Learn Latin Harry Mount
LESSON 10
Last month we investigated that hornet’s nest – the subjunctive. We covered the purpose clause: ut plus the subjunctive, meaning ‘in order to do something’. Now for some other subjunctive clauses. First, the indirect command, which is exactly what it sounds like. ‘She persuaded me to love her.’ Again, this takes ut plus the subjunctive. ‘Mi hip ersua sit ute am am em .’ If you’ re indirectly commanding someone not to do something, then you use ne plus the subjunctive.
You can see a clear, easy pattern developing: ut plus subjunctive is the linchpin of all these clauses. The pattern appears, too, in result clauses – where something is so big/terrible/ long that something else happens. ‘I loved so many friends that I couldn’t see them all.’ ‘ Tot a mi co sam aviu tom nesvi dere nonposs em .’
To form the imperfect subjunctive, incidentally, you take the infinitive – ‘to love’: ‘ amare’ – and add on an ‘m’, then conjugate as normal. amarem amares amaret amaremus amaretis amarent The infinitive itself is easy to form. Just add - re onto the verb stem: amare, to love; monere, to advise; regere, to rule; audire, to hear. There are two infinitives in the motto of Tottenham Hotspur FC: ‘ Audereestfacere.’ See if you can translate it.
One indirect clause that doesn’t follow the ‘ ut plus subjunctive’ rule is the indirect statement. This, again, is exactly what it sounds like – the reporting of a direct statement. ‘Julius said that Cleopatra loves me.’ Here, the ‘that’ is understood – i.e. it isn’t translated. And the subject of the reported statement – here, Cleopatra – goes into the accusative. The verb of the reported statement – ‘loves’ – goes into the infinitive: ‘Ju li usd ix it cleopatram me am are .’
See how you get on in translating these examples. T ant afacitut eum ament. Veniuteamvideam. Memo nu it nee am am a rem. Next month: the ablative absolute, the gerund and the gerundive – horrors which, like Dr Watson’s tale of the giant rat of Sumatra, the world is not yet ready for. Or not this month, at any rate. Answers on page 99