20.03.24: duration of time [2]; asking and saying for how long you have been doing something

Cicero's remarks from the previous post:

Quam diū etiam furor iste tuus nōs ēlūdet?”

For how long will this madness of yours still mock us?”

Slowly you can add a few jigsaw pieces:

[1] furor: madness

[2] iste, ista, istud: this / that; it was mentioned in passing in a previous post. In Classical Latin it often had a pejorative sense: furor iste tuus (that madness of yours)

[3] You’ve seen lūdō, -ere [3]: play; here we have ē¦lūdō, -ere [3]: to mock. Here it’s in the future tense, something we haven’t looked at yet.

[4] nōs: us; accusative

[5] etiam has several meanings, for example ‘also; and even; yet; still’. It depends on the context. Here Cicero is emphasising that Catline’s behaviour appears to be never-ending.

But the focus is the question – quam diū: for how long?

For how long have you been doing something?

• How long have you been living in Italy?
• I have been living in Italy for a year.

English uses a tense called the present perfect continuous to express this idea; this refers to an action which began in the past but is continuing in the present.

• How long have you been living in Italy? […and you’re still living there]
• I have been living in Italy for a year. [… and I’m still living there]

Latin – and other languages, such as French, German and Russian – do not have this tense. The idea is expressed by using the present tense on the basis that the action is still continuing now.

In Latin, the present tense together with an expression of time, and often with the adverb iam (already), which can occur in the question and / or the answer is enough; the length of time, however, as you have already seen when talking about ages is in the accusative case:

• Quam diū in Ītaliā iam habitās?
• For how long have you been living in Italy?

[Literally: How long are you already living in Italy?]

• In Ītaliā iam ūnum annum habitō.
• I have been living in Italy for a year.

[Literally: I am living in Italy already one year.]

• Quam diū linguam Latīnam iam discis?
• For how long have you been learning Latin?
• Iam duōs annōs linguam Latīnam discō.
• I’ve been studying Latin for two years.
• Multōs iam annōs discō linguam Latīnam.
• I've been studying Latin for many years.

The same rule applies to any noun which can be used to define a length of time e.g. hōra (hour).

And you can talk through gritted teeth in the same style as Cicero!

Ista fēmina iam ūnam hōram cantat.

• That (awful) women has been singing for an hour!

Iste poēta iam duās hōrās recitat!

• This (wretched) poet has been reciting for two hours!

Īnfāns iste tuus iam trēs hōrās lacrimat!

• That (awful) kid of yours has been crying for three hours!

Try these ones:

1. Agricola iam ūnam hōram in agrō labōrat.
2. In silvā iam trēs hōrās errō.
3. Quam diū barbarī oppidum iam oppugnant? Iam decem annōs oppidum oppugnant.
4. Puerī iam duās hōrās in fluviō natant.
5. Quam diū in Āfricā iam habitātis? In Āfricā iam ūnum annum habitāmus.
6. In forō iam quattuor hōrās cum amīcō ambulō.
7. Quam diū in vīllā tuā habitās? Iam duōs annōs in vīllā meā habitō.

Can you answer this question?

• Quam diū in oppidō tuō iam habitās?