Subjunctive

Revision as of 15:26, 8 February 2013

The Subjunctive is a verb mood typically used in subordinate clauses to express a wish, hope, possibility, condition, uncertainty, opinion, necessity, or action that has not yet occurred. It is sometimes referred to as the Conjunctive Mood, as it often follows a conjunction.

The Subjunctive has three main uses:

1) it can express condition ("He would come here."),

2) it expresses indirect or (rarely) direct commands ("Come here!"),

3) and it indicates an indirect question ("She asks when he comes here.")

English has a very shy Subjunctive which appears only in a few situations visibly, but sometimes it's there even if the verb does not show it. Examples of English Subjunctives are the following:

"I wish he were here." (In Indicative it would have been "He is here.")

"The teachers insisted that the homework be ready." (In Indicative it would have been "The homework is ready.")

"Were" is not Past, and "be" is not infinitive, but both are Subjunctives here. English uses two main Subjunctive forms, the Present Subjunctive (he be, he go, he come) and the Past Subjunctive (he were, he went, he came), which look identical to the normal Indicative forms.

Another and a very famous example for the Present Subjunctive is in the English anthem:

"God save the Queen". (In Indicative it would have been "God saves the Queen".)

This is obviously not an indicative, because it would be "God saves the Queen". It is not an English imperative either, because it would require a comma after "God". See the difference: "God, save the Queen" ("I ask you, my God, please save the Queen." - direct command, in imperative), and "God save the Queen" ("My wish is that God saves the Queen." - indirect command or wish, in subjunctive). So we can recognize it as a Present Subjunctive.

These forms, however, sound archaic to modern English speakers, and in most of the sentences, when Latin uses Subjunctive, English uses auxiliary verbs like, "may", "might", "would", "shall", "should", "can", or "could". These are expressed in Latin by the Subjunctive.

Latin uses four Subjunctive Tenses, Present Subjunctive, Imperfect Subjunctive, Perfect Subjunctive and Pluperfect Subjunctive. Let's see what they are there for, and what each of these Subjunctive Tenses mean.

The Subjunctive Present

You use Subjunctive Present (e.g. "Dicam") when English uses the auxiliary verbs "let" ("Let me say it"), "may" or "shall" ("May I say it", "Shall I say it") or, mainly in subordinate clauses, when English uses Present Subjunctive or Imperative ("Imperat ut dicam": "He orders that I say"; or "Dicas": "Say it").

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings "-are", "-ére", "-ere" and "-ire", and replacing them with the personal endings shown in the table on our website, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Learn the conjugation of the Imperfect Tense on our website:

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation#Subjunctive_Present

The Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used in Latin when English uses the auxiliary verbs "would" and "should", "Dicerem" can be translated as "I would say" or "I should say". Sometimes it can also be translated with "could" or "might" as "I could say" or "I might say". In wishes and in conditional sentences, it is translated by English Past Subjunctive ("Vellem dicerem": "I wish I said"); in subordinate clauses, however, it is translated by English Present Subjunctive ("Imperavit ut dicerem": "He ordered that I say").

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings "-are", "-ére", "-ere" and "-ire", and replacing them with the personal endings shown in the table on our website, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to. Practically, the formation of this Subjunctive Imperfect looks like as if the personal endings would be simple attached to the infinitive.

Learn the conjugation of the Subjunctive Imperfect on our website:

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation#Subjunctive_Imperfect

The Subjunctive Perfect

The Subjunctive Perfect rarely appears in independent sentences, it's mostly used in subordinate clauses. When it's used independently, it normally translates with the English auxiliary verbs "may have". "Dixerim" can be translated as "I may have said".

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Indicative Perfect Tense first person singular ending "-í", and replacing it with the Subjunctive Perfect personal endings shown in the table on our website.

Learn the conjugation of the Subjunctive Perfect on our website:

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation#Subjunctive_Perfect

The Subjunctive Pluperfect

The Subjunctive Pluperfect can be translated with the English auxiliary verbs "would have" or "should have". "Dixissem" can mean "I would have said", "I should have said". Sometimes it can be translated as "I could have said" or "I might have said". It is translated by English Pluperfect Subjunctive ("I had said") when it is used in subordinated clauses ("Vellem dixissem": "I wish I had said").

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Indicative Perfect Tense first person singular ending "-í", and replacing it with the Subjunctive Pluperfect personal endings shown in the table on our website.

Learn the conjugation of the Subjunctive Pluperfect on our website:

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation#Subjunctive_ Pluperfect