Infectum tenses
Overview
The present subjunctive and future indicative in and other 3rd and 4th conjugation verbs are identical in the 1st person, but are different in the other persons: the present subjunctive has etc, while the future has . Some verbs (namely 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs and the verb 'I go') have a future tense ending in instead of , for example 'I will love', 'I will see', 'I will go'. Some perfect and pluperfect tenses can be shortened by omitting ''v'': for .Present indicative
The present tense of regular verbs is formed in different ways according to theCurrent situation
The present tense can refer to a current situation: : (Cicero) :'the Senate understands this; the Consul sees it; yet this man is still alive' : (Cicero) :'perhaps you are telling the truth'Habitual
The present tense can be used for habitual actions: : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Att.'' 5.1.3. :'I suffer these things every day'General truths
The present, as in English, can also describe a general truth:Pinkster (1990), p. 224. : (Catullus)Catullus, 5.1. :'suns can set and return again'Perfective present
It can also be used performatively to describe an event which takes place at the moment of speaking: : (Cicero) :'I come now to the testimony of the Dorylensians'Historic present
The present tense is often used in narrative in a historic sense, referring to a past event, especially when the writer is describing an exciting moment in the story. This is known as the 'historic present': : (Caesar) :'he sees the enemy threatening ... he immediately seizes weapons from those next to him ...' According to Pinkster, the historic present is the most frequent tense used in narrative in both prose and poetry. It can replace not only the perfect tense, but also the imperfect tense: : (Caesar) :'in the whole camp there is panic' (i.e. people were panicking) After 'while', the present indicative also has the meaning of an imperfect tense: : (Ovid) :'while she was fleeing, her cloak () slipped from her back () and she left it behind' In Caesar when a verb is placed initially in the sentence, as in the first example above (), it is very frequently in the present tense. Another situation where the use of the historic present is frequent is in utterance verbs, such as 'they give a pledge' or 'they beg'. More than half the historic presents in Caesar are of this kind. In biographical writing, however, the perfect is used much more often than the present.Present with perfect continuous meaning
The present can sometimes mean 'has been doing', referring to a situation that started in the past and is still continuing. In some sentences a length of time is given and the adverb 'now' is added: : (Cicero) :'he has been living in Lilybaeum for many years now' : (Cicero) :'he has been a Roman citizen for a long time now' The present tense can also be used in this meaning when combined with a temporal clause using : : (Terence) :'I've been trembling and shivering ever since I caught sight of her' Sometimes the clause itself has the present tense: : (Martial) :'ever since he has been (lit. 'is') mine, he has never harmed me with a mistress' : (Cicero) :'I've been feeling completely out of touch ever since I've been in Formiae' Another idiom is the following using the conjunction : :''multī annī sunt cum in aere meō est'' (Cicero) :'he has owed me money for many years now' (lit. 'there are many years that he is in my bronze')Another idiom that can be mentioned is the phrase , which means 'it would take a long time' or 'it would be tedious'. It is frequently used by Cicero as well as other writers: : (Nepos) :'it would be tedious to recount all the battles'
Future indicative
Future events or situations can be expressed using the future tense, which in 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs and 'I go' ends in , in most other verbs in . The future of 'I am' is , and the future of 'I am able' is . A future meaning can also be expressed using a periphrastic future such as 'I am going to do' (see below). There is no distinction in the future between perfective and imperfective aspect.Future event or situation
The future tense can describe an event or a situation in the near or distant future: : (Vitruvius) :'I will explain this in the next book' : (Cicero) :'when I get there, I shall be expecting your letters every day'Future in subordinate clauses
A difference between Latin and English is that in subordinate clauses such as 'if this happens in future', English uses the present tense, but Latin usually uses the future.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 156. : (Cicero) :'I will tell you when I have some news' (lit. 'I will have') : (Cato) :'if (at some future time) you eat it (i.e. cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar' : (Cicero) :'through him we shall easily get what we want' (lit. 'what we will want') Occasionally, however, a present tense can be used in the subordinate clause: : (Sallust) :'if we win, everything will be safe for us'Polite requests
The future can also be used for polite requests, as when Cicero sends greetings to his friend Atticus's wife and daughter: : (Cicero) :'please give my greetings to Pilia and Attica'Imperfect indicative
The imperfect indicative is usually formed with the endings (in 3rd and 4th conjugation verbs with ); 'I go' has . However, the imperfect indicative of 'I am' is and of 'I am able' it is . The first three persons of the imperfect passive end in . The imperfect indicative generally has anSituation at a particular time
A common use of the imperfect is to describe a situation that already existed at a particular moment: : (Livy) :'with a stick, which he was carrying in his hand, he drew a circle round the king' : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Verr.'' 2.4.32. :'when I got there, the governor was taking a nap' : (Petronius) :'when I got home, my soldier was lying in bed' : (Cicero) :'(Verres) came into the forum; his eyes were burning (with anger)' Often an expression such as 'then' or 'at that time' is added: : (Livy) :'at that time (the time of his death) Mettius was fighting on horseback' : (Livy) :'by this time it was already winter' : (Livy) :'Carthaginians were living on the island at that time'Vivid description
The use of the imperfect rather than the perfect can be used to make a scene more vivid, as with this sentence of Cicero's: : (Cicero) :'a Roman citizen was being flogged with rods in the middle of the forum of Messana, judges' The passage is commented on by'Began doing'
Another meaning is inceptive, describing a situation that began at a certain moment and continued indefinitely. Often in English it is translated with 'began': : (Livy) :'after the rout began, some began rushing blindly into the water, others, while they were hesitating on the banks, were crushed' : (Sallust) :'when he heard that some important people had come, he began to agitated with alarm' : (Caesar) :'after Caesar arrived in Asia, he began hearing reports that Titus Ampius had been trying to steal money from the temple of Diana in Ephesus'Habitual use
The imperfect tense can describe a situation that used to take place regularly or habitually: : (Cicero) :'I used to listen to him a lot' But in sentences like the following, in which the verb has a quasi-negative meaning ('he didn't write as well as he spoke'), the perfect can be used:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 158. : (Cicero) :'Hortensius used to speak better than he wrote'Iterative use
Similar to the above is the iterative or 'frequentative' use of the imperfect, describing what something that kept on happening or which happened on an indefinite number of occasions: : ( aesar :'Pharnaces sent several embassies to Domitius ... (each time) Domitius would reply ...'Geographical description
Sometimes the imperfect is used for description of the surroundings as they appeared at the time of the story: : (Caesar) :'a very high mountain hung over (the road)'Unfinished action
Another use is to describe an action that someone was intending to do, or about to do, but which never actually took place, or which was interrupted by another event: : (Tacitus) :'he was on the point of leaving the Senate house' : (Tacitus) :'he would have rushed into the embrace of his daughter, who was running towards him, if the bodyguards hadn't intervened and stood in the way of both of them' : (Tacitus) :'after the soldiers of the 14thPluperfect continuous meaning
When the imperfect tense is used with a length of time it means 'had done' or 'had been doing', referring to a situation which had been going on for some time and was still going on. The adverb 'by now' is sometimes added: : (Livy) :'which they had been desiring for a long time now' : (Nepos) :'(the Carthaginians) had been in possession of Sicily for several years by this time' : (Nepos) :'(at that time) he had been living in Athens for several years' : (Livy) :'Philip was nowhere in sight, and for several hours no messenger had arrived from him' : (Ovid) :'he was living alone without a wife and for a long time he had lacked any partner in his bedroom'Epistolary tenses
Sometimes in letters a writer imagines himself in the position of the recipient and uses an imperfect tense to describe a situation which for the writer himself is present: : (Cicero) :'as a matter of fact I am writing (lit. 'I was writing') this to you while sitting there ' : (Cicero) :'I think (lit. 'was thinking') I will be in my province by the 1stPotential meaning ('would be')
Sometimes the imperfect of is used with a potential meaning ('would be'):Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 386. : (Perfectum tenses
Overview
The active tenses of Latin verbs are made using a different stem from the present tense. For example, 'I lead' makes the perfect tense 'I led'; 'I do' makes 'I did'; 'I am' makes 'I was' and so on. The perfect tenses can be found in dictionaries; seePerfect indicative
The perfect indicative active tense is the third principal part given in Latin dictionaries. In most verbs it uses a different stem from the present tense; for example, the perfect of 'I fall' is 'I fell, I have fallen'. The endings are different from those of other tenses, namely (or ). The perfect passive is usually made with the perfect participle combined with , e.g. 'I was sent, I have been sent', 'I was led, I have been led'. Some perfect tenses have an irregular stem, for example 'I am', 'I go', 'I bring, I bear', 'I raise, I remove'. The Latin perfect has a dual meaning. It can describe a present situation (e.g. 'he has died') or a past event (e.g. 'he died (last year)').Past event
The perfect most frequently narrates an event in the past. The usual translation is the simple English past tense with '-ed' or the equivalent: : (Caesar) :'I came, I saw, I conquered' : (Servius to Cicero) :'there I met Marcus Marcellus, and I spent that day there' : (Caesar) :'all at the same time, they leapt down out of the ship'Present perfect meaning
The perfect active can also be used like the English present perfect ('I have done'): : (Cicero) :'I have left a horse and a mule for you at Brundisium' : (Cicero) :'the epidemic has now gone away' : (Cicero) :'I've written about these matters to the Senate' : (Plautus) :'I have completed the task which I was given; now I'm hurrying home' : (Plautus) :'this is the way things are ... I have lost hope' It can also be negative: : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Fam.'' 12.27. :'I haven't yet quite made my mind up' : (Cicero) :'he was due to pay the money on the 1st January, but he still hasn't paid it'Experiential perfect
As with the English perfect, the Latin perfect can sometimes be used to relate experiences which have happened several times in the past: : (Cicero) :'I have often seen public meetings shout out loud when the words fell aptly (i.e. with a striking rhythm)' : (Cicero) :'as I've often told you, I am very fond of Appius' It can also be used with to describe what has always been the case: : (Cicero) :'you have always loved me' : (Cicero) :'he lives with me, and has always done so'Gnomic perfect
Similar to this is the 'gnomic perfect', which states a general truth based on past experience:Allen & Greenough (1903), p. 299.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 160. : (Horace) :'a heap of bronze and gold has never taken away fevers from the body' (i.e. doesn't take away) : (Juvenal) :'no one has ever become totally shameless suddenly'No longer existing situation
The perfect can sometimes be used to describe a situation which no longer exists: : (Livy) :'the city of Croton had (used to have) a wall extending for 12 miles in circuit, before Pyrrhus's arrival in Italy'Iterative action in a temporal or relative clause
In sentences which mean 'whenever X occurs, Y occurs', referring to general time, the perfect tense is used for event X if it precedes event Y. In English the present tense is often used: : (Cicero) :'while I am reading, I agree, but as soon as I have put the book down all that agreement slips away' : (Cicero) :'whenever I come here, this very "doing nothing" delights me'In a past-time temporal clause
The perfect tense is usually used in temporal clauses after 'after', 'when', 'as soon as', 'as soon as'. Here English often uses the pluperfect tense: : (Sallust) :'after he (had) said this, he ordered the signal to be sounded' It is also used in a past-time relative clause referring to an anterior action where similarly English might use a pluperfect: : (Cicero) :'he lost the army which he had received'Length of time
The perfect, not the imperfect, is used when a situation is said to have lasted in the past for a certain length of time, but is now over. (The imperfect, however, with a length of time, is used for a situation which was still going on at the time referred to; see the examples above.) : (Cicero) :'he lived for ninety years' : (Seneca) :'Cassius drank water throughout his whole life' : (Livy) :'but the peace with Alba did not last long' : (Cicero) :'all the Consuls before you obeyed the Senate' However, the phrase with the perfect tense means 'long ago': : (Cicero) :'I heard this long ago, judges; I am sure there is none of you who hasn't often heard it' : (Plautus) :'the crime, I say, was committed long ago; it is old and ancient'Difference between ''eram'' and ''fuī''
In the verb 'I am', the imperfect tense and the perfect both mean 'I was', but in Latin there is usually a difference. As with other verbs, the perfect is usually used when the length of time is mentioned: : (Livy) :'for a long time there was silence' : (Cicero) :'for many years he was blind' But if the situation was still continuing at the time referred to, the imperfect is used: : (Livy) :'the cavalry battle had been in doubt for a long time already (and was still in doubt)' The perfect is also used when the sentence describes an event rather than a state: : (Livy) :'that year there were huge floods and the Tiber inundated the flat areas of the city' : (Cicero) :'you were therefore there at Laeca's house that night, Catiline!' (i.e. you attended the meeting) Another use of the perfect is to describe a former state, emphasising that it is no longer in existence: : (Petronius) :'I was once just like you are' : (Livy) :'there used to be a statue of''Meminī'', ''ōdī'', ''nōvī''
Certain verbs, of which the most common are 'I remember', 'I hate', and 'I know', are used in the perfect tense but have the meaning of a present tense: : (Cicero) :'I remember being present' : (Catullus) :'even if you have forgotten, yet the gods remember' : (Catullus)Catullus 85. :'I hate and I love' The future perfect and pluperfect of these verbs serve as the equivalent of a future or imperfect tense: 'I will remember', 'I remembered'. has an imperative 'remember!' There is also a subjunctive which can be used in a hortatory sense: : (Petronius) :'let us remember the living (not the dead)!' The verb usually means 'I know': : (Cicero) :'we don't know you, we don't know who you are, we have never seen you before' But sometimes the perfect has a past meaning, 'I became acquainted with' or 'I got to know': : (Plautus) :'I am (the one you mentioned); but where on earth did you make my acquaintance or see me or ever converse with me?' The perfect of , 'I have grown accustomed', is also often used with a present meaning:Allen & Greenough (1903), p. 300. : (Caesar) :'this day generally makes the highest tides'Future perfect indicative
The future perfect indicative ends in . The forms with a short -i- () were found in early Latin, but by the time of Catullus and Cicero, it seems that the future perfect had become confused in pronunciation with the perfect subjunctive, and the forms with long -i- were usual. In poetry either form could be used, according to metrical convenience.Independent use
The future perfect is usually used in a sentence with 'if' or 'when' referring to future time, but it can sometimes be used on its own, as in the following sentences: : (Cicero) :'Pomponia, you invite the women, and (meanwhile) I will have summoned the men' Sometimes both halves of a sentence (main clause and subordinate) can have the future perfect:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 163. : (Cicero) :'whoever will have crushed (i.e. crushes) Antony, will have finished the war' A famous passage with a future perfect is the call of theAfter ''sī'' and ''cum''
More frequently the future perfect tense is found after 'if' or 'when' in clauses referring to a future time. In such sentences English uses the present tense: : (Livy) :'you will die, if you utter a sound!' (lit. 'if you will have uttered') : (Catullus) :'then, when we have made many thousands (of kisses), we will muddle up the accounts' : (Cicero) :'if anything happens, I'll let you know at once' : (Cicero) :'as you sow (lit. will have sown), so shall you reap'Future perfect of and
The future perfect of and has a simple future meaning: : (Plautus) :'I'll remember, don't worry about that' : (Cicero) :'I hate the man, and I always will'Pluperfect indicative
The pluperfect represents any meaning which the perfect tense can have, but backshifted to a reference time in the past.Prior event
The pluperfect can be used as in English to describe an event that had happened earlier than the time of the narrative: : (Caesar) :'this nation had sent ambassadors to Caesar a few months previously' : (Livy) :'he returned to Elatia by the same way he had come'Situation at the time
Often, like the imperfect tense, the pluperfect can be used to describe the situation prevailing at a certain moment: : (Curtius) :'the others had already departed; Clitus was going out last, without a light' : (Livy) :'nor was Philip, who had arrived by now in Macedonia, preparing war less energetically'No longer existing situation
Just as the perfect tense can sometimes describe a situation that no longer exists at the present time (e.g. ), so the pluperfect can describe a situation which no longer existed at a time in the past, as in the following example: : (Curtius) :'the river, which had once flowed (been flowing) though the middle of the town, was now flowing past outside the built-up area'Iterative use in temporal clauses
In subordinate clauses of the type 'whenever...', 'whoever...' etc. in past time the pluperfect indicative is used if the event precedes the event of the main clause. Usually in English the simple past is used: : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Verr.'' 2.5.27. :'it was only whenever he saw a rose that he thought that spring was beginning' : (Cicero) :'at the end of the journey, whenever he came to some town, he would be carried in the samePotential meaning ('would have')
Sometimes in aPluperfect of , ,
The pluperfect of , and has the meaning of an imperfect: : (Caesar) :'they remembered how they had put up with a great shortage at Alesia' : (Cicero) :'I hated this man even more than I hatedPerfect tenses made with
Occasionally the beginnings can be seen of a perfect tense formed with ''habeo'' ('I have') and the perfect participle, which became the regular way of forming the perfect in French and Italian. According to Gildersleeve and Lodge, this form of the perfect 'is not a mere circumlocution for the Perfect, but lays particular stress on the maintenance of the result'. However, in some cases it can be translated simply as a perfect tense in English: : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Att.'' 15.20.4. :'As for Eros's accounts, although I haven't seen him in person, I have more or less learnt what they say from his letter' : (Cicero) :'I have now thoroughly examined, learnt, and judged Clodius's mind' In later Latin this construction became more common, for example: : (Perfect passive and deponent tenses
The perfect passive and deponent tenses are usually made from the perfect participle + the present, future, or imperfect tense of , as follows:Perfect passive indicative
The perfect passive and perfect deponent can be used like an English perfect tense, describing a present state resulting from an earlier event: : (Catullus) :'my girlfriend's pet sparrow died / is dead / has died' : (Cicero) :'since the decree of the Senate hasn't yet been published in writing, I will explain it to you from memory' More often they describe an event in the past, like the English past simple tense: : (Cicero) :'he died in the year before I became censor' : (Cicero) :'where was Sextus Roscius murdered? – in Rome' The participle changes in gender and number to agree with the subject; for example, it can be plural or feminine: : (Caesar) :'they did what they were ordered to do' : (Caesar) :'there were two daughters; of these one was killed, the other captured' The auxiliary verb with these tenses usually follows the participle, but sometimes precedes. This often happens when the auxiliary follows a focussed word, a quantity word, or a conjunction: : (Caesar) :'Domitius, while fleeing from the camp into the mountains, was killed by cavalrymen' : (Livy) :'from there Quinctius set out for Corinth' Sometimes the auxiliary verb or is omitted. This style is often found in the historianFuture perfect passive
The future perfect deponent and passive is usually made with . A typical use is in conditional clauses and temporal clauses referring to the future: : (Cicero) :'if he sets out (lit. will be having set out), I will let you know' : (Nepos) :'enough will have been said, if I add this one thing'Pluperfect passive
The pluperfect passive and pluperfect deponent are made with : : (Cicero) :'on the day before I arrived in Athens he had departed for Mytilene' The future perfect and pluperfect tenses can also have the auxiliary before the participle, sometimes separated by other words: : ( aesar :'Cispius quickly reached the place to which he had been sent' : (Caesar) :'several men from the legions had been left behind in the camp sick'Adjectival participle
Not every perfect participle combined with is a perfect tense, however. Thus in the examples below, the participle does not refer to any event but is merely descriptive or adjectival: : (Caesar) :'Gaul, taken as a whole, is (i.e., can be described as) divided into three parts' : (Seneca the Elder) :'he was prepared (i.e. willing) to pay a ransom'Perfect passive tenses made with ''fuī'' and ''fueram''
Alongside the regular perfect passive tenses described in the previous section, there exists a second set of passive and deponent tenses made with and . These are referred to as 'double forms' by de Melo. In early Latin, they seem to be slightly more common in deponent verbs than in passive ones, though in later Latin this difference is not found. In classical Latin, although these tenses occur, they are only rarely used. In Plautus and Terence the perfect passive or deponent with occurs 25 times compared with 1383 of the regular forms, and the pluperfect indicative with 9 times compared with the regular pluperfect 11 times. In Cicero they are rarer still: the numbers of examples of the six tenses above are 1, 6, 5, 5, 5, 2 respectively. The history of the perfect with is different from the other tenses. For a long time it was rarely used. It remained rare in the Augustan period and does not occur at all in the travelogue of the pilgrim Egeria (4th century AD). Later, however, in the 7th-centuryPerfect indicative with
The perfect passive or deponent tense with in some cases refers to an earlier time than the time of another event mentioned. Woodcock quotes the following example: : (Gellius) :'Sophocles was born before Euripides (was born)' In the following examples, the double perfect refers to a situation which existed a long time earlier, before Ovid was exiled: : (Ovid) :'you were moved at that time by the constancy of a long friendship, which began for me even before you were born' : (Ovid) :'and as I was once accustomed (before I was exiled), I would perhaps have sat, one of a hundred men, as a judge of your words' However, according to de Melo it is not always possible to tell from the context whether the tense with refers to an anterior time or is merely a stylistic variation of an ordinary perfect passive. He contrasts the following two sentences, the first of which is made with and refers to a very recent time; the second is made with and ''may'' refer to a time earlier than the following verb but this is not certain (the speaker goes on to say that after sailing to Egypt he sailed round the most distant coasts, ): : (Plautus) :'I came here on a boat; I am still feeling seasick' : (Plautus) :'I (originally) sailed from here to Egypt' In the following examples, both from the same scene, the meaning of the double perfect seems to be the same as an ordinary perfect: : (Plautus) :'what I swore that I would do, I have done' : (Plautus) :'what you ordered, I have done' Similarly, the following two examples use different tenses, although the context is very similar and the meaning is the same: : (Plautus) :'there's something which I almost forgot to say (earlier) in the house (i.e. before we left the house)' : (Plautus) :'I forgot to tell you when we were inside just now' There is a difference, however, since only the form can be used in sentences like the following where the verb has a present perfect meaning: : (Plautus) :'I don't know ... I've forgotten everything' In some cases, the perfect participle accompanied by is merely adjectival, and does not describe any particular event. Thus in the following example, according to the 19th-century grammarian Madvig, the words do not describe an event but the state in which the temple of Janus was in: : (Livy) :'since Numa's reign the temple of Janus has been in a closed state only twice' The perfect indicative with is not used by Cicero except in the following example, where the participles are adjectival. It refers to a previous situation which has now changed: : (Cicero) :'almost all the things which have now been included in the Arts were once dispersed and scattered' Often, especially from the Augustan period onwards, this tense had no particular anterior meaning but was a mere variation of the perfect passive with . De Melo cites the following example, where the second verb is obviously not anterior to the first: : (Vitruvius) :'the pictures having been cut out were packed in wooden crates and were brought into thePerfect subjunctive with
The perfect subjunctive with is more common than the perfect indicative with . In the Augustan-period writersFuture perfect with
The following example, quoted by Woodcock, contrasts the two passive future perfect tenses. There is a clear difference in time between the two verbs: : (Cicero) :'whatever has (first) proved acceptable to you will be acceptable to him'Pluperfect indicative with
In the following examples, a distinction is made between an earlier situation, expressed by the pluperfect with , and a later situation, expressed by the ordinary pluperfect with : : (Caesar) :'the bridge, which earlier on had been broken by a storm, had now almost been rebuilt' : (Caesar) :'for by this time the corn which had earlier been sown inside the defence walls had been used up' : (Livy) :'indeed a rebellion in Gaul and Liguria, which had arisen earlier on at the beginning of that year, had soon been suppressed without much effort' : (Petronius) :'nor had that cook yet slipped my mind, who had (earlier on) forgotten to gut the piglet' In the following examples, the pluperfect with is used similarly to refer to an earlier situation which later changed, while the later situation is expressed by the perfect tense: : (Cicero) :'the weapons which had (previously) been fixed on the walls were found on the ground' : (Livy) :'in the second half of the fight, Paulus, although (earlier on) right at the beginning of the battle he had been seriously wounded by a sling-shot, nonetheless several times went on to attack Hannibal, with his soldiers in close formation' : (Cicero) :'as for what had been said (earlier) on thePluperfect subjunctive with
Like the pluperfect indicative with , the pluperfect subjunctive with sometimes refers to an earlier time, which is now over. In the following example, Cicero contrasts the time whenSubjunctive mood
TheIn main clauses
Wishes
The present subjunctive can express a wish for the future (the word is usually added): : (Cicero) :'I hope I may see that day!' The negative is : : (Cicero) :'may I not live if I know!' Less commonly, the perfect subjunctive expresses a wish for the past, leaving open the possibility that it may have happened: : (Cicero) :'may I have prophesied correctly!' : (Virgil) :'may it turn out that Trojan ill-fortune has followed us this far, no further!' The perfect subjunctive can also be used in a wish for the future, but this use is described as 'archaic'. : (Cicero) :'but may the gods avert this omen!' The imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive are used in wishes to represent an imagined or wished for situation or event which is no longer capable of fulfilment:Woodcock (1959), p. 154. : (Cicero) :'if only Servius Sulpicius were alive!' : (Cicero) :'if only he had led out all his forces with him!' Sometimes or 'I would that' is used instead of . In the following sentence, the imperfect subjunctive is used to wish for something that cannot now come true, while the present subjunctive leaves open the possibility that it may be true: : (Cicero)Cicero, ''Att.'' 15.4.4. :'I wish it had been true about Menedemus; I hope it may be true about the queen'Jussive subjunctive
When the present subjunctive has a jussive or hortatory meaning, it can be a suggestion or command in the 1st or 3rd person: : (Catullus) :'let's live, my Lesbia, and let's love' : (Gellius) :'let him sit here!' : (Cicero) :'let them go out, let them depart; let them not allow poor Catiline to waste away with desire for them!' In philosophy it can set the scene for a discussion: : (Cicero) :'let us suppose that a good man is selling a house' The jussive subjunctive is only used in the 2nd person when the person is indefinite: : (Virgil) :'may you arise, some avenger, from our bones!' Another use of the present or perfect subjunctive is concessive: : (Cicero) :'he may be a thief, he may be a temple robber, he may be the leader of all outrages and vices; nonetheless he is a good general!' : (Cicero) :'he may have been so to others; when did begin to be so to you?' The present and imperfect subjunctives are also used in deliberative questions (which are questions which expect an imperative answer): : (Cicero) :'what action should I take about Pompey?' : (Virgil) :'what was I to do?' With the negative particle the perfect subjunctive can express a negative command: : :'you should not fear death' As with wishes and conditional sentences, the imperfect and pluperfect subjunctives can represent a situation which, because it is in the past, cannot now be changed. They describe something which should have been done in the past, but which it is now too late for: : (Virgil) :'you should have remained true to your words, o Alban!' : (Cicero) :'he should have died, you will say' This usage is quite common in Plautus but rare in later Latin. The normal prose practice is to use either a past tense of 'I have a duty to' or 'it is proper' with the infinitive, or else a gerundive with a past tense of . The jussive pluperfect is also fairly uncommon. The following examples are from Cicero, again using the negative : : (Cicero) :'you shouldn't have asked' : (Cicero) :'what was it your duty to do? you ought to have returned the money, you ought not to have bought the corn'Possibility
After the word 'perhaps' and occasionally after 'perhaps', the present subjunctive can mean 'may' or 'could', expressing a possibility. The first example below uses the present subjunctive, and the second the perfect: : (Cicero) :'this may perhaps seem harsh' : (Cicero) :'perhaps I have acted rashly' In the following sentence, using the pluperfect subjunctive, according to one view, Queen Dido contemplates what 'might have been': : (Virgil) :'I could have carried torches into the camp and filled the gangways with flames' Others see the pluperfect subjunctive in this sentence as a wish ('if only I had carried!'); others again as jussive ('I ought to have carried!').Conditional sentences
A more common use of the potential subjunctive is in conditional sentences. Conditional sentences with the subjunctive are of two main kinds: the first is the 'ideal' conditional, which supposes an unlikely but theoretically possible future scenario ('if this were to happen'). This kind usually uses the present or perfect subjunctive. The second kind is the 'unreal' (or 'counterfactual'), which imagines a present or past situation which is definitely known to be untrue ('if this were true (which it isn't)'). This kind usually uses the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive.=Ideal type
= Examples of the ideal conditional are the following, using the present subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'if I were to deny that this road is a rough one, I would be lying' : (Cicero) :'if your country were to say this to you, wouldn't it be right for her to be granted her request?' The perfect tense may also (but rarely) sometimes be used in an ideal condition: : (Juvenal) :'these days (if he were to come back to life) no one would give Cicero even two hundred coins, unless a huge ring glittered (on his finger)' : (Plautus) :'if I were to hang myself now, I would simply end up having given pleasure to my enemies' Sometimes the perfect subjunctive refers to present or future time, and means 'could'. For example, in the following idiom the perfect is usual: : (Cicero) :'I couldn't easily say (= I don't think) that I have ever seen anything more beautiful' In the following sentence both 'could' and 'could have' are possible: : (Livy) :'I could have written that the number of captives was as many as sixty, if I were to follow the Greek authority' In other examples, however, the perfect subjunctive definitely refers to the past and means 'could have done' or 'would have done': : (Livy) :'either of these passes would have brought (=Ideal or future conditional in a past context
= Occasionally, an ideal conditional may be shifted to a past context, in which case the tense is the imperfect subjunctive. In indirect sentences of this kind there is in fact no difference between the vivid future and the ideal future conditional: : (Livy) :'fearing that if he were to go without the permission of the consuls, he might be caught and dragged back by the Roman guards, he approached the senate' In the protasis of a conditional clause in indirect speech the imperfect subjunctive can similarly represent a future indicative: : (Livy) :'with the intention of remaining inactive no doubt, unless (at some future time) the Etruscans were to attack of their own accord' It can also have a prospective or future meaning in a relative clause: : (Cicero) :'before dawn he announced those vows which he was never to fulfil'=Unreal (counterfactual) type
= The second type of conditional clause with the subjunctive refers to a situation or an event which is known to be contrary to fact (counterfactual). This kind is known as 'unreal'. If the condition refers to the present time, the imperfect subjunctive is used in both halves: : (Cicero) :'I would write more about this to you, if you were in Rome' : (Cicero) :'if the whole of Sicily were speaking with one voice, she would be saying (would say) this' : (Plautus) :'if he were inside, I would call him out' The pluperfect is used for referring to unreal events in past time. This usage is found as early as Plautus: : (Plautus) :'if you had called him, he would have replied' It is also possible for the protasis to be imperfect subjunctive, and the apodosis pluperfect subjunctive, or the other way round, as in the following examples: : (Seneca) :'how would you react, if you had lost a friend?' : (Livy) :'therefore if I had not given birth, Rome would not now be being attacked; if I did not have a son, I would have died as a free woman in a free country' Sometimes a potential imperfect subjunctive refers to a situation in the past rather than the present: : (Cicero) :'if this man had been in his right mind (at that time), would he have dared to lead out an army?' Sometimes in poetry even a present subjunctive can be used to refer to an unreal past event, where in prose a pluperfect subjunctive would be used in both halves of the sentence: : (Virgil) :'if his learned companion had not warned him, Aeneas would have rushed in and would have beaten aside the ghosts with his sword in vain' In early Latin, a present subjunctive can also be used to make an unreal conditional referring to the present: : (Plautus) :'I wouldn't be asking you, if I knew' However, there was a gradual shift in usage, and in the classical period, and even sometimes in Plautus, the imperfect subjunctive is used in such clauses.=Conditional clauses of comparison
= In a conditional clause of comparison ('as if...') the use of tenses is different from the normal unreal conditional clause. Here the main clause is in the indicative or imperative, and the 'if'-clause follows the sequence of tenses rule, with present or perfect subjunctive for an imaginary present situation, and imperfect or pluperfect for an imaginary past one: : (Quintilian) :'don't be nervous as if you were giving a penny to an elephant' : (Livy) :'fear overcame the senators as great as if the enemy were already at the gates' For other examples of this see Latin conditional clauses#Conditional clauses of comparison.Generalising 2nd person
When a conditional sentence expresses a generalisation, the present subjunctive is used for any 2nd person singular verb, whether in the subordinate clause or the main clause: This generalising subjunctive is found either in a subordinate clause or in the main clause: : (Cato) :'if ever you use iron, it gets worn away' : (Seneca) :'old age is full of pleasure, if you know how to enjoy it' : (Plautus) :'whenever there's a shortage of something, you want it' The 2nd person imperfect subjunctive when potential is nearly always indefinite and generalising, i.e. an imaginary 'you': : (Livy) :'you would have believed them beaten'In subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses containing the subjunctive generally follow the sequence of tenses rule (see below). That is, if the context is present or future, the present or perfect subjunctive is used; but if the context is past, the imperfect or pluperfect.Indirect command
The present or imperfect subjunctive is very commonly found in indirect commands. In the following examples the subjunctive reflects an imperative in direct speech: : (Livy)Livy, 1.58.5. :'she sends a messenger (to say) that they should come' : (Nepos) :'he gave him an order that he should go round all the doors of the building'Purpose clauses
The present or imperfect subjunctive is also used in purpose clauses with such as the following: : ( Rhētorica ad Herennium) :'you should eat so that you can live, not live so that you can eat' A purpose clause can also follow 'who' in sentences such as the following. The context is historic, so the tense of is imperfect subjunctive: : (Nepos) :'the Spartans sent ambassadors to Athens in order to accuse him in his absence'After verbs of fearing
A present or imperfect subjunctive can also have a prospective or future meaning after a verb of fearing or expecting. These are usually introduced by : : (Nepos) :'fearing that he might be handed over to the Romans, he came to Crete' The two negatives and can be combined: : (Cicero) :'I am afraid that I may not be granted my wish'Consecutive (result) clauses
In consecutive (result) clauses, the sequence of tenses rule is not so strictly adhered to. For example, in the following, the perfect subjunctive is used, despite the fact that the main verb is historic: : (Cicero) :'he showed himself to be so tough and energetic that no one ever saw him sitting on a horse' However, after verbs meaning 'it happened that...', the imperfect subjunctive is always used even of a simple perfective action, which, if the grammatical construction did not require a subjunctive, would be expressed by a perfect indicative: : (Nepos) :'it happened that in a single night all the statues of Hermes were thrown down except one'Indirect questions
One of the most common uses of the subjunctive is to indicate reported speech. When a question is made indirect, the verb is always changed into the subjunctive mood. The tense of the subjunctive depends on the tense of the main verb, according to the sequence of tenses rule (see below). When the main verb is present tense, therefore, the present or perfect subjunctive is usually used in the subordinate clause. The present subjunctive can represent what would be a present indicative if the question was direct: : (Catullus) :'do you perhaps ask why I do that?' The perfect subjunctive usually represents what would be a perfect indicative in an independent clause. However, since there is no way of expressing an imperfect tense in primary sequence except using the perfect subjunctive, it could also sometimes represent an imperfect indicative. The perfect subjunctive is generally found when the main verb is one of the primary (i.e. non-past) tenses. One common use is in indirect questions when the context is primary: : (Nepos) :'from this it will be easily conjectured how dear he was to his people' : (Cicero) :'we do not yet know what the ambassadors have done' (or 'were doing', or 'did') : (Seneca the Elder) :'I don't know whether I was standing or sitting' In indirect questions in a historic context, an imperfect subjunctive usually represents the transformation of a present indicative: : (Cicero) :'Epaminondas asked whether his shield was safe' In indirect speech, the pluperfect subjunctive is often a transformation of a perfect indicative in direct speech. In the following example, the original direct question would have had the perfect tense (): : (Cicero) :'I asked Catiline whether he had been at a night-time meeting at Marcus Laeca's house or not' Unlike in clauses following (see below), in indirect questions referring to a future time the periphrastic future subjunctive is regularly used: : (Cicero) :'it is uncertain what he is going to do' : (Cicero) :'people were waiting to see what exactly he was going to do'Phrases of the kind 'I do not doubt' are usually followed by and the subjunctive, much like an indirect question. (The literal meaning of is 'how not'.) The sequence of tenses rule is followed, so that in the following example, a present tense main verb is followed by a perfect (not imperfect) subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'I have no doubt that you were very busy' (original or ) After , if the context is clearly future, a present or imperfect subjunctive can sometimes represent a future tense or potential subjunctive:Woodcock (1959), p. 136 : (Caesar) :'they said that if these things were reported to Ariovistus, they didn't doubt that he would put them all to death' : (Cicero) :'and I didn't doubt that, if the republican government were restored, it would bring me back with it' However, in the following example after , the imperfect subjunctive represents the transformation not of a future, but of a present indicative: : (Curtius) :'nor did the Persians doubt that, now that they had abandoned Issus, the Macedonians were fleeing' To avoid ambiguity, the periphrastic future can also be used when the meaning is future, although this is not as common as in indirect questions: : (Cicero) :'I have no doubt you are going to remain (in the villa) at
Subordinate clauses in indirect speech
Verbs in subordinate clauses in indirect speech are also almost always in the subjunctive mood. This also applies to subordinate clauses when the indirect speech is only implied rather than explicit. Both of the following examples have the perfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'Caesar is pardoning me by means of a letter for the fact that I didn't come' : (Plautus) :'my mother is angry because I didn't return' Similarly in the protasis ('if' clause) of a conditional sentence in indirect speech, a present subjunctive can represent an original future indicative: : (Caesar) :'(Ariovistus told Caesar that) if he did not retreat and withdraw his army, he would treat him as an enemy' In other examples in reported speech, the subjunctive in the 'if' clause represents an original present subjunctive with potential meaning: : (Cicero) :'I believe that Pleasure, if she were to speak for herself, would give way to Dignity' In some sentences, the pluperfect subjunctive is a reflection of an original imperfect indicative, as in the following example, where the original verbs would have been and : : (Livy) :' e saidthat they begged just one favour, that they should be not assigned lower ranks than those which they had held when they were on military service' In other sentences, the pluperfect subjunctive is a transformation of a future perfect indicative, put into historic sequence. The original words of the following sentence would presumably have been 'if you do (will have done) otherwise, you will be doing Caesar a disservice': : (Cicero) :'he said that if the man were to do otherwise, he would be doing Caesar a disservice' : (Livy) :'at this critical moment in the battle, theGeneric clauses
A relative clause which is indefinite ('such as') uses the subjunctive mood in Latin. This is known as a generic relative clause: : (Cicero) :'but there are also some who are saying, Roman citizens, that it was by me that Catiline was sent into exile' : (Cicero) :'there was no one in Lilybaeum who did not see it' The subjunctive can also follow in a restrictive clause: : (Cicero) :'the speeches of Cato, at least such as I have discovered'Causal clauses
The subjunctive mood is also used in clauses which have a causal meaning ('in view of the fact that'), such as after causal . Any tense can be used including the present: : (Cicero) :'since these things are so' In the following sentence the perfect subjunctive is used after with a causal sense ('inasmuch as' or 'in view of the fact that'):Greenough (1903), p. 345. : (Cicero) :'I must be blind that I didn't see this before!'Circumstantial ''cum''
Another very common use of the imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive is the circumstantial -clause with the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive. Here the imperfect subjunctive has the same meaning as an imperfect indicative would have if ''cum'' were omitted: : (Cicero) :'while I was sitting at home in a sad mood,' he said, 'Venerius came running up' : (Cicero) :'when he heard this, he is said to have hurried to Rome'Just as the verb 'I am' has a future infinitive , short for , so it also has a subjunctive , short for . This is not used in Caesar, but is common in Livy, Sallust, and Nepos.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 166. It is used especially in conditional sentences, either in the protasis ('if' clause) or the apodosis (main clause), and it generally has either a potential or future-in-the past meaning.
''Foret'' in an apodosis
In some authors, such as Livy and Sallust, a potential meaning can be given to the pluperfect subjunctive passive by substituting for : : (Livy) :'and the army would have been annihilated if the woods hadn't provided cover for those who were fleeing' : (Livy) :'and the city would have been besieged, if the consul Horatius had not been recalled' : (Sallust) :'but if Catiline had not been late in giving his allies a sign in front of the senate, on that day the worst crime in the history of Rome would have been committed' In other authors, however, the same meaning is expressed using a perfect participle + : : ( aesar :'but if night hadn't interrupted the battle, Caesar would have gained control of the whole enemy fleet'''Foret'' in a protasis
Another use of is in indirect speech after 'if' as the equivalent of the future indicative in the original direct speech: : (Livy) :'Tullus ordered him to keep the young men armed; he would need their help if (at some future time) there was a war with the people of Veii' : (Cicero) :'(he was confident) that even if (the pain) were to be very great, it would be brief' Combined with a perfect participle, it is the equivalent of a future perfect passive in the original speech: : (Sallust) :'he was seeking the consulship, hoping that if he should be elected he would easily manage Antony according to his pleasure' : (Livy) :'the senators began to be afraid that if the army were dismissed, there would be further secret meetings and conspiracies' : (Gellius) :'for fear that, if those letters were to be captured by the enemy, their plans might be known, they used to send letters made in this way' In each of the above sentences, looks to the future, relative to a point in the past.''Foret'' with future meaning
It can also be used with a future-in-the-past meaning in sentences like the following, which are not conditional but indirect speech: : (Cicero) :'he said that he would far rather die in his own bed, whatever might happen in future' : (Sallust) :'and it is said that he did this so that (in future) they would be more trustworthy to one other' : (Livy) :'some were standing still, uncertain whether it would be safer to go forward or to retreat into the camp' : (Gellius) :'Aristotle replied that he would do what they wanted when it was a suitable time for him' : (Cicero) :'the oracle told Priam that he should forbear to raise the first son who was going to be born to him subsequently' In the following sentence the imperfect is typical of letter-writing. An English writer would say 'I have no doubt that he will be...': : (Cicero) :'(at the time of writing this) I personally had no doubt that he would be in Apulia any moment now'''Foret'' with non-future meaning
In other sentences, however, has no future meaning, but simply has the meaning of , as in the following example, where it appears to be used simply for metrical convenience as the equivalent of in the second half: : (Ovid) :'if it were made of ash-wood, it would be light in colour; if cornel-wood, there would be a knot in it' Similarly in the following sentences, it has a past, not future, meaning: : (Terence) :'if I had ever seemed either of these things to you, I wouldn't have been made a mockery of by your deeds in this way' : (Livy) :'blaming one another because, when it had been possible, not all the enemy fleet had been sunk or captured'Archaic forms of the subjunctive
Archaic present subjunctive
An archaic form of the subjunctive of is for , which is very common in Plautus and Terence, but fell out of use later: : (Terence) :'do you know where she is?' Less common is , with the same meaning. This occurs occasionally in Plautus and also once in Lucretius (4.635) and once in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', where the archaic form is presumably appropriate for the speech of the god Jupiter: : (Virgil) :'whether it be Trojan orSigmatic aorist subjunctive
In old Latin, a form of the subjunctive with -s-, known as the sigmatic aorist subjunctive, is preserved ( etc.). One use of this is for wishes for the future:Woodcock (1959), p. 88. : (Plautus) :'may the gods preserve you always!' : (Cicero) :'may the gods ensure that it be allowed' In Plautus this subjunctive is also used in prohibitions, when it exists: : (Plautus) :'don't worry about me!' In other phrases it has a potential meaning and can be translated with 'would': : (Plautus) :'I would willingly do him harm!' : (Livy) :'I do not know exactly, nor, if I knew, would I dare to say'The imperative mood
ThePresent imperative
Positive commands
The present imperative mood is the normal tense used for giving direct orders which the speaker wishes to be carried out at once. The active form can be made plural by adding ''-te'': : (Catullus) :'give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred!' : (Livy)Livy, 1.58.7. :'give me your right hands and your oath!'Negative commands
An imperative is usually made negative by using (literally, 'be unwilling!') plus the infinitive: : (Future imperative
Latin also has a Future imperative or 2nd imperative,Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 174. ending in ''-tō(te)'', used to request someone to do something at a future time, or if something else happens first. This imperative is very common in early writers such as Plautus and Cato, but it is also found in later writers such as Cicero and Martial: : (Plautus) :'ask tomorrow; it will be given to you' : (Terence) :'when we have finished washing, get washed if you wish' : (Cato) :'if you are (going to be) eating it (cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar' : (Cicero) :'if anything happens, write to me' : (Martial) :'Sextillus, laugh a lot at anyone who calls you a 'faggot' and show them the middle finger' Some verbs have only the second imperative, for example 'know', 'remember'. In this case the imperative sometimes has a present rather than future meaning: : (Cicero) :'know that I have been blessed with a little son, and that Terentia is safe' : (Cicero) :'when you're in Britain, take care ... and always remember this...' There is also a future passive imperative, but it is extremely rare. It can be is either 2nd or 3rd person: : (Ausonius) :'A spouse should be joined equal to equal' (or: 'Be joined as a spouse equal to an equal')3rd person formal imperative
Related to the colloquial future imperative is the formal imperative (usually used in the 3rd person) of legal language, as in this invented law from Cicero's : : (Cicero) :'there shall be two men with royal power; and from consulting they are to be called 'consuls'; they are to obey nobody; for them the welfare of the people shall be the supreme law' According to J.G.F. Powell, is not a genuine archaic form; in early Latin is used only in deponent verbs and is 2nd or 3rd person singular.Periphrastic future and gerundive tenses
A series of periphrastic tenses can be formed by combining a future participle (e.g. 'going to lead') or a gerundive (e.g. 'needing to be led') with any tense of the verb 'I am', as follows: The passive tenses formed with the gerundive are sometimes referred to as the 'periphrastic conjugation of the passive'. Although the two series are similar in appearance, they are not parallel in meaning or function. Woodcock writes of the passive form: 'But for the introduction of the idea of necessity, it would form a periphrastic future passive tense parallel to the periphrastic future active.'Woodcock (1959), p. 163. For this reason, examples of the gerundival periphrastic tenses are gathered in a separate section below.Periphrastic indicative
Periphrastic future
The present version of the future periphrastic describes a person's intention at the present time. It can be translated with 'going to', 'planning to', 'intending to', or by using the future continuous 'I'll be doing': : (Cicero) :'Paulla Valeria is going to marry Decimus Brutus' : (Cicero) :'I'm not going to leave until the money is paid'Future periphrastic future
Despite its name, the future periphrastic tense is really a present tense, describing a person's present intentions. For this reason, it can have a future form , used for example in future conditional or future temporal clauses: : (Cicero) :'but if you come to any arrangement with Silius, even if it is on the very day I'll be arriving at Sicca's house, please let me know' : (Martial) :'daringImperfect periphrastic future
A past version of the periphrastic future can be made with the imperfect tense of ''sum'', describing what someone's intentions were at a moment in the past: : (Servius to Cicero) :'on the next day he was intending to sail to Italy' : (Ovid) :'when she saw her face and horns in the water, "o poor me!" she was going to say, but no words came out' In a conditional sentence this tense can mean 'would have done': : (Ovid) :'I was going to remove the faults (i.e. I would have removed them), if I had been free to do it'Perfect periphrastic future
Although less common than the periphrastic future with , the perfect tense version of the periphrastic future is also found:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 164. : (Seneca) :'on the day Cato was defeated in the election, he played; on the night he was going to die, he read' This tense can also be potential, expressing the meaning 'would have done': : ( Curtius) :'if I had not obeyed you, I would rightly have paid the penalty'Pluperfect periphrastic future
An example of this tense is the following: : (Livy) :'... whom the Senate had been intending to order should be declared dictator'Periphrastic subjunctive
Periphrastic present subjunctive
In indirect statements and questions, the active periphrastic future can represent a future or periphrastic future tense of direct speech in primary sequence. In this case there is not necessarily any idea of planning or intention, although there may be: : (Cicero) :'I don't know when I'm going to see you' : (Cicero) :'let me know in detail what you are doing and whether at all you'll be coming to Italy this winter' This tense can also be used in primary sequence reported speech, to represent the main clause in either an ideal conditional sentence or a simple future one (the distinction between these two disappears in indirect speech): : (Cicero) :'we ourselves have never seen such a (perfectly wise) man; but it is explained in the opinions of philosophers what such a person would be like, if one were ever to exist'Periphrastic imperfect subjunctive
If the main verb is in past time, an imperfect version of the periphrastic future subjunctive is used: : (Cicero) :'I wasn't sure whether you were going to receive this letter' It is also possible to form an imperfect periphrastic subjunctive with instead of (the first instance of this is in Sallust): : (Sallust) :'he said that he had come to ask him whether he was intending to make peace or war'Periphrastic perfect subjunctive
A perfect periphrastic subjunctive can be used with a conditional meaning ('would have done') in hypothetical conditional clauses in indirect questions in primary sequence. In this case it represents a pluperfect subjunctive in the original direct speech:Woodcock (1959), p. 139. : (Livy) :'tell us, Appius Claudius, what you would have done, if you had been censor at that time?' : (Cicero) :'can anyone doubt that ifPeriphrastic pluperfect subjunctive
The pluperfect version of the periphrastic subjunctive can be used in a circumstantial clause: : (Cicero) :'when Antony had been about to bring some motion about the republic, a message suddenly arrived about the 4th legion and he lost his composure' It can also be used in conditional sentences after , as in the following sentence from an imaginary letter fromGerundive tenses
Present gerundive
TheNegative
The negative gerundive usually means 'not needing to be', as in the first example above. However, sometimes the interpretation 'ought not to be' or 'it isn't possible for it to be' is more appropriate: : (Seneca) :'you do not need to be reminded now that no one is good except the wise man' : (Ovid) :'the story of Achilles shouldn't (or can't) be told using the metre of Callimachus'Impersonal construction
Very often the passive periphrastic is used impersonally, together with a dative of the agent: : (Cicero) :'a decision needs to be made by you today' The impersonal form of this tense can also be made using intransitive verbs such as 'I go' and verbs such as 'I persuade' and 'I use' which do not take an accusative object: : (Cicero) :'there is no need to reply to everything' : (Cicero) :'I have to go to Arpinum' : (Cicero) :'you must use your judgement'Future gerundive
An example of a future gerundive periphrastic is the following: : (Cicero) :'since that isn't possible, we will need to ask my friend, Marcus Plaetorius'Imperfect gerundive
An example of the imperfect passive periphrastic is the following: : (Cicero) :'he was afraid not only of those things which needed to be feared, but everything'Perfect gerundive
As with the active perfect periphrastic, in a conditional sentence the perfect gerundive periphrastic tense can mean 'would have done': : (Livy) :'if you had delayed just one day, you would all have died' Another meaning of the perfect passive is 'ought to have been done': : (Cicero) :'either his army should have been taken away or he should have been given the command' In the following result clause, this tense becomes subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'what you write about Pomptinus is correct: for the fact is that, if he is going to be in Brundisium before the 1st June, it wasn't so necessary for Marcus Anneius and Lucius Tullius to have been urged to hurry'Future perfect gerundive
The active future perfect periphrastic tense is not found, but the passive occurs: : (Vitruvius) :'whenever (at some future time) it is necessary for a building to be made (using local stone), the stones for it should be quarried two years in advance' For gerundive infinitive tenses see #Gerundive infinitives below.Sequence of tenses rule
Latin speakers used subjunctive verbs to report questions, statements, and ideas. When the verb of telling or asking in the dominant clause is primary, the subjunctive verb in the dependent clause must also be primary; when the verb in the dominant clause is secondary or historic, the subjunctive verb in the dependent clause must also be in a historic tense. This rule can be illustrated with the following table: This rule applies to all kinds of sentences where the dependent verb is put in the subjunctive mood, for example indirect speech, indirect questions, indirect commands, purpose clauses, most consecutive clauses, clauses after verbs of fearing, clauses and others. It does not apply to more loosely connected dependent clauses, such as relative clauses, where the verb is in the indicative. The perfect tense appears in both rows, depending on whether it has a present perfect meaning ('have done', primary) or past simple meaning ('did', historic). But even when it has a present perfect meaning it is often treated as a historic tense (see further below).Examples of primary sequence
Some examples of primary sequence are the following: Present indicative + present subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'they ask where it is' Present subjunctive + present subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'I hope it is true' Present imperative + periphrastic perfect subjunctive: : (Livy)Livy, 9.33.7. :'tell us what you would have done' Present indicative + Perfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'I wonder what the reason was that you changed your plan'Examples of historic sequence
Imperfect indicative + imperfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'people were asking where he was' Imperfect subjunctive + pluperfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'I wish it had been true' Perfect indicative + imperfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'the Senate decreed that he should go at once' Historic infinitive + imperfect subjunctive:Postgate (1905), p. 443. : (Sallust) :'he constantly urged that they be always on their guard and prepared'Perfect tense main verb
When the main verb is a perfect tense, it is usually considered to be a historic tense, as in the above example. Occasionally, however, when the meaning is that of an English present perfect, the perfect in a main clause may be taken as a primary tense, for example: : (Cicero) :'I haven't yet quite made my mind up whether our friend Trebatius has brought me more trouble or pleasure' : (Plautus) :'he has sent me home ahead of him so that I can take this news to his wife' However, the historic sequence after a perfect with present perfect meaning is also very common,Woodcock (1959), p. 102.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 317. for example: : (Cicero) :'you have compelled me to confess' : (Plautus) :'at last I've got him to go away!'Historic present main verb
When the main verb is a historic present, the dependent verb may be either primary or historic, but is usually primary: : (Livy) :'she sends a message that they should come' (both verbs primary) : (Livy) :'they send ambassadors (who were) to ask for peace' (second verb historic) Sometimes both primary and historic are found in the same sentence. In the following example the first dependent verb is primary sequence, but is pluperfect: : (Cicero) :'he asked him to pay attention to what he had said'Exceptions to the sequence of tenses rule
There are frequent exceptions to the sequence of tenses rule, especially outside of indirect speech. For example, in the following sentence, a historic tense is followed by a perfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'what soldier was there who did not see her in Brundisium?' In consecutive clauses also, a perfect tense in the main clause is often followed by a present or a perfect subjunctive: : (Cicero) :'Verres so harried Sicily for three years that it cannot be restored to its original state.' In indirect conditional sentences, the periphrastic perfect subjunctive often remains even after a historic-tense main verb: : (Livy)Livy, 4.38.5. :'nor was there any doubt that if they had been able, the enemies would have turned their backs' The perfect tense also can replace a pluperfect tense with the meaning 'could have' even after a historic verb: : (Livy) :'there was no doubt that, if that delay had not intervened, the Carthaginian camp could have been captured on that day' Caesar and Sallust can sometimes use a present subjunctive in historic sequence when the meaning is jussive (although this practice is not always followed): : (Sallust) :'he replied that if they wished to make any request from the Senate, they should disarm' In general, in Livy, there is a tendency for a present or perfect tense of the original speech to be retained in historic sequence, while Cicero is more strict in following the historic sequence.Andrewes (1951), p. 143. When the main verb is primary, an imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive in a clause that is already subordinate in the original sentence may often remain: : (Livy) :'tell us what you would have done if you had been censor?' In the following, a perfect subjunctive (a primary tense) is treated as if it were a perfect indicative (a historic tense), and so is followed by an imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause: : (Cicero) :'but how it happened that you suspected this from my earlier letters, I don't know'Infinitive tenses
Overview
The various tenses of the infinitive are as follows: The present passive and deponent infinitive usually ends in ''-rī'' (e.g. 'to be loved', 'to promise'), but in 3rd conjugation verbs in ''-ī'' only (e.g. 'to be captured', 'to follow'). In 1st conjugation verbs, the ending is very often shortened to , e.g. 'to have loved'. The irregular verbs 'I am able' and 'I want' have no future infinitive. In these verbs the present infinitive is used instead. In early Latin (especially Plautus), the passive and deponent infinitive often ends in ''-ier'': 'to be scolded', 'to be seen', 'to obtain', 'to wake up' etc.Compound infinitives
The compound infinitives are usually found in the accusative case, as in most of the examples below. Occasionally, however, they are found in the nominative, for example with 'he is said' or 'he seems': : (Cicero) :'he is said to be planning to come' The participle can also change to show gender and plurality, as in the following where is feminine plural: : (Cicero) :'it is agreed that an ambush was made' However, the passive future infinitive () is made using theOmission of
Often the part of a compound infinitive is omitted when combined with a participle or gerundive: : (Seneca) :'he heard that his brother had been killed' : (Caesar) :'Pompey reckoned that it was necessary for him to attempt to attempt something' : (Cicero) :'I am sure that I will come to the city soon'Historic infinitive
The present infinitive is occasionally used in narrative as a tense in its own right. It usually describes a scene in which the same action was being done repeatedly. There are often two or more historic infinitives in succession. When the subject is expressed, it is in the nominative case (distinguishing the historic infinitive from the'Could have done'
The perfect tense with the infinitive can often mean 'I was able to' or 'I managed to': : (Cicero) :'Scipio managed to make Publius Rupilius Consul, but he wasn't able to do the same for Rupilius's brother Lucius' However, it can also mean 'I could have done (but did not)': : (Cicero) :'what I was and what I could have been, I can now no longer be' : (Juvenal) :'(Cicero) could have despised Antony's swords (i.e. would have had no reason to fear them), if he had spoken everything in this way!' : (Cicero) :'you ask what more Plancius could have achieved, if he had been the son of Gnaeus Scipio' The pluperfect subjunctive after also means 'could have': : (Livy) :'although he could have led them out into battle, Aemilius held his troops inside the wall of the camp''Ought to have done'
'Ought to have done' is often expressed with a past tense of 'I have a duty to' or 'it is fitting' together with a present infinitive: : (Cicero) :'you ought not to have come to the Senate on that day' : (Cicero) :'you ought to have been put to death long ago by order of the Consul, Catiline!' Sometimes, means 'it must be the case that...': : (Cicero) :'if there was a lot of dust on his shoes, he must have been coming from a journey' Sometimes, in familiar style, can be used with the perfect infinitive passive: : (Cicero) :'this ought to have been done long ago' The indirect speech form is regularly with the present infinitive: : (Cicero) :'they say I ought not to have built the house'Indirect commands with the infinitive
Indirect commands are made with two constructions: either (or ) with the present or imperfect subjunctive, or theIndirect statements
The infinitive is very commonly used for the reported verb in indirect statements. Except with passive sentences using 'he is said' or 'he seems' and the like, the subject of the quoted sentence is usually put into the accusative case and the construction is known as an 'accusative and infinitive'. The rule of tense is that the present infinitive is used for any action or situation which is contemporary with the main verb, the perfect for actions or situations anterior to the main verb, and the future infinitive for actions or situations later than the main verb. An exception to this rule is the verb 'I remember', which when used of personal reminiscence (e.g. 'I remember being present') is usually followed by a present infinitive.Present infinitive
The present infinitive is used to express an action or situation simultaneous with the verb of speaking: : (Cicero) :'Solon pretended that he was mad' : (Livy) :'Brutus noticed that an attack was being made on him' The present infinitive used after when describing a personal reminiscence, however, refers to the past: : (Seneca the Elder) :'I remember going into his school when he was just about to recite a speech against Milo'Perfect infinitive
In indirect statements, a perfect infinitive represents an event or a situation which occurred prior to the time of the verb of speaking. The first two examples have a verb of speaking in the present tense: : (Cicero) :'you say that your bodyguard was killed' : (Cicero) :'he is said to have written these books at that time' In the following the main verb is in a past tense, so that in English the pluperfect is used when translating the infinitive: : ( aesar :'they learnt that Caesar had come' : (Servius to Cicero) :he reported to me that Marcus Marcellus had been stabbed with a dagger and had received two wounds' The infinitive can describe a situation in the past, earlier than the time of the verb of speaking: : (Livy) :'they say that his father was a butcher' The perfect infinitive may also at times be translated with a continuous tense in English, representing an imperfect tense in the original speech: : (Nepos) :'it is said that at that time the mother of Pausanias was still living' Often the verb of speaking is omitted if it can be understood from the context: : (Livy) :'a terrible thing had happened' (she said)Perfect infinitive with
Occasionally a perfect passive infinitive is found formed with instead of . The meaning of the two forms is different. The perfect infinitive with merely refers to an event which took place before the time of the verb of speaking (e.g. ('he reported that Marcellus had been killed'). Thus there are two times involved, the time of the verb of speaking and the time of the event referred to. But when the perfect infinitive has there are three times involved: the time of the verb of the speaking, the reference time, and a time earlier still when the event took place. Just as a perfect tense can describe a current situation (e.g. 'he has died' = 'he is dead'), so a double perfect infinitive often describes a situation that existed at the time referred to, as in the following examples: : (Future infinitive
The active future infinitive is formed periphrastically, using the future participle, for example 'to be going to lead'. The participle often occurs in the accusative case and can change for gender and number , etc). One verb, 'I am', has a non-compound future infinitive , equivalent to . The future infinitive is used in reported speech for events or situations which are to take place later than the verb of speaking: : (Cicero) :'I am sure that you will do everything' : (Plautus) :'promise that this will be (so)' In a past context the future infinitive is translated with 'would' instead of 'will': : (Plautus) :'I believed it would be annoying for you' As with the perfect passive infinitive, is often omitted: : (Nepos) :'they would easily find the place where he was (he said)' The verb 'I am able' has no future infinitive, but the present infinitive can have a future meaning: : (Caesar) :'they hope that they will be able to gain control of the whole of Gaul' A future passive infinitive can be made using theFuture perfect infinitive
To express a future perfect tense in indirect statement is possible only if the verb is passive or deponent. In the following examples, a perfect participle is combined with the future infinitive : : (Livy) :'the Carthaginians thought that the war was soon going to have been brought to an end' : (Cicero) :'if someone were to remove fear, all carefulness of life would have been removed too' : (Cicero) :'I can say this, that I will have achieved enough, if no danger redounds on me' Very rarely can be followed by a perfect or pluperfect subjunctive. In the following example, the pluperfect subjunctive represents a future perfect indicative of direct speech: : (Cicero to Plancus) :'I hope (''epistolary imperfect'') that by the time you receive this letter, what I requested from you in my earlier letter will have been granted'Periphrastic perfect infinitive
The periphrastic perfect infinitive (or potential infinitive) is formed from the future participle with . It is used in indirect speech for representing the main verb of an unreal conditional, whether referring to a past time or present time. In the following examples the verb refers to past time, and in the original sentence would have been pluperfect subjunctive: : (Livy) :'but take this message to him, that I would have died better if I had not married on the day of my funeral!' : (Cicero) :'he said that if I had not been consul, the republic would have been completely finished' If the introductory verb is passive, such as 'he seems', the participle is nominative: : (Quintilian) :'it is unlikely that he would have told a lie unless he had been desperate' The same tense of the infinitive can also represent the transformation into indirect statement of an imperfect potential subjunctive, referring to a hypothetical present situation: : (Cicero) :'do you think any old woman would ever be so crazy as to believe in dreams if they didn't come true by chance sometimes?' : (Pliny) :'what do we think would be happening to him if he were alive?' – 'he would be dining with us!' : (Cicero) :'they confess that they would not lift a finger for the sake of virtue, unless virtue itself gave pleasure' In such sentences the imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause (in this case ) is left unchanged, despite the fact that the main verb is primary. Just as is used to make a future passive infinitive, so with the imperfect subjunctive can be used to make a potential passive infinitive: : (Caesar) :'if at that very moment certain reports had not arrived bringing news of Caesar's victory, most people reckoned that (the town) would have been lost' However this is very rare, and in fact only two instances have been noted (the other being Cicero, ''Tusc.'' 3.69).Gerundive infinitives
Gerundive infinitives can be formed with and . The present gerundive infinitive with is used in indirect speech to indicate something which needs to be done at the time of the verb of speaking: : (Cicero) :'I think something should be given to the doctor himself' The ending of the gerundive varies according to gender and number. In the following it is feminine singular: : (Gellius) :'he says that in the name "Valerius" in the vocative case, the first syllable should be accented' The order of the words can be reversed: : (Cicero) :'I do not think there is any need to doubt' The perfect gerundive infinitive with indicates something that was necessary at a previous time: : (Cicero) :'I imagine that it was unavoidable for you to undertake that journey to Asia' However, it can also refer to what ought to have been done at some time in the past: : (Livy) :'what, pray, ought a praetor to have done?' In a conditional clause in reported speech the perfect gerundive infinitive can also refer to something that would have been necessary in some hypothetical situation: : (Tacitus) :'and (he said that) there wouldn't be anyone who would have to die sooner than himself if Silius were Emperor' The future gerundive infinitive is made with . It is used in indirect statements to describe something which it is going to be necessary to do: : (Curtius) :'and so he had ordered his men to lay out their camp in that very place, delighted that it was going to be necessary to fight the decisive battle in that particular narrow plain' (seeParticiples
Compared to Greek, Latin is deficient in participles, having only three, as follows, as well as the gerundive. The Romans themselves considered the gerundive also to be a participle, but most modern grammars treat it as a separate part of speech. The different participles of the verb are shown below: The participles are all verbal adjectives, and so the ending changes according to case, gender, and number. As the table shows, there is no passive present or future participle, and no active past participle. In deponent verbs, however, the Perfect participle is active in meaning, e.g. , 'having set out', 'having tried'. In deponent verbs, the gerundive is usually used in impersonal form and with an active meaning: 'it is necessary to set out', 'it is necessary to die', 'it is necessary to try'; but some deponent verbs have a personal gerundive with a passive sense: 'needing to be encouraged', 'needing to be followed': : (Columella) :'a middle course must be followed' The present and future participles of deponent verbs are active in form, e.g. 'dying', 'about to die'. Originally deponent verbs had no present participle and perfect participles such as 'thinking' and 'fearing' were used with a present meaning. The verb 'I am' has no Present or Perfect participle in classical Latin, but only the Future participle 'going to be'. The compound verbs and , however, form the Present participles . The verbs 'I want' and 'I am able' have no future participle. , the present participle of , has a limited use as an adjective meaning 'powerful'. The 3rd and 4th conjugation gerundive in older texts such as Plautus ends with ''-undus'': , , . Such endings are sometimes found even in classical Latin. Later, ''-endus'' became usual, but in the verb 'I go', the gerundive is always 'necessary to go'. Like the infinitive, the tenses of the participles are not absolute but relative to the main verb of the sentence. For example, a future participle can refer to an action in the past, provided it is later than the time of the main verb; and similarly the perfect participle can refer to an action in the future, provided it is earlier than the time of the main verb.Present participle
The present participle usually describes a condition or an action which is happening at the time of the main verb: : (Cicero) :'he was doused with boiling water' : (Livy) :'having drawn his sword, he came to Lucretia while she was sleeping' Occasionally, a present participle can refer to an action which takes place immediately before the time of the main verb: : (Livy) :'and to her husband, when he asked "are you all right?" she replied "not at all!" ' Present participles of deponent verbs are only very rarely found in early Latin (although Plautus is said to have written a play called 'Those dying together') but they became common later.Perfect participle
The perfect participle refers to an action which took place before the time of the main verb, or to the state that something is in as a result of an earlier action: : ( Eutropius) :'he buried the dead (those who had been killed)' A deponent participle such as 'thinking, reckoning' or 'fearing' can often be translated as if it were present: : (Nepos) :'thinking this a suitable time for pursuing his studies, he went to Athens'Future participle
The future participle is most commonly used in the periphrastic tenses or in indirect statements (see examples above). 'An examination of the usage of the various authors shows that the form in ''-ūrus'' did not reach the full status of a participle till the time of Livy. Up to the time of Caesar and Cicero its use was almost restricted to a combination with the verb , making a periphrastic future tense (Woodcock). Woodcock speculates that the ''-ūrus'' ending might originally have been a verbal noun. In later authors the future participle is sometimes used as in Greek to indicate purpose: : (Pliny)Pliny, ''Ep.'' 6.16.9. :'he launched some warships, with a view to bringing help'Bibliography
*Aerts, Simon (2018)References
{{reflist, 20emExternal links
*University of Chicago Perseus under PhiloLogic searchable corpus