436. The syntax of the verb relates chiefly to the use of the moods (which express the manner in which the action is conceived) and the tenses (which express the time of the action). There is no difference in origin between mood and tense; and hence the uses of mood and tense frequently cross each other. Thus the tenses sometimes have modal significations (compare Indicative in Apodosis, § 517.c; Future for Imperative, § 449.b); and the moods sometimes express time (compare Subjunctive in Future Conditions, § 516.b, and notice the want of a Future Subjunctive).
The parent language had, besides the imperative mood, two or more forms with modal signification. Of these, the subjunctive appears with two sets of terminations, -ā-m, -ā-s, in the present tense (moneam, dīcam), and -ē-m, -ē-s, in the present (amem) or other tenses (essem, dīxissem). The optative was formed by iē-, ī-, with the present stem (sim, duim) or the perfect (dīxerim). (See details in § 168 - § 169.)
Each mood has two general classes or ranges of meaning. The uses of the subjunctive may all be classed under the general ideas of will or desire and of action vividly conceived; and the uses of the optative under the general ideas of wish and of action vaguely conceived.
It must not be supposed, however, that in any given construction either the subjunctive or the optative was deliberately used because it denoted conception or possibility. On the contrary, each construction has had its own line of development from more tangible and literal forms of thought to more vague and ideal; and by this process the mood used came to have in each case a special meaning, which was afterwards habitually associated with it in that construction. Similar developments have taken place in English. Thus, the expression I would do this has become equivalent to a mild command, while by analysis it is seen to be the apodosis of a present condition contrary to fact (§ 517): if I were you, etc. By further analysis, I would do is seen to have meant, originally, I should have wished (or I did wish) to do.
In Latin, the original subjunctive and the optative became confounded in meaning and in form, and were merged in the subjunctive, at first in the present tense. Then new tense forms of the subjunctive were formed,1 and to these the original as well as the derived meanings of both moods became attached (see § 438). All the independent uses of the Latin subjunctive are thus to be accounted for.
The dependent uses of the subjunctive have arisen from the employment of some independent subjunctive construction in connection with a main statement. Most frequently the main statement is prefixed to a sentence containing a subjunctive, as a more complete expression of a complex idea (§ 268). Thus a question implying a general negative (Quīn rogem? Why shouldn't I ask?) might have the general negative expressed in a prefixed statement (Nūlla causa est. There is no reason.); or Abeat. Let him go away, may be expanded into Sine abeat. When such a combination comes into habitual use, the original meaning of the subjunctive partially or wholly disappears and a new meaning arises by implication. Thus, in Mīsit lēgātōs quī dīcerent, etc. He sent ambassadors to say, etc. (i.e. who should say), the original hortatory sense of the subjunctive is partially lost, and the mood becomes in part an expression of purpose. Similar processes may be seen in the growth of apodosis. Thus, tolle hanc opīniōnem, lūctum sustuleris (remove this notion, you will have done away with grief; i.e. if you remove, etc.).
The infinitive is originally a verbal noun (§ 451), modifying a verb like other nouns: volō vidēre, lit. I wish for-seeing; compare English “What went ye out for to see?” But in Latin it has been surprisingly developed, so as to have forms for tense, and some proper modal characteristics, and to be used as a substitute for finite moods.
The other noun and adjective forms of the verb have been developed in various ways, which are treated under their respective heads below.
The proper verbal constructions may be thus classified.
| I. Indicative: | Direct Assertion or Question (§ 437) | |
| II. Subjunctive: | a. Independent Uses: | 1. Exhortation or Command (§ 439) |
| 2. Concession (§ 440) | ||
| 3. Wish (§ 441). | ||
| 4. Question of Doubt etc. (§ 444) | ||
| 5. Possibility or Contingency (§ 446) | ||
| b. Dependent Uses: | 1. Conditions Future (less vivid) (§ 516.b-c) Contrary to Fact (§ 517) | |
| 2. Purpose (with ut, nē) (§ 531) | ||
| 3. Characteristic (Relative Clause) (§ 535) | ||
| 4. Result (with ut, ut nōn) (§ 537) | ||
| 5. Time (with cum) (§ 546). | ||
| 6. Intermediate (Indirect Discourse) (§ 592) | ||
| 7. Indirect Questions or Commands (§ 574, § 588) | ||
| III. Imperative: | 1. Direct Commands (often Subjunctive) (§ 448). | |
| 2. Statutes, Laws, and Wills (§ 449.2) | ||
| 3. Prohibitions (early or poetic use) (§ 450.a) | ||
| IV. Infinitive: | a. Subject of esse and Impersonal Verbs (§ 452, § 454) | |
| b. Objective Constructions: | 1. Complementary Infinitive (§ 456) | |
| 2. Indirect Discourse (with Subject Accusative) (§ 580) | ||
| c. Idiomatic Uses: | 1. Purpose (poetic or Greek use) (§ 460). | |
| 2. Exclamation (with Subject Accusative) (§ 462). | ||
| 3. Historical Infinitive (§ 463). | ||
437. The indicative is the mood of direct assertions or questions when there is no modification of the verbal idea except that of time.
a. The indicative is sometimes used where the English idiom would suggest the subjunctive.
Longum est.
It would be tedious [if, etc.].
Satius erat.
It would have been better [if, etc.].
Persequī possum.
I might follow up [in detail].
Note— Substitutes for the indicative are (1) the Historical Infinitive (§ 463), and (2) the Infinitive in Indirect Discourse (§ 580). For the Indicative in Conditions, see §§ 515 - 516; for the Indicative in Implied Commands, see § 449.b.
438. The subjunctive in general expresses the verbal idea with some modification1 such as is expressed in English by auxiliaries, by the infinitive, or by the rare subjunctive (§ 157.b).
a. The subjunctive is used independently to express:
For the special idiomatic uses of the Subjunctive in Apodosis, see § 514.
b. The subjunctive is used in dependent clauses to express:
c. The subjunctive is also used with Conditional Particles of Comparison (§ 524), and in Subordinate Clauses in the Indirect Discourse (§ 580).
439. The Hortatory Subjunctive is used in the present tense to express an exhortation or a command. The negative is nē.
Hōs latrōnēs interficiāmus (B. G. 7.38)
Let us kill these robbers.
Caveant intemperantiam, meminerint verēcundiae. (Off. 1.122)
Let them shun excess and
cherish modesty.
Note 1— The Hortatory Subjunctive occurs rarely in the perfect (except in prohibitions, § 450)
Epicūrus hōc vīderit. (Acad. 2.19)
Let Epicurus look
to this.
Note 2— The term Hortatory Subjunctive is sometimes restricted to the first person plural, the 2nd and 3rd persons being designated as the Jussive Subjunctive; but the constructions are substantially identical.
Note 3— Once in Cicero and occasionally in the poets and later writers the negative with the Hortatory Subjunctive is nōn
Ā lēgibus nōn recēdāmus. (Clu. 155)
Let us not abandon the
laws.
a. The 2nd person of the Hortatory Subjunctive is used only of an indefinite subject, except in prohibitions, in early Latin, and in poetry.
Iniūriās fortūnae, quās ferre nequeās, dēfugiendō relinquās. (Tusc. 5.118)
The wrongs of
fortune, which you cannot bear, leave behind by flight.
Exoriāre aliquis ultor. (Aen. 4.625)
Rise, some avenger.
Istō bonō ūtāre dum adsit, cum absit nē requīrās. (Cat. M. 33)
Use this blessing while it
is present; when it is wanting do not regret it.
Doceās iter et sacra ōstia pandās. (Aen. 6.109)
Show us the way and lay open the sacred
portals.
For negative commands (Prohibitions), see § 450.
b. The imperfect and pluperfect of the Hortatory Subjunctive denote an unfulfilled obligation in past time.
Morerētur, inquiēs. (Rab. Post. 29)
He should have died, you will say.
Potius docēret. (Off. 3.88)
He should rather have taught.
Nē poposcissēs. (Att. 2.1.3)
You should not have asked.
Saltem aliquid dē pondere dētrāxisset (Fin. 4.57)
At least he should have taken something
from the weight.
Note 1— In this construction the pluperfect usually differs from the Imperfect only in more clearly representing the time for action as momentary or as past.
Note 2— This use of the subjunctive is carefully to be distinguished from the potential use (§ 446). The difference is indicated by the translation, should or ought (not would or might).
440. The Hortatory Subjunctive is used to express a concession.1 The present is used for present time, the perfect for past. The negative is nē
Sit fūr, sit sacrilegus: at est bonus imperātor (Verr. 5.4)
Grant he is a thief, a godless
wretch: yet he is a good general.
Fuerit aliīs; tibi quandō esse coepit? (Verr. 2.1.37)
Suppose he was [so] to others; when
did he begin to be to you?
Nēmō is umquam fuit: nē fuerit. (Or. 101)
There never was such a one [you will
say]: granted.
(Let there not have been)
Nē sit summum malum dolor, malum certē est (Tusc. 2.14)
Granted that pain is not the
greatest evil, at least it is an evil.
Note— The Concessive Subjunctive with quamvīs and licet is originally hortatory (§ 527.a-b).
For other methods of expressing Concession, see § 527. For the Hortatory Subjunctive denoting a Proviso, see § 528.a.
441. The optative subjunctive is used to express a wish. The present tense denotes the wish as possible, the Imperfect as unaccomplished in present time, the pluperfect as unaccomplished in past time. The negative is nē.
Ita vīvam (Att. 5.15)
As true as I live, so may I live
Ne vīvam sī sciō. (id. 4.16.8)
I wish I may not live if I know.
Dī tē perduint! (Deiot. 21)
The gods confound thee!
Valeant, valeant cīvēs meī; sintincolumēs. (Mil. 93)
Farewell, farewell to my fellow
citizens; may they be secure from harm.
Dī facerent sine patre forem! (Ov. M. 8.72)
Would that the gods allowed me to be without a
father!
(but they do not)
a. The perfect subjunctive in a wish is archaic.
Dī faxint. (Fam. 14.3.3)
May the gods grant.
Quod dī ōmen āverterint. (Phil. 12.14, in a religious formula)
And may the gods avert this
omen.
442. The optative subjunctive is often preceded by the particle utinam; so regularly in the imperfect and pluperfect.
Falsus utinam vātēs sim (Liv. 21.10.10)
I wish I may be a false prophet.
Utinam Clōdius vīveret. (Mil. 103)
Would that Clodius were now alive.
Utinam mē mortuum vīdissēs. (Q. Fr. 1.3.1)
Would you had seen me dead.
Utinam nē vērē scrīberem (Fam. 5.17.3)
Would that I were not writing the truth.
Note— Utinam nōn is occasionally used instead of utinam nē
utinam susceptus nōn essem (Att. 9.9.3)
Would that I had
not been born.
a. In poetry and old Latin utī or ut often introduces the optative subjunctive; and in poetry sī or ō sī with the subjunctive sometimes expresses a wish.
Ut pereatpositum rōbīgine tēlum. (Hor. S. 2.1.43)
May the weapon unused perish with
rust.
Ō sī angulus ille accēdat! (id. 2.6.8)
O if that corner might only be added!
Sī nunc sē nōbīs ille aureus rāmus ostendat. (Aen. 6.187)
If now that golden branch would
only show itself to us!
Note 1— The subjunctive with utī (ut) or utinam was originally
deliberative, meaning How may I?, etc. (§ 444). The subjunctive with sī or ō sī is a protasis (§
Note 2— The subjunctive of wish without a particle is seldom found in the Imperfect or Pluperfect except by sequence of tenses in indirect discourse (§ 585).
ac venerāta Cerēs, ita culmō surgeretaltō (Hor. S. 2.2.124)
and Ceres worshipped [with libations] that so she might rise with tall stalk
[In addressing the goddess directly the prayer would be: ita surgās]
b. Velim and vellem, and their compounds, with a subjunctive or infinitive, are often equivalent to an optative subjunctive.
Velim tibi persuādeās. (Fam. 9.13.2)
I should like to have you believe
(I should
wish that you would persuade yourself).
Dē Menedēmō vellem vērum fuisset, dē rēgīnā velim vērum sit. (Att. 15.4.4)
About Menedemus
I wish it had been true; about the queen I wish it may be.
Nōllem accidisset tempus. (Fam. 3.10.2)
I wish the time never had come.
Māllem Cerberum metuerēs. (Tusc. 1.12)
I had rather have had you afraid of
Cerberus
(I should have preferred that you feared Cerberus).
Note— Velim etc., in this use, are either potential subjunctives, or apodoses with the protasis omitted (§ 447.1, Note). The thing wished may be regarded as a substantive clause used as object of the verb of wishing (§ 565, Note 1).
443. The subjunctive was used in sentences of interrogative form, at first when the speaker wished information in regard to the will or desire of the person addressed. The mood was therefore hortatory in origin. But such questions when addressed by the speaker to himself, as if asking his own advice, become deliberative or, not infrequently, merely exclamatory. In such cases the mood often approaches the meaning of the Potential (see § 445). In these uses the subjunctive is often called Deliberative or Dubitative.
444. The subjunctive is used in questions implying (1) doubt, indignation, or (2) an impossibility of the thing's being done. The negative is nōn.
Quid agam, iūdicēs? Quō mē vertam? (Verr. 5.2)
What am I to do, judges? Whither shall I
turn?
Etiamne eam salūtem? (Pl. Rud. 1275)
Shall I greet her?
Quid hōc homine faciās? Quod supplicium dīgnum libīdinī êius inveniās? (Verr. 2.40)
What
are you to do with this man? What fit penalty can you devise for his wantonness?
An ego nōn venīrem?(Phil. 2.3)
What, should I not have come?
Quid dīcerem? (Att. 6.3.9)
What was I to say?
Cēlāverit īgnem? (Ov. H. 15.7)
Who could conceal the flame?
Note— tThe hortatory origin of some of these questions is obvious. Thus, Quid faciāmus? = Faciāmus [aliquid], quid? Let us do what? (Compare the expanded form Quid vīs faciāmus? What do you wish us to do?) Once established, it was readily transferred to the past.
Quid faciam?
What AM I to do?
Quid facerem?
What WAS I to do?
Questions implying impossibility, however, cannot be distinguished from apodosis (cf. § 517).
a. In many cases the question has become a mere exclamation, rejecting a suggested possibility.
Mihi umquam bonōrum praesidium dēfutūrum putārem! (Mil. 94)
Could I think that the defence
of good men would ever fail me!
Note— The Indicative is sometimes used in deliberative questions.
Quid agō?
What am I to do?
445. Of the two principal uses of the subjunctive in independent sentences (cf. § 436), the second, or Potential Subjunctive,1 is found in a variety of sentences whose common element is the fact that the mood represents the action as merely conceived or possible, not as desired (hortatory, optative) or real (indicative). Some of these uses are very old and may go back to the Indo-European parent speech, but no satisfactory connection between the Potential and the Hortatory and optative subjunctive has been traced. There is no single English equivalent for the Potential Subjunctive; the mood must be rendered, according to circumstances, by the auxiliaries would, should, may, might, can, or could.
446. The Potential Subjunctive is used to suggest an action as possible or conceivable. The negative is nōn. In this use the present and the perfect refer without distinction to the immediate future; the imperfect (occasionally the perfect) to past time; the pluperfect (which is rare) to what might have happened.
447. The Potential Subjunctive has the following uses:
Pāce tuā dīxerim. (Mil. 103)
I would say by your leave.
haud sciam an (Lael. 51)
I should incline to think
Velim sīc exīstimēs. (Fam. 12.6)
I should like you to think so.
certum affīmāre nōn ausim (Liv. 3.23)
I should not dare to assert as sure
Note— Vellem, nōllem, or māllem expressing an unfulfilled wish in present time may be classed as independent Potential Subjunctive or as the apodosis of an unexpressed condition (§ 521).
Vellem adesset M. Antōnius. (Phil. 1.16)
I could wish
Antony were here.
Crēdās nōn dē puerō scrīptum sed ā puerō (Plin. Ep. 4.7.7)
You would think that it was
written not about a boy but by a boy.
Crēderēs victōs. (Liv. 2.43.9)
You would have thought them conquered.
Reōs dīcerēs (id. 2.35.5)
You would have said they were culprits.
Vidērēs susurrōs. (Hor. S. 2.8.77)
You might have seen them
whispering.
(lit. whispers)
Fretō assimilāre possīs.(Ov. M. 5.6)
You might compare it to a sea.
Nīl ego contulerim iūcundō sānus amīcō. (Hor. S. 1.5.44)
When in my senses I should
compare nothing with an interesting friend.
Fortūnam citius reperiās quam retineās. (Pub. Syr. 168)
You may sooner find fortune
than keep it.
aliquis dīcat (Ter. And. 640)
somebody may say
Note— In this use the subjunctive may be regarded as the apodosis of an undeveloped protasis. When the conditional idea becomes clearer, it finds expression in a formal protasis, and a conditional sentence is developed.
a. Forsitan (perhaps) regularly takes the Potential Subjunctive except in later Latin and in poetry, where the indicative is also common.
Forsitan quaerātisquī iste terror sit. (Rosc. Am. 5)
You may perhaps inquire what this
alarm is.
Forsitan temerē fēcerim. (id. 31)
Perhaps I have acted rashly.
Note— The subjunctive clause with forsitan ( = fors sit an) was originally an indirect question: it would be a chance whether, etc.
b. Fortasse (perhaps) is regularly followed by the indicative; sometimes, however, by the subjunctive, but chiefly in later Latin.
Quaerēs fortasse. (Fam. 15.4.13)
Perhaps you will ask.
Note— Other expressions for perhaps are (1) forsan (chiefly poetical; construed with the indicative or the subjunctive, more commonly the indicative), fors (rare and poetical; construed with either the indicative or the subjunctive). Forsit (or fors sit) occurs once (Hor. S. 1.6.49) and takes the subjunctive. Fortasse is sometimes followed by the infinitive with subject accusative in Plautus and Terence. Fortassis (rare; construed like fortasse) and fortasse an (very rare; construed with the subjunctive) are also found.
448. The imperative is used in commands and entreaties.
Cōnsulite vōbīs, prōspicite patriae, cōnservātevōs. (Cat. 4.3)
Have a care for yourselves,
guard the country, preserve yourselves.
Dīc, Mārce Tullī, sententiam.
Marcus Tullius, state your opinion.
Tē ipsum concute. (Hor. S. 1.3.35)
Examine yourself.
Vīve, valēque. (id. 2.5.110)
Farewell, bless you!
(Live and be well!)
Miserēre animī nōn dīgna ferentis. (Aen. 2.144)
Pity a soul bearing undeserved
misfortune.
a. The 3rd person of the imperative is antiquated or poetic.
Ollīs salūs populī suprēma lēx estō. (Legg. 3.8)
The safety of the people shall be their
first law.
Iūsta imperia suntō, eīsque cīvēs modestē pārentō. (id. 3.6)
Let there be lawful
authorities, and let the citizens strictly obey them.
Note— In prose the Hortatory Subjunctive is commonly used instead (§ 439).
449. The future imperative is used in commands, etc., where there is a distinct reference to future time.
Crās petitō, dabitur. (Pl. Merc. 769)
Ask tomorrow [and] it shall be given.
Cum valētūdinī cōnsulueris, tum cōnsulitō nāvigātiōnī. (Fam. 16.4.3)
When you have
attended to your health, then look to your sailing.
Phyllida mitte mihī, meus est nātālis, Iollā; cum faciam vitulā prō frūgibus, ipse venītō. (Ecl. 3.76)
Send Phyllis to me, it is my birthday, Iollas; when I [shall] sacrifice a heifer for the harvest, come yourself.
Dīc quibus in terrīs, etc., et Phyllida sōlus habētō. (id.
3.107)
Tell in what lands, etc., and have Phyllis for yourself.
Is iūris cīvīlis cūstōs estō. (Legg. 3.8)
Let him (the prætor) be the guardian of civil right.
Boreā flante, nē arātō, sēmen nē iacitō (Plin. H. N. 18.334)
When the north wind
blows, plough not nor sow your seed.
a. The verbs sciō, meminī, and habeō (in the sense of consider) regularly use the future imperative instead of the present.
Fīliolō mē auctum scītō. (Att. 1.2)
Learn that I am blessed with a little boy.
Sīc habētō, mī Tirō (Fam. 16.4.4)
So understand it, my good Tiro.
Dē pallā mementō, amābō. (Pl. Asin. 939)
Remember, dear, about the gown.
b. The future indicative is sometimes used for the imperative; and quīn (why not?) with the present indicative may have the force of a command.
Sī quid acciderit novī, faciēsut sciam (Fam. 14.8)
You will let me know if anything new
happens.
Quīn accipis. (Ter. Haut. 832)
Here, take it.
(why not take it?)
c. Instead of the simple imperative, cūrā ut, fac (fac ut), or velim, followed by the subjunctive (§ 565), is often used, especially in colloquial language.
Cūrā ut Rōmae sīs. (Att. 1.2)
Take care to be at Rome.
Fac ut valētūdinem cūrēs. (Fam. 14.17)
See that you take care of your health.
Domī adsītis facite. (Ter. Eun. 506)
Be at home, do.
Eum mihi velimmittās. (Att. 8.11)
I wish you would send it to me.
For Commands in Indirect Discourse, see § 588. For the Imperative with the Force of a Conditional Clause, see § 521.b.
Prohibition (Negative Command)
450. Prohibition is regularly expressed in classic prose (1) by nōlī with the infinitive, (2) by cavē with the present subjunctive, or (3) by nē with the perfect subjunctive.1
(1) Nōlī putāre. (Lig. 33)
Do not suppose.
(be unwilling to suppose)
Nōlī impudēns esse (Fam. 12.30.1)
Don't be shameless.
Nōlīte cōgere sociōs (Verr. 2.1.82)
Do not compel the allies.
(2) Cavē putēs. (Att. 7.20)
Don't suppose.
(take care lest you suppose)
Cavē īgnōscās. (Lig. 14)
Do not pardon.
Cavē festīnēs. (Fam. 16.12.6)
Do not be in haste.
(3) Nē necesse habueris. (Att. 16.2.5)
Do not regard it as necessary.
Nē sīs admīrātus. (Fam. 7.18.3)
Do not be surprised.
Hōc facitō; hōc nē fēceris (Div. 2.127)
Thou shalt do this, thou shalt not do that.
Nē Apellae quidem dīxeris. (Fam. 7.25.2)
Do not tell Apella even.
Nē vōs quidem mortem timueritis (Tusc. 1.98)
Nor must you fear death.
All three of these constructions are well established in classic prose. The first, which is the most ceremonious, occurs oftenest; the third, though not discourteous, is usually less formal and more peremptory than the others.
Note 1— Instead of nōlī the poets sometimes use other imperatives of similar meaning (cf. § 457.a).
Parce piās scelerāre manūs. (Aen. 3.42)
Forbear to defile
your pious hands.
Cētera mitte loquī (Hor. Epod. 13.7)
Forbear to say the
rest.
Fuge quaerere (Hor. Od. 1.9.13)
Do not
inquire.
Note 2— Cavē nē is sometimes used in prohibitions; also vidē nē and (colloquially) fac nē.
Fac nēquid aliud cūrēs. (Fam. 16.11)
See that you attend to nothing else.
Note 3— The present subjunctive with nē and the perfect with cavē are found in old writers; nē with the present is common in poetry at all periods.
Nē exspectētis. (Pl. Ps. 1234)
Do not wait.
Nē metuās. (Mart. Ep. 1.70.13)
Do not fear.
Cave quicquam responderis (Pl. Am. 608)
Do not make any
reply.
Note 4— Other negatives sometimes take the place of nē.
Nihil īgnōveris.(Mur. 65)
Grant no
pardon.
(pardon nothing)
Nec mihi illud dīxeris. (Fin. 1.25)
And do not say this to
me.
Note 5— The regular connective, and do not, is nēve.
a. The present imperative with nē is used in prohibitions by early writers and the poets.
Nē timē. (Pl. Curc. 520)
Don't be afraid.
Nimium nē crēdecolōrī. (Ecl. 2.17)
Do not trust too much to complexion.
equō nē crēdite (Aen. 2.48)
Do not trust the horse.
b. The future imperative with nē is used in prohibitions in laws and formal precepts (see § 449.2, above).
451. The infinitive is properly a noun denoting the action of the verb abstractly. It differs, however, from other abstract nouns in the following points: (1) it often admits the distinction of tense; (2) it is modified by adverbs, not by adjectives; (3) it governs the same case as its verb; (4) it is limited to special constructions.
The Latin infinitive is the dative or locative case of such a noun1 and was originally used to denote purpose; but it has in many constructions developed into a substitute for a finite verb. Hence the variety of its use.
In its use as a verb, the infinitive may take a subject accusative (§ 397.e), originally the object of another verb on which the infinitive depended. Thus Iubeō tē valēre is literally I command you for being well (cf. substantive clauses, § 562, Note).
452. The infinitive, with or without a subject accusative, may be used with est and similar verbs (1) as the subject, (2) in apposition with the subject, or (3) as a predicate nominative.1
Dolēre malum est. (Fin. 5.84)
To suffer pain is an evil.
Bellum est sua vitia nōsse. (Att. 2.17)
It's a fine thing to know one's own
faults.
Praestat compōnere fluctūs. (Aen. 1.135)
It is better to calm the waves.
proinde quasi iniūriam facere id dēmum esset imperiō ūtī (Sall. Cat. 12)
just as if
this and this alone, to commit injustice, were to use power
[Here facere is in apposition with id.]
Id est convenienter nātūrae vīvere. (Fin. 4.41)
That is to live in conformity with
nature.
[Cf. ūtī in the last example.]
Note 1— An infinitive may be used as direct object in connection with a predicate accusative (§ 393), or as appositive with such direct object.
Istuc ipsum nōn essecum fueris miserrimum putō. (Tusc. 1.12)
For I think this very thing most wretched, not to be when one has been.
[Here istuc ipsum belongs to the noun nōn esse.]
Miserārī, invidēre, gestīre, laetārī, haec omnia morbōs Graecī appellant (id.
3.7)
To feel pity, envy, desire, joy—all these things the Greeks call diseases.
[Here the infinitives are in apposition with haec]
Note 2— An appositive or predicate noun or adjective used with an Infinitive ín any of these constructions is put in the accusative, whether the infinitive has a subject expressed or not.
Nōn esse cupidum pecūnia est (Par. 51)
To be free from
desires (not to be desirous) is money in hand.
[No subject accusative.]
a. The infinitive as subject is not common except with est and similar verbs. But sometimes, especially in poetry, it is used as the subject of verbs which are apparently more active in meaning.
Quōs omnīs eadem cupere, eadem ōdisse, eadem metuere, in ūnum coēgit. (Iug. 31)
All of
whom the fact of desiring, hating, and fearing the same things has united into one.
Ingenuās didicisse fidēliter artīs ēmollit mōrēs. (Ov. P. 2.9.48)
Faithfully to have
learned liberal arts softens the manners.
Posse loquī ēripitur. (Ov. M. 2.483)
The power of speech is taken away.
453. Rarely the infinitive is used exactly like the accusative of a noun.
Beātē vīvere aliī in aliō, vōs in voluptāte pōnitis. (Fin. 2.86)
A happy life
different [philosophers] base on different things, you on pleasure.
Quam multa ... facimus causā amīcōrum, precārī ab indīgnō, supplicāre, etc.(Lael. 57)
How
many things we do for our friends' sake, ask favors from an unworthy person, resort to entreaty, etc.
Nihil explōrātum habeās, nē amāre quidem aut amārī. (id. 97)
You have nothing assured, not
even loving and being loved.
Note— Many complementary and other constructions approach a proper accusative use of the infinitive, but their development has been different from that of the examples above.
Avāritia ... superbiam, crūdēlitātem, deōs neglegere, omnia vēnālia habēre ēdocuit (Sall. Cat. 10)
Avarice taught pride, cruelty, to neglect the gods, and to hold everything at a price.
454. The infinitive is used as the apparent subject with many impersonal verbs and expressions. Such are libet, licet, oportet, decet, placet, vīsum est, pudet, piget, necesse est, opus est, etc.
Libet mihi cōnsīderāre. (Quinct. 48)
It suits me to consider.
Necesse est morī. (Tusc. 2.2)
It is necessary to die.
Quid attinet glōriōsē loquīnisi cōnstanter loquāre? (Fin. 2.89)
What good does it do to
talk boastfully unless you speak consistently?
Neque mē vīxisse paenitet. (id. 84)
I do not feel sorry to have lived.
Gubernāre mē taedēbat. (Att. 2.7.4)
I was tired of being pilot.
Note— This use is a development of the Complementary Infinitive (§ 456); but the infinitives approach the subject construction and may be conveniently regarded as the subjects of the impersonals.
455. With impersonal verbs and expressions that take the infinitive as an apparent subject, the personal subject of the action may be expressed:
Rogant ut id sibifacere liceat (B. G. 1.7)
They ask that it be allowed them to do
this.
Nōn lubet enim mihi. dēplōrāre vītam (Cat. M. 84)
For it does not please me to lament
my life.
Vīsum est mihi dē senectūte aliquid cōnscrībere. (id. 1)
It seemed good to me to write
something about old age.
Quid est tam secundum nātūram quam senibus ēmorī? (id. 71)
What is so much in
accordance with nature as for old men to die?
Exstinguī hominīsuō tempore optābile est (id. 85)
For a man to die at the appointed
time is desirable.
sī licet vīvere eumquem Sex. Naevius nōn volt (Quinct. 94)
if it is allowed a man to
live against the will of Sextus Nœvius.
Nōnne oportuit praescīsse mēante? (Ter. And. 239)
Ought I not to have known
beforehand?
Ōrātōrem īrāscī minimē decet. (Tusc. 4.54)
It is particularly unbecoming for an orator
to lose his temper.
Pudēret mēdīcere. (N. D. 1.109)
I should be ashamed to say.
Cōnsilia ineunt quōrum eōsin vestīgiō paenitēre necesse est. (B. G. 4.5)
They form
plans for which they must at once be sorry.
Note— Libet, placet, and vīsum est take the dative only; oportet, pudet, piget, and generally decet, the accusative only; licet and necesse est take either case.
a. A predicate noun or adjective is commonly in the accusative; but with licet regularly, and with other verbs occasionally, the dative is used.
Expedit bonās esse vōbīs (Ter. Haut. 388)
It is for your advantage to be good.
Licuit esse ōtiōsō Themistoclī. (Tusc. 1.33)
Themistocles might have been
inactive.
(It was allowed to Themistocles to be inactive)
Mihi neglegentī esse nōn licet. (Att. 1.17.6)
I must not be negligent.
[But also
neglegentem]
Cūr hīs esse līberōs nōn licet? (Flacc. 71)
Why is it not allowed these men to be free?
Nōn est omnibus stantibus necesse dīcere. (Marc. 33)
It is not necessary for all to speak
standing.
Note— When the subject is not expressed, as being indefinite (one, anybody), a predicate noun or adjective is regularly in the accusative (cf. § 452.3, Note 2).
vel pāce vel bellō clārum fierī licet (Sall. Cat. 3)
One
can become illustrious either in peace or in war.
456. Verbs which imply another action of the same subject to complete their meaning take the Infinitive without a subject accusative. Such are verbs denoting to be able, dare, undertake, remember, forget, be accustomed, begin, continue, cease, hesitate, learn, know how, fear, and the like.
Hōc queō dīcere. (Cat. M. 32)
This I can say.
Mittō quaerere. (Rosc. Am. 53)
I omit to ask.
Vereor laudāre praesentem. (N. D. 1.58)
I fear to praise a man to his face.
Ōrō ut mātūrēs venīre. (Att. 4.1)
I beg you will make haste to come.
Oblīvīscī nōn possum quae volō. (Fin. 2.104)
I cannot forget that which I wish.
Dēsine id mē docēre. (Tusc. 2.29)
Cease to teach me that.
Sīcere solēbat.
She used to say.
Audeō dīcere.
I venture to say.
Loquī posse coepī.
I began to be able to speak.
Note— The peculiarity of the Complementary Infinitive construction is that no subject accusative is in general admissible or conceivable. But some infinitives usually regarded as objects can hardly be distinguished from this construction when they have no subject expressed. Thus volō dīcere and volō mē dīcere mean the same thing (I wish to speak), but the latter is an object infinitive, while the former is not apparently different in origin and construction from queō dīcere (complementary infinitive), and again volō eum dīcere (I wish him to speak) is essentially different from either (cf. § 563.b).
457. Many verbs take either a subjunctive clause or a complementary infinitive, without difference of meaning. Such are verbs signifying willingness, necessity, propriety, resolve, command,prohibition, effort, and the like (cf. § 563)
Dēcernere optābat (Q. C. 3.11.1)
He was eager to decide.
Optāvit ut tollerētur. (Off. 3.94)
He was eager to be taken up.
Oppūgnāre contendit. (B. G. 5.21)
He strove to take by storm.
ut caperet (id. 5.8)
he strove to take
Bellum gerere cōnstituit (id. 4.6)
He decided to carry on war.
Cōnstitueram ut manērem. (Att. 16.10.1)
I had decided to remain.
Note 1— For the infinitive with subject accusative used with some of these verbs instead of a complementary infinitive, see § 563.
Note 2— Some verbs of these classes never take the subjunctive, but are identical in meaning with others which do.
Eōs quōstūtārī dēbent dēserunt. (Off. 1.28)
They forsake
those whom they ought to protect.
Aveō pūgnāre. (Att. 2.18.3)
I'm anxious to
fight.
a. In poetry and later writers many verbs may have the infinitive, after the analogy of verbs of more literal meaning that take it in prose.
Furit tē reperīre. (Hor. Od. 1.15.27)
He rages to find thee.
[A forcible way of
saying cupit (§ 457; § 563.b).]
Saevit exstinguere nōmen. (Ov. M. 1.200)
He rages to blot out the name.
Fuge quaerere (Hor. Od. 1.9.13)
Forbear to ask. (cf. § 450, Note 1)
Parce piās scelerāre manūs. (Aen. 3.42)
Forbear to defile your pious hands.
458. A Predicate Noun or Adjective after a Complementary Infinitive takes the case of the subject of the main verb.
Fierīque studēbam êius prūdentiā doctior. (Lael. 1)
I was eager to become more wise
through his wisdom.
Sciō quam soleās esse occupātus (Fam. 16.21.7)
I know how busy you usually
are.
(are wont to be)
Brevis esse labōrō, obscūrus fīō (Hor. A. P. 25)
I struggle to be brief, I become
obscure.
Infinitive with Subject Accusative
459. The infinitive with subject accusative is used with verbs and other expressions of knowing, thinking, telling, and perceiving (Indirect Discourse, § 579).
Dīcit montem ab hostibus tenērī. (B. G. 1.22)
He says that the hill is held by the
enemy.
[Direct: mōns ab hostibus tenētur.]
Infinitive of Purpose
460. In a few cases the infinitive retains its original meaning of purpose.
a. The infinitive is used in isolated passages instead of a subjunctive clause after habeō, dō, and ministrō.
Tantum habeō pollicērī. (Fam. 1.5 A. 3)
So much I have to promise.
[Here the
more formal construction would be quod pollicear.]
ut Iovī bibere ministrāret (Tusc. 1.65)
to serve Jove with wine (to drink).
merīdiē bibere datō (Cato R. R. 89)
give (to) drink at noonday.
b. Parātus, suētus, and their compounds, and a few other participles (used as adjectives), take the Infinitive like the verbs from which they come.
id quod parātī sunt facere (Quint. 8)
that which they are ready to do
adsuēfactī superārī (B. G. 6.24)
used to being conquered
currū succēdere suētī (Aen. 3.541)
used to being harnessed to the chariot
cōpiās bellāre cōnsuētās (B. Afr. 73)
forces accustomed to fighting
Note— In prose these words more commonly take the gerund or gerundive construction (§ 503 ff.) either in the genitive, the dative, or the accusative with ad.
īnsuētus nāvigandī (B. G. 5.6)
unused to making
voyages
alendīs līberīs suēti (Tac. Ann. 14.27)
accustomed to
supporting children
corpora īnsuēta ad onera portanda (B. C. 1.78)
bodies
unused to carry burdens
c. The poets and early writers often use the infinitive to express purpose when there is no analogy with any prose construction.
Fīlius intrō iit vidēre quid agat. (Ter. Hec. 345)
Your son has gone in to see what he is
doing.
[In prose: the Supine vīsum]
Nōn ferrō Libycōs populāre Penātīs vēnimus. (Aen. 1.527)
We have not come to lay waste
with the sword the Libyan homes.
Lōrīcam dōnat habērevirō (id. 5.262)
He gives the hero a breastplate to wear.
[In prose: habendam]
Note— So rarely in prose writers of the classic period. For the infinitive used instead of a Substantive Clause of Purpose, see § 457. For tempus est abīre, see § 504, Note 2.
Peculiar Infinitives
461. Many adjectives take the Infinitive in poetry, following a Greek idiom.
dūrus compōnere versūs (Hor. S. 1.4.8)
harsh in composing verse
cantārī dīgnus (Ecl. 5.54)
worthy to be sung
[In prose: quī cantētur]
fortis trāctāre serpentīs (Hor. Od. 1.37.26)
brave to handle serpents
cantāre perītī (Ecl. 10.32)
skilled in song
facilēs aurem praebēre (Prop. 3.14.15)
ready to lend an ear
nescia vincī pectora (Aen. 12.527)
hearts not knowing how to yield
tē vidēre aegrōtī (Plaut. Trin. 75)
sick of seeing you
a. Rarely in poetry the infinitive is used to express result.
Fingit equum docilem magister īreviam quā mōnstret eques. (Hor. Ep. 1.2.64)
The trainer
makes the horse gentle so as to go in the road the rider points out.
Hīc levāre . . . pauperem labōribus vocātus audit (Hor. Od. 2.18.38)
He, when called,
hears, so as to relieve the poor man of his troubles.
Note— These poetic constructions were originally regular and belong to the infinitive as a noun in the dative or locative case (§ 451). They had been supplanted, however, by other more formal constructions, and were afterwards restored in part through Greek influence.
b. The infinitive occasionally occurs as a pure noun limited by a demonstrative, a possessive, or some other adjective.
hōc nōn dolēre (Fin. 2.18)
this freedom from pain
Cf. tōtum hōc beātē vīvere (Tusc. 5.33)
this whole matter of the happy life
nostrum vīvere (Per. 1.9)
our life (to live)
scire tuum (id. 1.27)
your knowledge (to know)
Exclamatory Infinitive
462. The infinitive, with subject accusative,1 may be used in exclamations (cf. § 397. d).
Tē in tantās aerumnās propter mē incidisse! (Fam. 14.1)
Alas, that you
should have fallen into such grief for me!
Mēne inceptō dēsisterevictam (Aen. 1.37)
What! I beaten desist from my purpose?
Note 1— The interrogative particle -ne is often attached to the emphatic word (as in the second example).
Note 2— The present and the perfect infinitive are used in this construction with their ordinary distinction of time (§ 486).
a. A subjunctive clause, with or without ut, is often used elliptically in exclamatory questions. The question may be introduced by the interrogative -ne.
Quamquam quid loquor? Tē ut ūlla rēs frangat! (Cat. 1.22)
Yet why do I speak? [The
idea] that anything should bend you!
Egone ut tē interpellem (Tusc. 2.42)
What, I interrupt you?
Ego tibi īrāscerer (Q. Fr. 1.3)
I angry with you?
Note— The infinitive in exclamations usually refers to something actually occurring; the subjunctive, to something contemplated.
Historical Infinitive
463. The infinitive is often used for the imperfect indicative in narration, and takes a subject in the nominative.
Tum Catilīna pollicērī novās tabulās. (Sall. Cat. 21)
Then Catiline promised abolition of
debts (clean ledgers).
Ego īnstāre ut mihi respondēret. (Verr. 2.188)
I kept urging him to answer me.
Pars cēdere, aliī īnsequī; neque sīgna neque ōrdinēs observāre; ubi quemque perīculum cēperat, ibi resistere ac prōpulsāre; arma, tēla, equī, virī, hostēs
atque cīvēs permixtī; nihil cōnsiliō neque imperiō agī; fors omnia regere. (Iug. 51)
A part give way, others press on; they hold neither to standards nor ranks; where danger
overtook them, there each would stand and fight; arms, weapons, horses, men, foe and friend, mingled in confusion; nothing went by counsel or command; chance ruled all.
Note— This construction is not strictly historical, but rather descriptive, and is never used to state a mere historical fact. It is rarely found in subordinate clauses. Though occurring in most of the writers of all periods, it is most frequent in the historians Sallust, Livy, Tacitus. It does not occur in Suetonius.
464. The number of possible tenses is very great. For in each of the three times, present, past, and future, an action may be represented as on-going, completed, or beginning; as habitual or isolated; as defined in time or indefinite (aoristic); as determined with reference to the time of the speaker, or as not itself so determined but as relative to some time which is determined; and the past and future times may be near or remote. Thus a scheme of thirty or more tenses might be devised.
But, in the development of forms, which always takes place gradually, no language finds occasion for more than a small part of these. The most obvious distinctions, according to our habits of thought, appear in the following scheme.
| 1. Definite | 2. Indefinite | ||
| INCOMPLETE | COMPLETE | NARRATIVE | |
| Present: | a. I am writing. | d. I have written. | g. I write. |
| Past: | b. I was writing. | e. I had written. | h. I wrote. |
| Future: | c. I shall be writing. | f. I shall have written. | i. I shall write. |
Most languages disregard some of these distinctions, and some make other distinctions not here given. The Indo-European parent speech had a present tense to express a. and g., a perfect to express d., an aorist to express h., a future to express c. and i., and an imperfect to express b. The Latin, however, merged the perfect and aorist into a single form (the Perfect scrīpsī), thus losing all distinction of form between d. and h., and probably in a great degree the distinction of meaning. The nature of this confusion may be seen by comparing dīxī, dicāvī, and didicī (all perfects derived from the same root, DIC), with ἔδειξα, Skr. adiksham, δέδειχα, Skr. dideça. Latin also developed two new forms, those for e. (scrīpseram) and f. (scrīpserō), and thus possessed six tenses, as seen in § 154.c.
The lines between these six tenses in Latin are not hard and fast, nor are they precisely the same that we draw in English. Thus in many verbs the form corresponding to I have written (d.) is used for those corresponding to I am writing (a.) and I write (g.) in a slightly different sense, and the form corresponding to I had written (e.) is used in like manner for that corresponding to I was writing (b.). Again, the Latin often uses the form for I shall have written (f.) instead of that for I shall write (i.). Thus, nōvī (I have learned) is used for I know; cōnstiterat (He had taken his position) for He stood; cōgnōverō (I shall have learned) for I shall be aware. In general a writer may take his own point of view.
465. The present tense denotes an action or state (1) as now taking place or existing, and so (2) as incomplete in present time, or (3) as indefinite, referring to no particular time, but denoting a general truth.
Senātus haec intellegit, cōnsul videt, hīc tamen vīvit. (Cat. 1.2)
The senate knows this,
the consul sees it, yet this man lives.
Tibi concēdō meās sēdīs. (Div. 1.104)
I give you my seat.
(an offer which may or
may not be accepted)
exspectō quid velīs (Ter. And. 34)
I await your pleasure (what you wish).
Tū āctiōnem īnstituis, ille aciem īnstruit. (Mur. 22)
You arrange a case, he arrays an
army.
[The present is here used of regular employment.]
Minōra dī neglegunt. (N. D. 3.86)
the gods disregard trifles.
[General truth]
Obsequium amīcōs, vēritās odium parit. (Ter. And. 68)
Flattery gains friends, truth
hatred.
[General truth]
Note— The present of a general truth is sometimes called the Gnomic Present.
a. The present is regularly used in quoting writers whose works are extant.
Epicūrus vērō ea dīcit. (Tusc. 2.17)
Epicurus says such things.
Apud illum Ulixēs lāmentāturin volnere (id. 2.49)
In him (Sophocles), Ulysses laments over his wound.
Polyphēmum Homērus cum ariete colloquentem facit. (id. 5.115)
Homer brings in
(makes) Polyphemus talking with his ram.
466. The present with expressions of duration of time (especially iam diū, iam dūdum) denotes an action continuing in the present, but begun in the past (cf. § 471.b). In this use the present is commonly to be rendered by the perfect in English.
Iam diū īgnōrō quid agās. (Fam. 7.9)
For a long time I have not known what you were doing.
Tē iam dūdum hortor. (Cat. 1.12)
I have long been urging you.
Patimur multōs iam annōs. (Verr. 5.126)
We suffer now these many years.
[The
Latin perfect would imply that We no longer suffer.]
Annī sunt octō cum ista causa versātur. (cf. Clu. 82)
it is now eight years that this case
has been in hand.
Annum iam audīs Cratippum. (Off. 1.1)
For a year you have been a hearer of Cratippus.
Adhūc Plancius mē retinet. (Fam. 14.1.3)
So far Plancius has kept me here.
Note 1— The difference in the two idioms is that the English states the beginning and leaves the continuance to be inferred, while the Latin states the continuance and leaves the beginning to be inferred. Compare he has long suffered (and still suffers) with he still suffers (and has suffered long).
Note 2— Similarly the present imperative with iam dūdum indicates that the action commanded ought to have been done or was wished for long ago (cf. the perfect imperative in Greek).
Iam dūdum sūmite poenās. (Aen. 2.103)
Exact the penalty
long delayed.
467. The present sometimes denotes an action attempted or begun in present time, but never completed at all (Conative Present, cf. § 471.c).
Iam iamque manū tenet. (Aen. 2.530)
And now, even now, he attempts to grasp him.
Dēnsōs fertur in hostīs. (id. 2.511)
He starts to rush into the thickest of the foe.
Dēcernō quīnquāgintā diērum supplicātiōnēs. (Phil. 14.29)
I move for fifty days'
thanksgiving.
Cf. Senātus dēcrēvit.
The senate
ordained.
468. The present, especially in colloquial language and poetry, is often used for the Future.
īmusne sessum? (De Or. 3.17)
Shall we take a seat?
(Are we going to sit?)
Hodiē uxōrem dūcis? (Ter. And. 321)
Are you to be married today?
Quod sī fit, pereō funditus (id. 244)
If this happens, I am utterly undone.
Ecquid mē adiuvās? (Clu. 71)
Won't you give me a little help?
In iūs vocō tē. Nōn eō. Nōn īs? (Pl. Asin. 480)
I summon you to the court. I won't go. You
won't?
Note— Eō and its compounds are especially frequent in this use (cf. Where are you going to-morrow? and the Greek εἶμι in a future sense). Verbs of necessity, possibility, wish, and the like (as possum, volō, etc.) also have reference to the future.
For other uses of the Present in a future sense, see under Conditions (§ 516.a, Note), antequam and priusquam (§ 551.c), dum (§ 553, Note 2), and § 444.a, Note.
469. The present in lively narrative is often used for the Historical Perfect.
Affertur nūntius Syrācūsās; curritur ad praetōrium; Cleomenēs in pūblico esse nōn audet; inclūditsē domī. (Verr. 5.92)
The news is brought to Syracuse; they run to headquarters; Cleomenes does not venture to be abroad; he shuts himself up at home.
Note— This usage, common in all languages, comes from imagining past events as going on before our eyes (repraesentātiō, § 585.b.Note). For the present indicative with dum (while) see § 556.
a. The present may be used for the perfect in a summary enumeration of past events (Annalistic Present).
Rōma interim crēscit Albae ruīnīs: duplicātur cīvium numerus; Caelius additur urbī mōns. (Liv. 1.30)
Rome meanwhile grows as a result of the fall of Alba: the number of citizens is doubled; the Cœlian hill is added to the town.
470. The imperfect denotes an action or a state as continued or repeated in past time.
Hunc audiēbant anteā. (Manil. 13)
They used to hear of him before.
[Sōcratēs] ita cēnsēbat itaque disseruit (Tusc. 1.72)
[Socrates] thought so (habitually),
so he spoke (then).
Prūdēns esse putābātur. (Lael. 6)
He was (generally) thought wise.
[The perfect would refer to some particular case, and not to a state of things.]
Iamque rubēscēbat Aurōra. (Aen. 3.521)
And now the dawn was blushing.
Āra vetus stābat. (Ov. M. 6.326)
An old altar stood there.
Note— The imperfect is a descriptive tense and denotes an action conceived as in progress or a state of things as actually observed. Hence in many verbs it does not differ in meaning from the Perfect. Thus rēx erat and rēx fuit may often be used indifferently; but the former describes the condition while the latter only states it. The English is less exact in distinguishing these two modes of statement. Hence the Latin imperfect is often translated by the English preterite.
Haeduī graviter ferēbant, neque lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittere audēbant (B. G. 5.6)
The Hædui were displeased, and did not dare to send envoys to Cæsar.
[Here the Imperfects describe the state of things.]
BUT
Id tulit factum graviter Indūtiomārus. (id. 5.4)
Indutiomarus was displeased at this action.
[Here the perfect merely states the fact.]
Aedificia vīcōsque habēbant. (id. 4.4)
They had buildings
and villages.
471. The imperfect represents a present tense transferred to past time. Hence all the meanings which the present has derived from the continuance of the action belong also to the imperfect in reference to past time.
a. The imperfect is used in descriptions.
Erant omnīnō itinera duo ... mōns altissimus impendēbat. (B. G. 1.6)
There were in all two
ways . . . a very high mountain overhung.
b. With iam diū, iam dūdum, and other expressions of duration of time, the imperfect denotes an action continuing in the past but begun at some previous time (cf. § 466). In this construction the imperfect is rendered by the English pluperfect.
Iam dūdum flēbam. (Ov. M. 3.656)
I had been weeping for a long time.
cōpiās quās diū comparābant (Fam. 11.13.5)
the forces which they had long been getting
ready
c. The imperfect sometimes denotes an action as begun (Inceptive Imperfect), or as attempted or only intended (Conative Imperfect; cf § 467).
In exsilium ēiciēbam quem iam ingressum esse in bellum vidēbam? (Cat. 2.14)
Was I trying
to send into exile one who I saw had already gone into war?
Hunc igitur diem sibi prōpōnēns Milō, cruentīs manibus ad illa augusta centuriārum auspicia veniēbat? (Mil. 43)
Was Milo coming, etc.?
(i.e. was it likely that he would come)
Sī licitum esset veniēbant. (Verr. 5.129)
They were coming if it had been
allowed.
(they were on the point of coming, and would have done so if, etc.)
Note— To this head may be referred the imperfect with iam, denoting the beginning of an action or state.
Iamque arva tenēbant ultima.(Aen. 6.477)
And now they were
just getting to the farthest fields.
d. The imperfect is sometimes used to express a surprise at the present discovery of a fact already existing.
Ō tū quoque aderās! (Ter. Ph. 858)
Oh, you are here too!
Ehem, tūn hīc erās, mī Phaedria? (Ter. Eun. 86)
What! you here, Phœdria?
Ā miser! quantā labōrābās Charybdī! (Hor. Od. 1.27.19)
Unhappy boy, what a whirlpool you
are struggling in [and I never knew it]!
e. The imperfect is often used in dialogue by the comic poets where later writers would employ the perfect.
ad amīcum Calliclem quoi rem aībatmandāsse hīc suam (Pl. Trin. 956)
to his friend
Callicles, to whom, he said, he had intrusted his property
Praesāgībat mī animus frūstrā mē īre quom exībam domō. (Pl. Aul. 178)
My mind mistrusted
when I went from home that I went in vain.
Note— So, in conversation the imperfect of verbs of saying (cf. as I was saying) is common in classic prose.
at medicī quoque, ita enim dīcēbās, saepe falluntur (N. D. 3.15)
but physicians also—for that is what you were saying just now—are often mistaken.
Haec mihi ferē in mentem veniēbant, etc. (id. 2.67, 168)
This is about what occurred to me, etc.
[In a straightforward narration this would be vēnērunt.]
f. The imperfect with negative words often has the force of the English auxiliary could or would.
Itaque (Dāmoclēs) nec pulchrōs iliōs ministrātōrēs aspiciēbat. (Tusc. 5.62)
Therefore he could not look upon those beautiful slaves.
[In this case did not would not express the idea of continued prevention of enjoyment by the overhanging sword.]
Nec enim dum eram vōbīscum animum meum vidēbātis. (Cat. M. 79)
For, you know, while I was
with you, you could not see my soul.
[Here the perfect would refer only to one moment.]
Lentulus satis erat fortis ōrātōr, sed cōgitandī nōn ferēbat labōrem. (Brut 268)
Lentulus
was bold enough as an orator, but could not endure the exertion of thinking hard.
For the Epistolary Imperfect, see § 479; for the imperfect indicative in apodosis contrary to fact, see § 517.b-c.
472. The future denotes an action or state that will occur hereafter.
a. The future may have the force of an Imperative (§ 449.b).
b. The future is often required in a subordinate clause in Latin where in English futurity is sufficiently expressed by the main clause.
Cum aderit vidēbit.
When he is there he will see.
(cf. § 547).
Sānābimur sī volēmus. (Tusc. 3.13)
We shall be healed if we
wish
(cf. § 516. a)
Note— But the present is common in future protases (§ 516.a, Note).
473. The perfect denotes an action either as now completed (Perfect Definite), or as having taken place at some undefined point of past time (Historical or Aoristic Perfect). The Perfect Definite corresponds in general to the English perfect with have; the Historical Perfect to the English preterite (or past).
ut ego fēcī, quī Graecās litterās senex didicī (Cat. M. 26)
as I have done, who have
learned Greek in my old age
Diūturnī silentī fīnem hodiernus diēs attulit. (Marc. 1)
This day has put an end to my
long-continued silence.
Tantum bellum extrēmā hieme apparāvit, ineunte vēre suscēpit, mediā aestāte cōnfēcit. (Manil. 35)
So great a war he made ready for at the end of winter, undertook in early spring, and finished by midsummer.
Note— The distinction between these two uses is represented by two forms in most other Indo-European languages, but was almost if not wholly lost to the minds of the Romans. It must be noticed, however, on account of the marked distinction in English and also because of certain differences in the sequence of tenses.
a. The indefinite present, denoting a customary action or a general truth (§ 465), often has the perfect in a subordinate clause referring to time antecedent to that of the main clause.
Quī in compedibus corporis semper fuērunt, etiam cum solūtī sunt tardius ingrediuntur. (Tusc. 1.75)
Those who have always been in the fetters of the body, even when released move more slowly.
Simul ac mihi collibitum est, praestō estimāgō. (N. D. 1.108)
As soon as I have taken a
fancy, the image is before my eyes.
Haec morte effugiuntur, etiam sī nōn ēvēnērunt, tamen quia possuntēvenīre (Tusc. 1.86)
These things are escaped by death even if they have not [yet] happened, because they still may happen.
Note— This use of the perfect is especially common in the protasis of general conditions in present time (§ 518.b).
474. The perfect is sometimes used emphatically to denote that a thing or condition of things that once existed no longer does.
Fuit ista quondam in hāc rē pūblicā virtūs. (Cat. 1.3)
There was once such virtue in this
commonwealth.
Habuit, nōn habet. (Tusc. 1.87)
He had, he has no longer.
Fīlium habeō . . . immo habuī; nunc habeam necne incertumst. (Ter. Haut. 93)
I have a son,
no, I had one; whether I have now or not is uncertain.
Fuimus Trōes, fuit Īlium. (Aen. 2.325)
We have ceased to be Trojans, Troy is no
more.
475. The perfect is sometimes used of a general truth, especially with negatives (Gnomic Perfect).
Quī studet contingere mētam multa tulit fēcitque. (Hor. A. P. 412)
He who aims to reach
the goal, first bears and does many things.
Nōn aeris acervus et aurī dēdūxit corpore febrīs. (id. Ep. 1.2.47)
The pile of brass and
gold does not removes fever from the frame.
Note— The Gnomic Perfect strictly refers to past time; but its use implies that something which never did happen in any known case never does happen, and never will (cf. the English “Faint heart never won fair lady”); or, without a negative that what has once happened will always happen under similar circumstances.
a. The perfect is often used in expressions containing or implying a negation, where in affirmation the imperfect would be preferred.
dīcēbat melius quam scrīpsit Hortēnsius (Or. 132)
Hortensius spoke better than he
wrote.
[Here the negative is implied in the comparison: compare the use of quisquam, ūllus, etc. (§§ 311-312), and the French ne after comparatives and
superlatives.]
476. The completed tenses of some verbs are equivalent to the incomplete tenses of verbs of kindred meaning. Such are the preteritive verbs ōdī (I hate), meminī (I remember), nōvī (I know), cōnsuēvī (I am accustomed)1 with others used preteritively, as vēnerat ( = aderat He was at hand, etc.), cōnstitērunt (they stand firm; have taken their stand), and many inceptives (see § 263.1).
quī diēs aestūs maximōs efficere cōnsuēvit (B. G. 4.29)
which day generally makes the
highest tides (is accustomed to make)
cûius splendor obsolēvit (Quinct. 59)
whose splendor is now all faded.
Note— Many other verbs are occasionally so used.
dum oculōs certāmen āverterat (Liv. 32.24)
while the
contest had turned their eyes (kept them turned)
[Here āverterat = tenēbat]
477. The pluperfect is used (1) to denote an action or state completed in past time; or (2) sometimes to denote an action in indefinite time, but prior to some past time referred to.
(1) Locī nātūra erat haec, quem locum nostrī castrīs dēlēgerant. (B. G. 2.18)
This was the
nature of the ground which our men had chosen for a camp.
Viridovīx summam imperī tenēbat eārum omnium cīvitātum quae dēfēcerant. (id. 3.17)
Viridovix held the chief command of all those tribes which had revolted.
(2) Neque vērō cum aliquid mandāveratcōnfectum putābat. (Cat. 3.16)
But when he had given
a thing in charge he did not look on it as done.
Quae sī quandō adepta est id quod eī fuerat concupītum, tum fert alacritātem (Tusc. 4.15)
If it (desire) ever has gained what it had [previously] desired, then it produces joy.
For the Epistolary Pluperfect, see § 479.
478. The future perfect denotes an action as completed in the future.
Ut sēmentem fēceris, ita metēs. (De Or. 2.261)
As you sow (shall have sown), so shall you reap.
Carmina tum melius, cum vēneritipse, canēmus. (Ecl. 9.67)
Then shall we sing our songs
better, when he himself has come (shall have come).
Sī illīus īnsidiae clāriōrēs hāc lūce fuerint, tum dēnique obsecrābō. (Mil. 6)
When the
plots of that man have been shown to be as clear as daylight, then, and not till then, shall I conjure you.
Ego certē meum officium praestiterō. (B. G. 4.25)
I at least shall have done my
duty (i.e. when the time comes to reckon up the matter, I shall be found to have done it, whatever the event).
Note— Latin is far more exact than English in distinguishing between mere future action and action completed in the future. Hence the future perfect is much commoner in Latin than in English. It may even be used instead of the future, from the fondness of the Romans for representing an action as completed.
Quid inventum sit paulō post vīderō. (Acad. 2.76)
What has
been found out I shall see presently.
Quī Antōnium oppresserit bellum taeterrimum cōnfēcerit. (Fam. 10.19)
Whoever crushes (shall have crushed) Antony will finish (will have finished) a most loathsome war.
479. In letters, the Historical Perfect or the imperfect may be used for the present tense, and the pluperfect for any past tense, as if the letter were dated at the time it is supposed to be received.
Neque tamen, haec cum scrībēbam, eramnescius quantīs oneribus premerēre. (Fam. 5.12.2)
Nor
while I write this am I ignorant under what burdens you are weighed down.
Ad tuās omnīs [epistulās] rescrīpseram prīdiē. (Att. 9.10.1)
I answered all your letters
yesterday.
Cum quod scrīberem ad tē nihil habērem, tamen hās dedī litterās. (Att. 9.16)
though I have
nothing to write to you, still I write this letter.
Note— In this use these tenses are called the Epistolary Perfect, Imperfect,and Pluperfect. The epistolary tenses are not employed with any uniformity, but only when attention is particularly directed to the time of writing (so especially scrībēbam, dabam, etc.).
480. The tenses of the subjunctive in independent clauses denote time in relation to the time of the speaker. The present always refers to future (or indefinite) time, the imperfect to either past or present, the perfect to either future or past, the pluperfect always to past.
481. The tenses of the subjunctive in dependent clauses were habitually used in certain fixed connections with the tenses of the main verb. These connections were determined by the time of the main verb and the time of the dependent verb together. They are known, collectively, as the Sequence of Tenses.
Note— The so-called Sequence of Tenses is not a mechanical law. Each tense of the subjunctive in dependent clauses (as in independent) originally denoted its own time in relation to the time of the speaker, though less definitely than the corresponding tenses of the indicative. Gradually, however, as the complex sentence was more strongly felt as a unit, certain types in which the tenses of the dependent clause seemed to accord with those of the main clause were almost unconsciously regarded as regular, and others, in which there was no such agreement, as exceptional. Thus a pretty definite system of correspondences grew up, which is codified in the rules for the Sequence of Tenses. These, however, are by no means rigid. They do not apply with equal stringency to all dependent constructions, and they were frequently disregarded, not only when their strict observance would have obscured the sense, but for the sake of emphasis and variety, or merely from carelessness.
482. The tenses of the subjunctive in dependent clauses follow special rules for the Sequence of Tenses. With reference to these rules all tenses when used in independent clauses are divided into two classes—Primary and Secondary.
Note— To these may be added certain forms less commonly used in independent clauses:
The Perfect Definite is sometimes treated as primary (see § 485.a). For the Historical Present, see § 485.e; for the Imperfect Subjunctive in Apodosis, see § 485.h.
483. The following is the general rule for the Sequence of Tenses.1
In complex sentences a primary tense in the main clause is followed by the present or perfect in the dependent clause, and a secondary tense by the imperfect or pluperfect.
PRIMARY TENSES
| rogō I ask, am asking |
quid faciās quid fēceris quid factūrus sīs |
| rogābō I shall ask |
|
| rogāvī [sometimes] I have asked |
|
| rogāverō I shall have asked |
| scrībit he writes |
ut nōs moneat to warn us |
| scrībet he will write |
| scrībe (scrībit) write |
ut nōs moneās to warn us |
| scrībit he writes |
quasi oblītus sit as if he had forgotten |
SECONDARY TENSES
| rogābam I asked, was asking |
quid facerēs what you were doing quid fēcissēs quid factūrus essēs |
| rogāvī I asked, have asked |
|
| rogāveram I had asked |
| scrīpsit he wrote |
ut nōs monēret to warn us |
| scrīpsit he wrote |
quasi oblītus esset as if he had forgotten |
484. In applying the rule for the Sequence of Tenses, observe—
a. If the leading verb is primary, the dependent verb must be in the present if it denotes incomplete action, in the perfect if it denotes completed action.
b. If the leading verb is secondary, the dependent verb must be in the imperfect if it denotes incomplete action, in the pluperfect if it denotes completed action.
I ask [primary] what you were doing [now past].
Rogō quid
fēceris.
I asked [secondary] what you were
doing. [incomplete]
Rogāvī quid facerēs
c. Notice that the future perfect denotes action completed (at the time referred to), and hence is represented in the subjunctive by the perfect or pluperfect.
He shows that if they come (shall have come), many will perish.
Dēmōnstrat, sī vēnerint, multōs interitūrōs.
He showed that if they should come (should have come), many would perish.
Dēmōnstrāvit, sī vēnissent, multōs interitūrōs.
485. In the Sequence of Tenses the following special points are to be noted.
a. The perfect indicative is ordinarily a secondary tense, but allows the primary sequence when the present time is clearly in the writer's mind.
Ut satis esset praesidī prōvīsum est. (Cat. 2.26)
Provision has been made that there
should be ample guard.
[secondary sequence]
Addūxī hominem in quō satisfacere exterīs nātiōnibus possētis. (Verr. 1.2)
I have brought
a man in whose person you can make satisfaction to foreign nations.
[secondary sequence]
Est enim rēs iam in eum locum adducta, ut quamquam multum intersit inter eōrum causās quī dīmicant, tamen inter victōriās nōn multum interfutūrum
putem. (Fam. 5.21.3)
For affairs have been brought to such a pass that, though there is a great difference between the causes of those who are fighting, still I do not think
there will be much difference between their victories.
[primary sequence]
Ea adhibita doctrīna est quae vel vitiōsissimam nātūram excolere possit. (Q. Fr. 1.1.7)
Such instruction has been given as can train even the faultiest nature.
[primary sequence]
Note— The perfect infinitive in exclamations follows the same rule.
Quemquamne fuisse tam scelerātum quī hōc fingeret. (Phil. 14.14)
Was any one so abandoned as to imagine this?
[secondary]
Adeōn rem redīsse patrem ut extimēscam (Ter. Ph. 153)
To
think that things have come to such a pass that I should dread my father!
[primary]
b. After a primary tense the Perfect Subjunctive is regularly used to denote any past action. Thus the Perfect Subjunctive may represent:
Nōn dubitō quīn omnēs tuī scrīpserint.(Fam. 5.8)
I do not doubt that all your friends have
written.
[direct statement: scrīpsērunt]
Quā rē nōn īgnōrō quid accidat in ultimīs terrīs, cum audierimin Ītaliā querellās cīvium. (Q. Fr. 1.1.33)
Therefore I know well what happens at the ends of the earth, when I have heard in Italy the complaints of citizens.
[direct statement: audīvī]
Mē autem hīc laudat quod rettulerim, nōn quod patefēcerim. (Att. 12.21)
Me he praises
because I brought the matter [before the senate], not because I brought it to light.
[direct statement: rettulit]
sī forte cecidērunt, tum intellegitur quam fuerint inopēs amīcōrum. (Lael. 53)
If by chance they
fall, (have fallen) then one can see how poor they were in friends.
[direct question: quam inopēs
erant?]
Quī status rērum fuerit cum hās litterās dedī, scīre poteris ex C. Titiō Strabōne. (Fam. 12.6)
What the condition
of affairs was when I wrote this letter, you can learn from Strabo.
[direct question: quī status erat?]
Quam cīvitātī cārus fuerit maerōre fūneris indicātum est. (Lael. 11)
How dear he was to the state has been shown
by the grief at his funeral.
[direct question: quam cārus erat?]
Ex epistulīs intellegī licet quam frequēns fueritPlatōnis audītor. (Or. 15)
It may be understood from his letters
how constant a hearer he was of Plato.
[direct question: quam frequēns erat?]
Note— Thus the perfect subjunctive may represent, not only a Perfect Definite or an Historical Perfect of a direct statement or question, but an imperfect as well. This comes from the want of any special tense of the subjunctive for continued past action after a primary tense. Thus, mīror quid fēcerit may mean (1) I wonder what he has done, (2) I wonder what he did (hist. perf.), or (3) I wonder what he was doing.
c. In clauses of Result, the Perfect Subjunctive is regularly (the Present rarely) used after secondary tenses.
Hortēnsius ārdēbat dīcendī cupiditāte sīc ut in nūllō umquam flagrantius studium vīderim. (Brut. 302)
Hortensius was so hot with desire of speaking that I have never seen a more burning ardor in any man.
[Siciliam Verrēs] per triennium ita vexāvit ac perdidit ut ea restituī in antīquum
statum nūllō modō possit. (Verr. 1.12)
For three years Verres so racked and ruined Sicily that she can in no way be restored to her former state.
[Here the present
describes a state of things actually existing.]
Videor esse cōnsecūtus ut nōn possit Dolābella in Ītaliam pervenīre. (Fam. 12.14.2)
I seem
to have brought it about that Dolabella cannot come into Italy.
Note 1— This construction emphasizes the result; the regular sequence of tenses would subordinate it.
Note 2— There is a special fondness for the perfect subjunctive to represent a perfect indicative.
Thorius erat ita nōn superstitiōsus ut illa plūrima in suā et sacrificia et fāna contemneret; ita nōn timidus ad mortem ut in
aciē sit ob rem pūblicam interfectus (Fin. 2.63)
Thorius was so little superstitious that he despised [contemnēbat] the many sacrifices and shrines in his country; so little timorous about death that he was killed [interfectus est] in battle, in defence of the state.
d. A general truth after a past tense follows the sequence of tenses.
Ex hīs quae tribuisset, sibi quam mūtābilis esset reputābat. (Q. C. 3.8.20)
from what she (Fortune) had bestowed on him, he reflected how inconstant she is.
[direct: mūtābilis est]
Ibi quantam vim ad stimulandōs animōs īra habēret appāruit. (Liv. 33.37)
Here it appeared
what power anger has to goad the mind.
[direct: habet]
Note— In English the original tense is more commonly kept.
e. The Historical Present (§ 469) is sometimes felt as a primary, sometimes as a secondary tense, and accordingly it takes either the primary or the secondary sequence.
Rogat ut cūret quod dīxisset. (Quinct. 18)
He asks him to attend to the thing he had
spoken of.
[Both primary and secondary sequence.]
Note— After the historical present, the subjunctive with cum temporal must follow the secondary sequence.
Quō cum vēnisset cōgnōscit. (B. C. 1.34)
When he had come
there he learns.
Cum esset pūgnātum hōrīs quīnque, nostrīque gravius premerentur impetum in cohortīs faciunt. (id.
1.46)
When they had fought for five hours, and our men were pretty hard pressed, they make an attack on the cohorts.
f. The historical infinitive regularly takes the secondary sequence.
Interim cotīdiē Caesar Haeduōs frūmentum, quod essent pollicitī flāgitāre. (B. G. 1.16)
Meanwhile Cæsar demanded of the Hœdui every day the grain which they had promised.
g. The imperfect and pluperfect in conditions contrary to fact (§ 517) and in the Deliberative Subjunctive (§ 444) are not affected by the sequence of tenses.
quia tāle sit, ut vel sī īgnōrārent id hominēs vel sī obmutuissent (Fin. 2.49)
because it is such that even if men WERE ignorant of it, or HAD BEEN silent about it
Quaerō ā tē cūr C. Cornēlium nōn dēfenderem? (Vat. 5)
I ask you why I was not to
defend Caius Cornelius?
[direct: cūr nōn dēfenderem?]
h. The imperfect subjunctive in present conditions contrary to fact (§ 517) is regularly followed by the secondary sequence.
Sī aliī cōnsulēs essent, ad tē potissimum, Paule, mitterem, ut eōs mihi quam amīcissimōs redderēs. (Fam. 15.13.3)
If there were other consuls, I should send to you, Paulus, in preference to all, that you might make them as friendly to me as possible.
Sī sōlōs eōs dīcerēs miserōs quibus moriendum esset, nēminem exciperēs. (Tusc. 1.9)
If you
were to call only those who must die wretched, you would except no one.
i. The present is sometimes followed by a secondary sequence, seemingly because the writer is thinking of past time.
Sed sī rēs cōget, est quiddam tertium, quod neque Seliciō nec mihi displicē bat: ut neque iacēre rem paterēmur, etc. (Fam. 1.5 A.3)
But if the case shall demand, there is a third [course] which neither Selicius nor myself disapproved, that we should not allow, etc.
[Here
Cicero is led by the time of displicēbat]
Sed tamen ut scīrēs, haec tibi scrībō. (Fam. 13.47)
But yet that you may know, I write
thus.
[As if he had used the epistolary imperfect scrībēbam (§ 479)]
Cûius praeceptī tanta vīs est ut ea nōn hominī cuipiam sed Delphicō deō tribuerētur. (Legg. 1.58)
Such is the force of this precept, that it was ascribed not to any man, but to the Delphic god.
[The precept was an old one.]
j. When a clause depends upon one already dependent, its sequence may be secondary if the verb of that clause expresses past time, even if the main verb is in a primary tense.
Sed tamen quā rē acciderit ut ex meīs superiōribus litterīs id suspicārēre nesciō. (Fam. 2.16)
But yet how it happened that you suspected this from my previous letter, I don't know.
Prōfēcisse vidēmur ut ā Graecīs nē verbōrum quidem cōpiā vincerēmur. (N. D. 1.8)
We seem
to have advanced so far that even in abundance of words we ARE not surpassed by the Greeks.
Note— So regularly after a perfect infinitive which depends on a primary tense (§ 585.a).
486. Except in indirect discourse, only the present and perfect infinitives are used. The present represents the action of the verb as in progress without distinct reference to time, the perfect as completed. For the tenses of the nfinitive in indirect discourse see § 584.
a. With past tenses of verbs of necessity, propriety, and possibility (as dēbuī, oportuit, potuī), the present infinitive is often used in Latin where the English idiom prefers the perfect infinitive.
Numne, sī Coriolānus habuit amīcōs, ferre contrā patriam arma illī cum Coriolānō dēbuērunt. (Lael. 36)
If Coriolanus had friends, ought they to have borne arms with him against their fatherland?
pecūnia, quam hīs oportuit cīvitātibus prō frūmentō darī (Verr. 3.174)
money which
ought to have been paid to these states for grain
Cōnsul esse quī potuī, nisi eum vītae cursum tenuissem ā pueritiā? (Rep. 1.10)
How could I
have become consul had I not from boyhood followed that course of life?
b. With verbs of necessity, propriety, and possibility, the perfect infinitive may be used to emphasize the idea of completed action.
tametsī statim vīcissedēbeō (Rosc. Am. 73)
although I ought to win my case at
once
(to be regarded as having won it)
bellum quod possumus ante hiemem perfēcisse (Liv. 37.19.5)
a war which we can have
completed before winter
Nīl ego, sī peccem, possum nescīsse. (Ov. H. 16.47)
If I should go wrong, I cannot have
done it in ignorance.
(am not able not to have known)
Note— With the past tenses of these verbs the perfect infinitive is apparently due to attraction.
quod iam prīdem factum esse oportuit (Cat. 1.5)
(a thing) which ought to have been done long ago.
haec facta ab illō oportēbat (Ter. Haut. 536)
This ought
to have been done by him.
Tum decuit metuisse. (Aen. 10.94)
Then was the time to
fear.
(then you should have feared)
c. In archaic Latin and in legal formulas the perfect active infinitive is often used with nōlō or volō in prohibitions.
Chaldaeum nēquem cōnsuluisse velit (Cato R. R. 5.4)
Let him not venture to have consulted
a soothsayer.
Nōlītō dēvellisse (Pl. Poen. 872)
Do not have them plucked.
Nēquis humāsse velit Âiācem (Hor. S. 2.3.187)
Let no one venture to have buried
Ajax.
NEIQVIS EORVM BACANAL HABVISE VELET (S. C. de Bac. 1)
Let no one of them venture to have
had a place for Bacchanalian worship.
d. With verbs of wishing1 the perfect passive infinitive (commonly without esse) is often used emphatically instead of the present.
Domesticā cūrā tē levātum volō (Q. Fr. 3.9.3)
I wish you relieved of private care.
Illōs monitōs volō. (Cat. 2.27)
I wish them thoroughly warned.
quī illam [patriam] exstīnctam cupit (Fin. 4.66)
who is eager for her utter destruction
Illud tē esse admonitum volō. (Cael. 8)
I wish you to be well advised of this.
quī sē ab omnibus dēsertōs potius quam abs tē dēfēnsōs essemālunt (Caecil. 21)
who prefer
to be deserted by all rather than to be defended by you
Note— The participle in this case is rather in predicate agreement (with or without esse) than used to form a strict perfect infinitive, though the full form can hardly be distinguished from that construction.
e. In late Latin, and in poetry (often for metrical convenience), rarely in good prose, the perfect active infinitive is used emphatically instead of the present, and even after other verbs than those of wishing.
Nēmō eōrum est quī nōn perīsse tē cupiat (Verr. 2.149)
There is no one of them who is not
eager for your death.
Haud equidem premendō alium mē extulisse velim. (Liv. 22.59.10)
I would not exalt myself
by crushing another.
Sunt quī nōlint tetigisse. (Hor. S. 1.2.28)
There are those who would not touch.
commīsisse cavet (Hor. A. P. 168)
he is cautious of doing
Nunc quem tetigisse timērent, anguis erās (Ov. M. 8.733)
Again you became a serpent which
they dreaded to touch.
frātrēsque tendentēs opācō Pēlion imposuisse Olympō (Hor. Od. 3.4.51)
and the brothers
striving to set Pelion on dark Olympus
f. After verbs of feeling the perfect infinitive is used, especially by the poets, to denote a completed action. So also with satis est, satis habeō, melius est, contentus sum, and in a few other cases where the distinction of time is important.
nōn paenitēbat intercapēdinem scrībendī fēcisse (Fam. 16.21)
I was not sorry to have made
a respite of writing.
pudet mē nōn praestitisse (id. 14.3)
I am ashamed not to have shown
Sunt quōs pulverem Olympicum collēgisseiuvat (Hor. Od. 1.1.3)
Some delight to have stirred
up the dust at Olympia.
Quiēsse erit melius (Liv. 3.48)
It will be better to have kept quiet.
ac sī quis amet scrīpsisse (Hor. S. 1.10.60)
than if one should choose to have
written
Id sōlum dīxissesatis habeō. (Vell. 2.124)
I am content to have said only this.
487. The several noun and adjective forms associated with the verb are employed as follows.1
| I. Participles: | a. Present and Perfect: | 1. Attributive (§ 494) |
| 2. Simple Predicate (§ 495). | ||
| 3. Periphrastic Perfect Passive) (§ 495, Note) | ||
| 4. Predicate of Circumstance (§ 496) | ||
| 5. Descriptive (Indirect Discourse) (§ 497.d) | ||
| b. Future | 1. Periphrastic with esse (§ 498.a) | |
| 2. Periphrastic with fuī ( = Pluperfect Subjunctive) (§ 498.b) | ||
| c. Gerundive | 1. As Descriptive Adjective (§ 500.1) | |
| 2. Periphrastic with esse (§ 500.2). | ||
| 3. Of Purpose with certain verbs (§ 500.4). | ||
| II. Gerund or Gerundive: | 1. Genitive as Subjective or Objective Genitive (§ 504). | |
| 2. Dative, with Adjectives (of Fitness), Nouns, Verbs (§ 505) | ||
| 3. Accusative, with certain Prepositions (§ 506). | ||
| 4. Ablative, of Means, Comparison, or with Prepositions (§ 507) | ||
| III. Supine: | 1. Accusative Supine (in -um), with Verbs of Motion (§ 509) | |
| 2. Ablative Supine (in -ū), chiefly with Adjectives (§ 510). | ||