Questions tagged [conjunctive]
For questions about the mood known as conjunctive or subjunctive.
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Under what circumstances is the interrogative subjunctive used?
I know that sometimes I see the subjunctive used when the person is asking a question of fact. However, it isn't clear why they would use the subjunctive mood versus the indicative.
For example, there ...
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1answer
244 views
'fuam' and 'forem' not available in first and second person plural?
I found alternative forms of present and imperfect conjunctive forms of 'esse' on the german-latin dictionary website https://latin.cactus2000.de/showverb.php?verb=esse&form=esse :
I realized ...
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1answer
70 views
Subjunctive αἰδέσεται rather than αἰδέσηται?
Homer several times uses the subjunctive αἰδέσεται. I would have expected this to be αἰδέσηται, and wiktionary agrees with me. I guess the lack of an augmented initial vowel is a hint that this is a ...
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Dominus vobiscum / omitted copula in subjunctive mood?
In Catholic liturgy, there is this ubiquitous expression used to join or precede important prayers where the priest salutes the assembly by wishing (or so I think) that the Lord be with them:
Dominus ...
2
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1answer
129 views
Cum clause with an indicative verb
Good day. I have been using the book Latin to GCSE 2 to study cum clauses recently. The chapter that I have been reading really drives home the point that they are used with the appropriate tense of a ...
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2answers
90 views
Does "Ob Eam Causam" introduce an indirect question
I apologize if there's an obvious answer here I'm missing, but I can't figure out why this line from De Bello Gallico 5.33 is subjunctive:
"At Cotta, qui cogitasset haec posse in itinere accidere ...
9
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2answers
413 views
Why subjunctive mood in this sentence from a Vatican document?
In this recent question we looked at the following sentence from the apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia:
§ 2. Instituta, salvis communibus iuris canonici normis quae ipsa respiciant, ...
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1answer
84 views
iuvare ut + subjunctive
In English, I might ask you to "help me [to] do" some task. Would the most (classically) idiomatic Latin equivalent be an ut clause (e.g., "iuva ut faciam ...")? My only reason for ...
5
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1answer
109 views
Why subjunctive in "Cumque transissent septem dies..."
I'm working my way through the Vulgate and in Genesis 7:10, the text is:
cumque transissent septem dies aquae diluvii inundaverunt super terram
transissent here is third-person plural pluperfect ...
5
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1answer
119 views
Servus dominum orabat ne se verbera–
Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata, cap. XXVIII, pensum A (p. 230) begins by asking the reader to fill in the blank in this sentence, with the appropriate conjunctive imperfect conjugation:
Servus ...
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70 views
Does the indefinite pronoun/determiner "quă" only exist as an enclitic?
I recently learned that there is an indefinite determiner and pronoun quă used in the feminine nominative singular and neuter nominative/accusative plural with the sense "any(one)" (...
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334 views
Why would the subjunctive be used when the indicative seems to be required?
In the following passage from Fabulae Faciles:
Amāzonēs impetum virōrum fortissimē sustinuērunt, et contrā opīniōnem
omnium tantam virtūtem praestitērunt ut multōs eōrum occīderint,
multōs etiam in ...
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2answers
459 views
Subjunctive with adverb “quam”
Passage: “Quam autem civitati carus fuerit, maerore funeris indicatum est.” Cic. Amic. 11
My translation in English: «Moreover, how dear he was to the citizenry was indicated by the grief of his ...
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1answer
123 views
A Completed Action in the Mind OR Indirect Speech?
There are currently two theories (of which I am aware) to explain the use of the perfect subjunctive, in examples from the Latin Vulgate, included in brianpck's answer to Q: Memento quod <...
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1answer
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(Informal) Indirect Speech
In Q: Memento quod <subjunctive> brianpck cited five examples from the Latin Vulgate (Fourth Century). Taking one of these:
"memento quod et ipse servieris in Aegypto et eduxerit te inde ...
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1answer
179 views
Why the Perfect Subjunctive?
In this question, R.B. Jawad asked for a translation of two sentences.
The second of these:
"canuntur quando reversi fuerint et appropinquant regias ecclesie (sic)."
was translated by brianpck: ...
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1answer
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Livy Book 1 27.1 type of subjunctive, sequence of tenses
Invidia vulgi, quod tribus militibus fortuna publica commissa fuerit, vanum ingenium dictatoris corrupit.
What kind of subjunctive is fuerit and why. What tense is corrupit — perfect with or ...
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1answer
90 views
What is the difference between Future Perfect Indicative and Perfect Subjunctive
In Reginaldus Foster's text book Ossa Latinitatis Sola, he states that, apart from the First Person Singular, the forms for Future Perfect Indicative and Perfect Subjunctive are the same. And, indeed, ...
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1answer
548 views
Subjunctive mood in Latin
Should I say "Velisne/Velitisne panem?" To mean "Do you want/would you like some bread?
Or would I use Visne/Vultisne?
So, would I use subjunctive to ask or the indicative mood?
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2answers
235 views
Why was the subjunctive mood 'so called because the Greek subjunctive mood is used almost exclusively in subordinate clauses'?
Concerning the adjective "subjunctive", OED (3rd ed., 2012) mentions (emphasis mine):
Post-classical Latin subiunctivus is a translation equivalent of Hellenistic Greek ὑποτακτικός , which as a ...
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Use of "sit" instead of "est" in Virgil
I came across the quotation "Nunc scio quid sit amor" (Virgil, Ecl. VIII.43), and I’d like to know why the subjunctive "sit" is used instead of "est" here. Since it means "Now I know what love is" and ...
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2answers
217 views
Subjunctive mood in comparison
In Spinoza's Ethics we see:
nihil in natura clarius quam quod unumquodque ens sub aliquo attributo debeat concipi
I know meaning of the sentence. My question is about debeat. Why is this verb ...
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1answer
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weird pluperfect subjunctive in Eutropius
In Rōma Æterna, p. 239, in a passage from Eutropius, book 28, comes the paragraph:
P. Scīpiō in Hispāniā cum Poenīs dēbellāvit quārtō decimō annō eius bellī; et ā Tarracōne in Āfricam ad Syphācem, ...
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4answers
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Ethics of Spinoza - Translation of "sit" and "satis"
Spinoza's ethics, On the God, Proposition 8, Scholium 2:
ut satis attendenti sit manifestum
4 translations of this sentence:
White:
as is evident to any one who pays a little attention
Shirley:
...
3
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1answer
315 views
Deploying "Ut"/ "Quod"/ "Quin" plus Subjunctive
The use of ut + subjunctive in final/ purpose clauses is well-known/ well-established. But "quod" & "quin" seem to be deployed in near-identical circumstances e.g. in Ex 197 (North & Hillard):
...
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2answers
114 views
Sequence of Tenses: Translating the subjunctive
This is probably a pretty basic question, but I am new to Latin and am having trouble understanding the subjunctive.
The sentence "Pūgnāverō ut nautam superem" is translated to "I shall have fought ...
8
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2answers
314 views
Present Subjunctive Passive
North & Hillard Ex. 213; Q5: the following is to be translated into Latin: "I am willing to send anyone at all to find out what is going on."
The answer: "volo quemvis (quemlibet) mittere ...
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1answer
160 views
Accusative in genitive relative clause with verb finiebat
I am working on Satyricon, currently chapter 30, and have stumbled upon a passage with a grammar that baffles me:
Et quod praecipuē mīrātus sum, in postibus triclīniī fascēs erant cum secūribus ...
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1answer
387 views
Expressing English modalities of advice in Latin
English has expresses advice in the present and past through the use of the following modal constructions:
present: You should [...]
present negated: You shouldn't [...]
past: You should have [...]
...
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Wondering how to translate imperfect subjunctives (in a conditional sentence)
I have to translate this sentence for homework:
si verba patris a liberis non audita essent, timerent.
I believe the verb form in both the protasis and apodosis is imperfect subjunctive. I am ...
6
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2answers
148 views
Help finding the use of the subjunctive
In the sentence, "centurio nos rogavit ut captivos custodiremus," what is the use of the subjunctive. It's not a cum clause, indirect question, or result clause. That leaves purpose and indirect ...
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1answer
222 views
What is the difference between conjunctive present and perfect with ne?
I have seen both present and perfect forms of the conjunctive for negative orders or requests, for example ne canas and ne cecineris.
What is the difference?
Is one more an order and the other more a ...
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212 views
Why doesn't Caesar use the subjunctive consistently?
In the Commentaries, Caesar writes:
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea ...
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1answer
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Use of subjunctinve in a North & Hillard translation exercise
North & Hillard Ex. 228 includes:
Next day Caesar had again an army which, though diminished, was prepared to face all dangers manfully.
A footnote states: "Of the concessive conjunctions ...
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1answer
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Reflexive Pronouns & Indirect Statements
The answer key to North & Hillard, Ex. 235 proposes the following Latin translation of:"...until the king, frightened by the ambassador's boldness, promised to do what the Senate decreed."
......
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1answer
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When to use cum + subjunctive and when cum + indicative
So I have never, ever, ever been able to grasp fully any explanation in any textbook of when to use "cum" with the subjunctive and when to use it with the indicative, because the examples they give ...
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1answer
803 views
how to tell when to use cum temporal and when cum circumstantial
So I have never, ever, ever been able to grasp fully any explanation in any textbook of the difference between cum temporal and cum circumstantial, because the examples they give always seem to ...
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1answer
119 views
Oratio obliqua and case agreement between accusative subject and subject in subordinate subjunctive
Given an accusative subject of oratio obliqua, if that subject is or words declined with it it are repeated in a subordinate subjunctive, are they accusative or nominative in the subjunctive?
Exemplī ...
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1answer
160 views
Which adverbs of possibility and probability warrant the subjunctive?
On my previous question (thus begins the chain) I wrote a comment saying "Illa est bona idea. Fortasse rogem cras." I used the subjunctive because I take "fortasse" to mean "maybe", which to me ...
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2answers
287 views
subjunctive after "Hoc est, quod"
I'm reading Ficīnus's Latin translation of Plato's Apology and came across the following passage, two things in which baffle me. (They're unrelated, so I'm making them two separate questions.)
...
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1answer
113 views
Passive Subjunctive Translated as Active
Moreland has this line:
Cognoscebamus quo tempore dux mortem illis patriam neglegentibus minatus esset
This is an indirect question, hence the sequence of tenses: main verb takes Imperfect; ...
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Imperative vs Hortatory Subjunctive [duplicate]
According to this, Subjunctive can be used to express "an exhortation or a command".
When should Hortatory Subjunctive be used and when Imperative is favoured? What is the difference in meaning?
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The use of subjunctive in the future
I came across the usage of subjunctive the other day. I read that if the main verb is in the present, future or perfect with have, the subjunctive is in the present whereas if the main verb is in the ...
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1answer
330 views
Using subjunctive in relative clause linked to indirect command
I'm enquiring about the translation of this sentence:
I ordered the soldier, who was walking in the garden, to collect flowers.
Using 'imperare' as the verb to order, my question is whether '...
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1answer
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"..so that others may live", future subjunctive?
Salvete, omnes:
I studied Latin in college, but it has been a few years since I was immersed in it. I'm trying to wrangle a translation for the motto of an American Air Force search & rescue unit:...
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3answers
361 views
Can a subjunctive verb ever be modified by οὐ? (Greek)
I'm working on an exercise where I translate this Greek sentence to English.
οὐ θαυμάσῃ εἰ θεός τις φανεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς μηχανῆς;
My translation:
Won't you be amazed if some god will appear from ...
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3answers
673 views
What is the difference between present and perfect conjunctive in hesitation?
I recently said this in our chat room:
Ita crediderim, sed certus non sum.
A brief discussion ensued about my choice of tense.
I wanted to express hesitation, and my gut feeling says that the ...
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1answer
107 views
What mood should the verb of a relative clause within a purpose clause be?
Suppose we were to translate the English sentence into Attic Greek or Latin.
Do not fight your brother, lest you, who are smaller than him, be hurt.
You can see how the relative clause, "who ...
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1answer
671 views
What is the optative?
Some conjunctive forms end in -im (and -is, -it, -imus, -itis, -int), but this is rare.
The examples I recall are sim, possim, velim, nolim, malim, and duim (alternative to dem).
These forms are ...
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2answers
162 views
Choosing conjunctive tenses in a clause subordinate to a subordinate clause
I will phrase my question through an example.
Consider this sentence in English:
I do not know whether you wrote where you are.
This has one governing clause ("I do not know") and two indirect ...