| Purpose adverbial clauses tell the purpose of the action of the verb in
the governing clause. This type of clause is introduced by "ut"
or "ne" if the verb in the purpose clause is to be
negated. The mood of the dependent clause is subjunctive in all
cases. Here are some examples (with the purpose clause underlined):
collem ascendimus ut templum videamus, "we climb the hill in order that we may see the temple" fetinamus ne sero adveniamus, "we hurry in order that we may not (lest we may) arrive late" multi iuvenes Athenas navigtabant ut in Academia studerent, "many young men were sailing to Athens in order that they might study in the Academy". The tense of the subjunctive used in a purpose clause is determined only by the tense of the verb in the main clause. All action in the purpose clause was uncertain at the time of the original action, so time is not really a factor. The time was always inherently future. The following table summarizes the tense of the subjunctive in purpose clauses:
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Last Updated March 18, 2003 Questions, comments and corrections should be sent to Brian K. Harvey, Kent State University |
