Architectus cum mensore fundamentum restituit.

with

Breakdown of Architectus cum mensore fundamentum restituit.

• architectus: the architect
• mensor: the surveyor; measurer
• fundamentum: the foundation

Questions & Answers about Architectus cum mensore fundamentum restituit.

Why is architectus the subject of the sentence?

Because architectus is in the nominative singular, the case normally used for the subject.

A learner will often recognize this from the -us ending, which is very common for a masculine second-declension nominative singular noun.

So here:

• architectus = the architect as the doer of the action

It is not the object, because Latin usually marks the direct object with the accusative, not the nominative.

Why is it cum mensore and not cum mensor or cum mensorem?

Because the preposition cum meaning with takes the ablative case.

The noun mensor changes in the ablative singular to mensore. So:

• mensor = nominative singular, the surveyor as subject
• mensore = ablative singular, with the surveyor

That is why Latin says cum mensore.

Does cum here mean with or when?

Here it means with.

Latin cum can mean two different things:

• cum
  • ablative noun = with