quisquam, quicquam is an indefinite pronoun formed by the addition of the indefinite suffix -quam to quis, quid. antequam or priusquam (conj.): before quamquam (conj.) although quam primum, as soon as possible umquam (adv.) ever What does -quam mean in those compound words? Are the meanings of -quam related to the meanings of quam? Thanks.
Quam is necessarily used where an ablative of comparison would cause ambiguity : terra maior est quam luna or dico terram maiorem esse quam lunam. If the comparison is made in attaching a negative clause to the antecedent by means of a relative pronoun, the ablative is used, never quam : Punicum bellum, quo nullum maius Romani gesserunt.
The first thing to understand is that quam ob rem is a fossilized prepositional phrase. The preposition ob takes an accusative object and means “on account of.” The object of ob is rem (accusative singular of res), which means “matter, issue, state of affairs.” Quam is a form of the pronominal adjective qui; it is accusative feminine singular because it modifies rem. Much like the ...
The quam is a conjunction, working with the comparative prius. Taken together, they are equivalent to the English conjunction "before." It's perhaps easier to see the meaning if we reorder the elements: Siciliam tibi navigandum est prius quam urbem condere poteris. Navigandum est is neuter singular because it is an impersonal gerundive (A&G 500). That is, navigandum is not a true passive ...
6 Cicero famously said that he does not know how it is that nothing can be so absurd that some philosopher has not said it: Sed nescio quomodo nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo philosophorum. Why did he say "quod" and not "ut" or "quam"?