Quantum ad sumptus pertinet, mater dicit iter hoc iucundum quidem esse, sed satis carum.

It is an idiomatic way to say as far as expenses are concerned or with regard to expenses.

A literal word-by-word breakdown would be something like:

• quantum = as far as / insofar as
• ad sumptus = toward expenses / as to expenses
• pertinet = it pertains, it concerns

But in natural English, you would usually translate the whole phrase idiomatically, not mechanically.

Here sumptus is accusative plural, meaning expenses or costs.

This can be confusing because sumptus is a fourth-declension noun, and in the plural the nominative and accusative forms are both sumptus.

After the preposition ad, Latin requires the accusative, so here it must be accusative plural.

• singular accusative: sumptum
• plural accusative: sumptus

So this sentence is talking about expenses in general, not just a single expense.

Because sumptus is not the subject of pertinet. It is the object of the preposition ad.

In other words, ad sumptus is just a prepositional phrase: with regard to expenses.

The expression quantum ad X pertinet is a set phrase, and pertinet stays singular. You should think of it as an idiom meaning as far as X is concerned, rather than trying to make pertinet agree with sumptus.

Because after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, hearing, and similar verbs, Latin very often uses an indirect statement construction: accusative + infinitive.

So:

• mater dicit = mother says
• iter hoc iucundum quidem esse, sed satis carum = that this journey is indeed pleasant, but rather expensive

Latin does not need a separate word for that here. Instead, it uses the infinitive esse and puts the subject of that infinitive into the accusative.

It actually is accusative in function, but the form looks the same as the nominative.

In an indirect statement, the subject of the infinitive is put in the accusative. Here that subject is iter hoc.

The reason it looks unchanged is that:

• iter is a neuter noun
• many neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular

So context tells you how it is functioning. After dicit ... esse, iter hoc is understood as the accusative subject of the infinitive.

Because they agree with iter.

• iter is neuter singular
• therefore the predicate adjectives describing it must also be neuter singular
• in an indirect statement, they also match the accusative function of iter

So:

• iucundum = pleasant
• carum = expensive / dear

Both are describing iter hoc.

This is a very common Latin pattern.

quidem ... sed means something like:

• indeed ... but
• to be sure ... but
• admittedly ... but

So iucundum quidem esse, sed satis carum means:

• it is pleasant, certainly
• but it is rather expensive

The quidem acknowledges one point, and sed introduces the contrasting point.

Not in natural English. Here satis means something more like quite, fairly, or rather.

So satis carum is best understood as:

• quite expensive
• rather expensive
• fairly expensive

Although satis can sometimes mean enough, when it modifies an adjective it often has this softer sense of considerably or pretty.

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

Both hoc iter and iter hoc are possible. Putting hoc after the noun can be stylistic, or it can give the phrase a slightly different emphasis.

So iter hoc still simply means this journey or this trip. The learner should not assume that the demonstrative must always come first, even though that is often the more expected order.

Latin often leaves out possessive words like my, your, or his when the meaning is obvious from context.

So mater dicit can naturally mean:

• mother says
• my mother says

If the speaker wanted special emphasis, contrast, or clarity, Latin could say mater mea, but very often mater by itself is enough.

Hoc is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative hic, haec, hoc, meaning this.

Since iter is a neuter singular noun, the demonstrative must match it:

• hoc iter or iter hoc = this journey / this trip

So hoc is simply agreeing with iter in gender, number, and case.