Latin Proverbs: Tum / Tunc

After yesterday's proverbs about DUM, I thought I would follow up with a post about tum and its suffixed form tunc. 

The words cum, tum, and dum are all very common temporal conjunctions in Latin, and for more about conjunctions generally here is the Allen and Greenough section on conjunctions, very nicely presented at the Dickinson College Commentaries site. You can also learn a lot from the dictionary entries; here are Logeion links: dum, tum, tunc.

So, here are some examples:

Si deficit faenum, tunc accipe stramen.
The word "faenum" means hay, while "stramen" is less desirable straw.

Esto laborator; deus est tunc auxiliator.
Compare the English saying "God helps them that help themselves." The word "esto" is an imperative ("be!"), and notice that "tunc" does not have to go first in its clause.

Very often you will see tum / tunc used in connection with cum:

Tunc scimus, cum causas cognoscimus.
It's not just enough to know what things are happening; you need to know why things happen.

Tum demum bona cognoscimus, cum ea amisimus.
As Joni Mitchell sang, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."

Tunc alios culpa, cum tu fueris sine culpa.
Note the emphatic use of the pronoun "tu" here. The first "culpa" is a verb and the second is a noun.

Tunc canent cygni, cum tacebunt graculi.
Why don't we hear swans singing? Because the noisy jackdaws of the world (metaphorically speaking) never shut up! Note the future tense verbs.

swan from USFWS

Cum contentus eris, dives tunc efficieris.
Note the future tense verb forms: "eris" and "efficieris." Note that "tunc" does not have to come first in its clause.

Iratus, cum ad se rediit, sibi tum irascitur.
Remember that the verb "irascor" is a deponent; "irascitur" means someone "gets angry" (or, if you want a form that sounds passive in English, someone "is angered").

You can also see tum/tunc used with other temporal conjunctions like dum and quando.

Tunc summa est in silvis fames, dum lupus lupum vorat.
Remember that "fames" (hunger) is a feminine noun: "summa est... fames"

Tunc tua res agitur, paries dum proximus ardet.
This is a great saying for climate change! Notice that "dum" does not have to come first in its clause.

Tunc olores cantabunt, quando graculi tacebunt.
Compare the saying above, "Tunc canent cygni, cum tacebunt graculi." (In the proverb above, the verb was cano, future tense canent, but here the verb is canto.)

Tunc iudices alios, eris quando innocens.
Compare the saying above: "Tunc alios culpa, cum tu fueris sine culpa." Notice that "quando" does not have to come first in its clause.

Quando timor maior, tunc deus est propior.
Compare the modern English saying, "There are no atheists in foxholes."

Click here for more Latin proverbs.