Ch. 39

HW: 39A 1,3,5,7,8,9,10 39B 7

INDEPENDENT CLAUSES WITH SUBJUNCTIVE VERBS

Section 392

OPTATIVE (From Latin optare "to wish" or "to choose")

Optative subjunctive is sometimes marked by an utinam (or less commonly si modo).

Wishes for the future use present subjunctive.
English: Would that he come! I wish he would come! May he come!
Latin: (Utinam/si modo) veniat! {present subjunctive

Contrary-to-Fact or Unreal Wishes for the present use imperfect subjunctive.
English: Would that he were here! I wish he were here! Were he only here!
Latin: (Utinam/si modo) abesset!

Contrary-to-Fact or Unreal Wishes for the past use pluperfect subjunctive.
English: Would that he had left! I wish he had left! Had he only left!
Latin: (Utinam/si modo) discessisset!

Negative optative subjunctives use ne, not non.
English: May he not come! Would that he had not died!
Latin: (Utinam) ne veniat! (Utinam) ne mortuus esset!

Section 393
DELIBERATIVE

Used when someone is deliberating or thinking over what is/was/had to be done.

Deliberation about present/future action uses present subjunctive.
English: What am I to do? What should I do? What shall I do?
Latin: Quid faciam?

Deliberation about past action uses imperfect subjunctive.
English: What was he to say? What would/could/should he say?
Latin: Quid faceret?

Section 394
REPORTED DELIBERATIVE

In English reported deliberative questions are often expressed with an infinitive. In Latin you still use the subjunctive as in regular deliberative questions and regular indirect questions.

English: We want to find out *what to do*.
Latin: Cupimus invenire *quid faciamus*.
English: He learned *what to eat*
Latin: Didicit *quo vesceretur*.

Section 395
POTENTIAL

This is most commonly found in conditions. When not in a conditional clause, potential subjunctive is often used with second person verbs in expressions like: You would say so too. You would all believe me.
Such statements as these imply a conditional such as "if you were there."

Future potential uses present subjunctive.
English: You may do the same. (if this happens to you someday)
Latin: Facias idem.

Present potential uses imperfect subjunctive.
English: You would/could/might say this too. (if you saw what I did)
Latin: Diceres quoque hoc.

Past potential uses pluperfect subjunctive.
English: You would/could/might have done the same thing.
Latin: Fecisses idem.

POLITE POTENTIALS

Potential subjunctives (generally 1st person forms) are also used in polite expressions like "I would rather (not)" or "I should/would like to". As explained in your book, these potential subjunctives of volo, malo, and nolo may be followed by an optative subjunctive of another verb.

Future (present subjunctive of volo/nolo/malo and pres. subj. of other verb)
English: I would/should like him to leave.
Latin: Velim discedat.
English: I would not like him to come.
Latin: Nolim veniat.

Present (imperfect subjunctives)
English: I should/would/could rather he were here.
Latin: Mallem adesset.
English: I would/should like it were they gone. ...for them to be gone.
Latin: Vellem abessent.

Past (imperfect subjunctive of volo/malo/nolo + plup. subj. of other verbs)
English: I would rather we had won.
Latin: Mallem vicissemus.
English: I would/should like it had he died.
Latin: Vellem mortuus esset.

Section 396
They seem to be making it more complex than necessary. In the example for this section, the putares could just be translated "you would think" rather than "you would have thought". It is the context with the perfect infinitive "audivisse" that made them want to use the perfect in English. However, neither English nor Latin requires perfect here for the potential expression. The imperfect subjunctive in Latin (and "would think" which is English preterite subjunctive) shows that it is a general statement that is really meant to be possible at any time (given the understood circumstances).