| While the subjunctive mood in Latin is primarily used to
indicate clausal dependency or indirect discourse, subjunctives can also
be used in the main clause in indicate potentiality or uncertainty.
While dependent subjunctives (those that appear in dependent clauses) do
not always have to be translated as "subjunctives", independent
subjunctives do always indicate some meaning not possible with an
indicative mood verb.
Independent subjunctives have one of three interpretations semantically:
There are three categories of independent uses of the subjunctive: hortatory (jussive), potential, deliberative and optative. Hortatory (Jussive) Subjunctives Hortatory subjunctives express an encouragement and are thus a weaker variation of an imperative. The verb usually appear in the first person. Those that appear in the third person are sometimes called jussive subjunctives. They can usually be translated as "let (us) (do something)". The negative is ne.
Potential Subjunctives Potential subjunctives express the possibility of action. They can usually be translated with "should" or "would". The negative is non.
Delibertative Subjunctives Deliberative subjunctives appear exclusively when the main sentence is a question and the speaker wishes to express doubt or deliberation. They can usually be translated as "what am I to do". The negative is non.
Optative Subjunctives Optative subjunctives express wishes. They can usually be translated with "would that" or "I wish", or "if only". Often, the particle utinam introduces the main clause. The negative is ne.
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Last Updated March 18, 2003 Questions, comments and corrections should be sent to Brian K. Harvey, Kent State University |
