.

• non discedit = he is not leaving / he does not leave
• discedere non vult = he does not want to leave

So the Latin sentence is not just saying that the merchant is staying; it is specifically saying that he is unwilling to leave.

That difference matters:

• one is about the action itself,
• the other is about the person’s desire or intention.

In sense, it negates the whole idea wants to leave, but most directly it goes with vult:

• vult = wants
• non vult = does not want

So:

discedere non vult = he does not want to leave

Latin often places non right before the verb it negates, as it does here.

Quia means because.

It introduces a subordinate clause that gives the reason:

• main clause: Mercator autem discedere non vult
• reason clause: quia amphorae adhuc in portu manent

So the structure is:

The merchant, however, does not want to leave, because ...

This is very straightforward and works much like English because.

By itself, amphorae could in theory be more than one thing grammatically, because first-declension forms can overlap. It could be:

• nominative plural = amphorae
• genitive singular = of the amphora
• dative singular = to/for the amphora

But in this sentence, the verb is manent, which is plural. That tells us amphorae must be nominative plural and the subject of the clause.

So here it clearly means the amphorae.

Because its subject is amphorae, which is plural.

• manet = remains / stays for one thing
• manent = remain / stay for more than one thing

Since there are multiple amphorae, Latin uses the plural verb:

amphorae ... manent = the amphorae remain

Because in takes different cases depending on the meaning:

• in + ablative = in / on a place, showing location
• in + accusative = into / onto a place, showing motion toward

Here the amphorae are already located there, not moving there:

in portu = in the harbor

If the sentence meant into the harbor, then Latin would use in portum.

Portu is ablative singular of portus, portūs, a fourth-declension noun meaning harbor or port.

That may look odd if you are expecting a second-declension form like porto. But portus belongs to a different declension, so its ablative singular is:

• nominative: portus
• genitive: portūs
• ablative: portu

So in portu is exactly the form we expect for in the harbor.

Adhuc means still or up to now.

Here it modifies the idea of remaining:

amphorae adhuc in portu manent = the amphorae are still in the harbor

Its placement is fairly flexible. Latin word order is not as fixed as English word order, so adhuc can often move around without changing the basic meaning. In this sentence, it sits naturally between the subject and the prepositional phrase.

Latin often does put the verb near the end, but it does not have to. Word order in Latin is flexible.

In this sentence, the clause ends with manent, which actually does place the verb at the end:

quia amphorae adhuc in portu manent

That is a very natural order. But Latin could rearrange many parts of the sentence for emphasis without making it ungrammatical.

So the important thing is to read by endings and structure, not by assuming English-style word order.

Yes. Autem often marks a contrast with what came before.

So if the previous sentence suggested departure or movement, Mercator autem... tells us that the merchant, however, does something different.

Depending on context, autem can be translated in several ways:

• however
• but
• on the other hand
• sometimes it may be left untranslated if English sounds smoother that way

So however is a good contextual translation, but not the only possible one.