while (conj.) Copy link Outline 1. dum (the present is almost always used with dum, though the rest of the sentence may be in a past tense2. dōnec (as long as3. quum (when, whereas) • while (conj.): 1. dum (the present is almost always used with dum, though the rest of the sentence may be in a past tense: as, dum haec parantur, Saguntum jam oppugnabatur, while these preparations were [lit. are] making, Saguntum was already being assaulted, Liv.: but when dum signifies as long as, it may take a past or future: as, hoc feci dum licuit, I did this as long as I was permitted, Cic.: v. Lat. Gr. § 393, Obs. 2): w. this was being done in Apulia, the Samnites did not keep the town of Interamna, dum haec in Apulia gerebantur, Samnites Interamnam urbem non tenuerunt, Liv. 10, 36: w. he wished to be like Alexander, he was found most unlike the Crassi, dum Alexandri similis esse voluit, Crassorum inventus est dissimillimus: Cic. Brut. 81, 282: with subj. in the oratio obliqua: some say that w. he was being bound to the stake Flaccus enjoined silence, quidam tradunt dum ad palum deligatur silentium fieri Flaccum jussisse, Liv. 26, 16: also with subj. in directa or., chiefly in the poets; the maiden, w. she was flying, saw not the snake, puella, dum fugeret, non vidit hydrum, Virg. G. 4, 457: also with subj. if while is nearly the same as until, and has any idea of purpose: wait a little, w. he sleeps out his first sleep, paullisper mane, dum edormiscat unum somnum, Pl. Am. 2, 2, 64. 2. dōnec (as long as: it has the same construction as dum: v. Lat. Gr. § 499): w. I was pleasing to you, donec gratus eram tibi, Hor. Od. 3, 9, 1. 3. quum (when, whereas): w. I was at Athens I frequently heard Zeno, Zenonem, quum Athenis essem, audiebam frequenter, Cic. N. D. 1, 21, 59: and w. friendship has many advantages, this is the chief of all, quumque amicitia plurimas contineat commoditates, tum illa praestat omnibus, id. Am. 7, 23. While with the English participle is not expressed in Latin: I dictated this w. walking, haec dictavi ambulans, Cic.