Cum pluvia cessat, puellae foras exeunt.

Here cum means when.

In Latin, cum can have several meanings depending on context. It can mean:

• when
• since
• although
• with (but that is a different cum, used as a preposition)

In Cum pluvia cessat, puellae foras exeunt, the meaning is temporal: when the rain stops, the girls go outside.

A learner may notice that cum is often followed by a verb in the subjunctive in more advanced Latin. That does happen, but with simple, straightforward time clauses like this one, especially in beginner-style Latin, you often see cum with the indicative.

Pluvia is the subject of cessat.

The clause pluvia cessat means the rain stops. Since the rain is doing the action of stopping, it must be in the nominative case.

So:

• pluvia = rain (nominative singular)
• cessat = stops

This is very similar to English grammar: the rain stops.

Cessat is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from the verb cesso, cessare, meaning to stop or to cease.

It is 3rd person singular because its subject, pluvia, is singular.

So:

• pluvia cessat = the rain stops

The present tense in Latin is often used where English also uses the present, especially in general or repeated situations: When the rain stops, the girls go outside.

Puellae is nominative plural here, and it means girls.

It is the subject of exeunt, so it must be nominative. The verb exeunt is plural, so the subject must also be plural.

This is a very common first-declension ending:

• puella = girl (nominative singular)
• puellae = girls (nominative plural)

A beginner may wonder whether puellae could mean something else, and yes, it can also be:

• genitive singular: of the girl
• dative singular: to/for the girl
• nominative plural: girls
• vocative plural: girls!

But here the verb exeunt makes it clear that puellae must be nominative plural.

Foras means outside, especially with the idea of movement to the outside.

This is important:

• foris usually means outside in the sense of location: outside
• foras usually means out, to the outside in the sense of motion toward a place

Since the girls are going out, Latin uses foras rather than foris.

So:

• foras exeunt = they go outside / they go out

This is similar to how some languages distinguish between being somewhere and going somewhere.

Exeunt comes from the irregular verb exeo, exire, meaning to go out.

It is:

• 3rd person plural
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

The ending -unt shows that it is they ...

So:

• exeo = I go out
• exis = you go out
• exit = he/she/it goes out
• exeunt = they go out

Because the subject is puellae (girls), the plural verb exeunt is required.

Yes, Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

This sentence is perfectly normal, but Latin could rearrange the words and still mean the same thing, because the endings show the grammar:

• Cum pluvia cessat, puellae foras exeunt
• Puellae, cum pluvia cessat, foras exeunt
• Foras puellae, cum pluvia cessat, exeunt

Even so, Latin is not random. The chosen order often helps with emphasis, clarity, or style.

In this sentence:

• the cum clause comes first, setting the time: when the rain stops
• then the main clause follows: the girls go outside

That is a very natural order in both Latin and English.

Classical Latin does not have definite or indefinite articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• pluvia can mean rain, the rain, or sometimes a rain
• puellae can mean girls or the girls

You understand which one is meant from context.

That is why puellae foras exeunt can naturally mean the girls go outside even though there is no separate word for the.

Latin often uses the present tense for general truths, habits, and repeated situations, just as English does.

So Cum pluvia cessat, puellae foras exeunt can mean something like:

• When the rain stops, the girls go outside
• Whenever the rain stops, the girls go outside

The sentence does not have to refer to only one specific event. The present tense works well for a regular pattern of behavior.

If Latin wanted to make the time relationship more specific or literary, it could use different tenses or moods, but this simple present is completely normal.

Here cum is a conjunction, not a preposition.

That means it introduces a clause:

• cum pluvia cessat = when the rain stops

By contrast, when cum means with, it is a preposition and is followed by a noun in the ablative:

• cum puella = with the girl

So the two uses are different:

• cum
  • finite verb = usually a conjunction: when/since/although
• cum
  • ablative noun = preposition: with

In this sentence, because cum is followed by pluvia cessat, it is clearly a conjunction.

It can be close in sense, but the most direct meaning is when the rain stops.

The clause tells us the time at which the girls go out. In many real contexts, English might choose:

• when the rain stops
• once the rain stops
• sometimes after the rain stops

But grammatically, cum here most directly signals when. If someone translates it as after, they are probably trying to make the natural sequence of events clearer rather than giving the most literal equivalent.

So for learning purposes, when is the best basic meaning here.