All Questions
Tagged with imperativus or imperative
43 questions
1
vote
1
answer
229
views
Interpretting “Iudice me”
Looking at a medieval text, I have the line
Iudice me cignús et garrula cedat hirundo
Which I’m inclined to translate as “Judge me swan, even the swallow gives up talkative [things]” except that ...
- 479
4
votes
1
answer
311
views
Infinitive as an instruction
In Columella, there is a line that goes:
deinde cum computruerit tamdiu pati donec ad pristinum modum perveniat.
("Then, when it has putrified, you must leave it alone until it returns to its ...
- 7,443
4
votes
2
answers
229
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Is the inscription "avoca te" really a novel phrase?
In this article (in Dutch) it is claimed that an ancient Roman drinking mug found during an archaeological dig in the town of Mortsel in Belgium, contains the only known instance of the Latin ...
- 43
3
votes
3
answers
537
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How would I say the imperative command "Heal!"?
In a fantasy setting, I'm looking for a magic spell word in Latin that translates to the imperative command "Heal!" that someone could point at someone sick and have them get better. Any ...
- 97
6
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1
answer
208
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Can we use "numquam" with a imperative?
In English(in Portuguese, as well) we can use the adverb "nunquam" with an imperative "Never do/say/etc something!
I'm asking because when I read the dictionaries, I never see a ...
user11898
4
votes
2
answers
798
views
"Audi nos" translation problem
Commonly, Audi nos is translated as "hear us". Audi is the imperative form of the verb but nos is ordinarily translated as "we". How does "we" become "us"? Is ...
6
votes
1
answer
419
views
How would to Romans pray to the gods: imperative v. subjunctive
I have seen some prayers in the second person present imperative in church Latin. I have also heard from a Latin teachers that the Romans would pray using the subjunctive (I would guess this would use ...
- 936
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the semantic difference between the present and aorist forms of the Greek imperative?
I think I have a good working knowledge of what generally differentiates the ancient Greek aorist and present stems semantically. However, when it comes to imperatives, I am sometimes at a loss, ...
- 2,720
4
votes
3
answers
543
views
Translating “Claim Joy” as a Personal Motto
I’m trying to come up with a good translation for my own personal motto, “Claim Joy.” I use it in the context of my own mental health struggles and a reminder that you can’t wait for happiness, you ...
- 51
4
votes
1
answer
207
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Use of passive imperative of transitive verbs
I am so happy to have found this community.
I have 2 imperative sentences:
Fenestram aperīre
and
Fenestram aperī
I wonder if the passive form is correct and how could be translated into English or ...
- 41
7
votes
1
answer
590
views
Is "Noli illud dixisse!" good Latin for "You should not have said that!"?
I am trying to understand how the perfect imperative functioned in Latin. Is "Noli illud dixisse!" good Latin for "You should not have said that!"? I know "Noli illud dicere!&...
12
votes
1
answer
317
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Coordinating positive and negative imperatives
For positive commands, Latin uses the imperative: Da mihi librum "Give me the book."
For negative commands, it uses a number of constructions of which noli + inf. is most common: Noli mihi ...
- 31.5k
5
votes
2
answers
243
views
Do imperative verbs usually go first or does it still follow the regular SOV order?
In this example, what would make more sense:
MITTE MIHI PICTURAM PRODUCTI
or
PICTURAM PRODUCTI MIHI MITTE
- 1,829
9
votes
2
answers
1k
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Ave for plural addressee?
I have been told that the greeting ave or have is of Punic origin and not an imperative of avere.
If so, how do I use this word to greet several people?
Is it in the same form, is it pluralized to (h)...
- 116k
9
votes
2
answers
378
views
Are the present and future imperative used together?
Both the usual present imperative (e.g. fac) and the future imperative (e.g. facito) are attested.
But are they ever used together so that the tenses are contrasted?
In terms of a concrete example, ...
- 116k
10
votes
2
answers
1k
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Is "mihi audi!" incorrect?
I'm currently doing Latin in high school, and there's one thing which I can't get my head around in a recent test I got back.
I translated the command "Listen to me!" as "mihi audi!&...
- 335
8
votes
2
answers
1k
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Latin translation of "don't get caught"
I am looking for a translation of "don't get caught".
This phrase is the slogan of World Chase Tag (a tag competition), and it seems like they tried to put a Latin translation on their ...
- 91
5
votes
1
answer
324
views
Future Imperative of Deponents: 3 or 4 existing forms?
For most verbs there are 4 future imperative forms, right?
Here an example:
But now I did research on deponents and found following table:
Now my question is if there are really only 3 forms of the ...
- 626
4
votes
4
answers
594
views
Translating Gollum's "Go away and never come back!"
One of the more memorable scenes in the Lord of the Ring's movies is the moment when Gollum's two personalities argue with each other, and finally one of his selves orders the other, "Go away and ...
- 7,443
6
votes
1
answer
3k
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Imperative of sum - es or esto?
The imperatives of sum/esse (to be) are sg. es/esto and pl. este.
When do we use es? And when esto?
- 161
6
votes
1
answer
294
views
Irregular aorist imperative from ἔχω
Why does ἔχω exhibit a 2 s. aorist imperative σχές instead of what I would expect to be σχέ ?
Do other verbs do this, or is this peculiar to this verb?
- 393
7
votes
1
answer
1k
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Forming first-person plural imperatives
Sorry for the simple question, but I last took Latin in 1987 and I don't remember how to make a first-person plural imperative for "cogitare" (or any "are" verbs), and my Google searches are failing ...
- 73
3
votes
0
answers
158
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Do imperatives trigger reflexive pronouns in Latin?
In English, imperative verbs have "invisible subjects": syntactically, they act like there's an invisible pronoun in the subject position. This is why we see look closely at yourself instead of *look ...
- 69.3k
4
votes
1
answer
1k
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How to say "Do not be ..." in Latin?
I want to write a motto for self-control: Don't be a slave!
Google Translate translated that to: "Ne fiat servus".
I do not know whether that is correct, or whether I should write "servis" insead.
...
- 143
8
votes
1
answer
721
views
How to translate "Carpe That Diem" properly into Latin?
I was in a store today when I came across a notebook that said "Carpe That Diem" on the cover. How would one translate this phrase into Latin properly?
At first I thought to simply translate "that" ...
- 248
5
votes
1
answer
262
views
Is "nolī esse" grammatical?
In the Vatican's Nova Vulgata, Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 reads as follows:
Noli esse nimis iustus
neque sapiens supra modum!
Cur te perdere vis?
Ne agas nimis impie
et noli esse stultus!
Cur ...
- 69.3k
3
votes
1
answer
279
views
Fiat justitia in imperative mood?
I came across the Fiat ivstitia motto. The Wikipedia entry translates it as "Let justice be done". I need a bit of help to understand this.
I know justitia is a noun (like justicia, in Spanish, or ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
1
answer
151
views
Are there classical examples of the imperative patere?
I wanted to see how the imperative patĕre of pati is used and I made a corpus search.
However, most of the results seem to be polluted with the infinitive patēre, and I'm having hard time ...
- 116k
7
votes
0
answers
109
views
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?
user1846
13
votes
2
answers
627
views
Why is Imperative used here in Alexander Lenard's translation of Winnie the Pooh?
Currently doing some beginner practice with Alexander Lenard's translation of Winnie the Pooh. It says, "Ecce Eduardus Ursus scalis nunc tump-tump-tump occipite gradus pulsante post Christophorum ...
- 185
5
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What does "noli" really mean?
I understand nolle to be short for non volle, i.e. "not to wish/want".
I thought noli was the imperative form of this: non vo—er, wait a minute, volo has no imperative!
So, what's noli? The usual ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
1
answer
353
views
Primum non culpare?
I was thinking of how you could alter the medical dictum Primum non nocere to mean "First, CYA." My first thought: Primum non culpare, which I would literally translate as "First, don't get blamed."
...
- 16.5k
5
votes
2
answers
712
views
Is there any connection between "ave" (as in Ave Cesar) and "aveo"?
Ave, as in Ave Caesar, has the meaning of "hail".
Yet, according to Wiktionary, it is also the "second-person singular present imperative of aveō".
Now, aveō is a verb which means either "I desire", ...
- 12.5k
8
votes
3
answers
289
views
How to order someone to want something?
I asked yesterday about the imperative of velle, and it turned out that does not really have an imperative.
If the most obvious option is not available, how should I give an order to want?
A phrase or ...
- 116k
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the imperative of velle?
The conjugation tables of irregular Latin verbs that I have seen do not give any imperative forms for the verb velle.
The verb nolle has the imperative forms noli and nolite, and they are fairly ...
- 116k
8
votes
1
answer
206
views
Are there other perfect imperatives than memento?
I learned from this previous question about the semantics of memento(te) that memento(te) is not morphologically a future imperative.
It turned to be a perfect imperative (semantically present), as it ...
- 116k
8
votes
1
answer
996
views
Is memento(te) semantically a future imperative?
The verb meminisse is irregular.
It has only the active perfect system (memini, meministi, meminit…) and the imperatives memento and mementote.
These imperatives are future imperatives by form, ...
- 116k
9
votes
1
answer
293
views
Negative Future Imperatives
In reading through Book VI of Vergil's Aeneid, I came across the following line:
851 tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
I believe this is translated as "you, Roman, remember to rule the ...
- 2,103
6
votes
2
answers
690
views
Why is there an exception when forming 3rd conjugation imperatives?
All of the affirmative singular imperatives of regular verbs are formed by dropping the -re from the second principal part.
Why is it that, in the 3rd conjugation only, the affirmative plural ...
- 2,103
13
votes
4
answers
2k
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Imperatives of derivatives of facere, dicere and ducere
Three verbs are well known to have an irregular short imperative: fac, dic, duc.
Do the imperatives remain short in the presence of a prefix?
For example, which ones are correct out of effic/effac/...
- 116k
8
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Libera te tutemet ex inferis vs. Libera temet [ipsum] ab inferis?
In a movie (Event Horizon, spoilers ahead), you have this Latin phrase they think they heard and what it ends up being :
Liberate me... Libera te tutemet (ex inferis).
There's always the ...
user425
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to say "Don't even..."?
The following constructions feel simple enough:
"You don't even move." — Ne moveris quidem.
"Don't move!" — Noli moveri! or "Ne motus sis."
But what if I want to give a negative ...
- 116k
9
votes
2
answers
524
views
The difference between coniunctivus and imperativus when expressing commands
What is the rule for choosing coniunctivus or imperativus when expressing commands? I know, that imperativus has only second person forms, so one is forced to use coniunctivus for other persons. Are ...
- 403