The SUBJUNCTIVE

      One of the first questions people always ask when they discover the existence of the Subjunctive is "What does it MEAN?"

      This is natural and understandable enough; but it is also almost impossible to answer - in a short way at least!

      Probably the most honest answer (if not the most helpful or satisfying….) is "It depends how it's being used." Only when the construction it is part of, and (maybe) the conjunction which introduces it, have been identified can you really be sure how to translate it.

    On this page (and those following) we will explain the various occasions when you are likely to meet it, and attempt to answer the question properly.

INDICATIVE  v.  SUBJUNCTIVE

    One thing that is true to an extent is that the Indicative and Subjunctive 'MOODS' of the verb are generally the 'opposite' of each other:

      An INDICATIVE verb "indicates" a fact, i.e. is generally used when someone IS doing, WILL do or HAS actually done something. This is why Main Clause verbs in Latin are usually Indicative: they are making a factual statement.

      With a SUBJUNCTIVE verb, however, it is far less cut-and-dried: it is often used to suggest things that MAY or COULD happen in certain circumstances, e.g. if someone achieves a particular purpose, or follows an order. The words "may, might, would, could, should" are all associated with the Subjunctive - and are indeed the words representing a Subjunctive verb in English.

     Not even this distinction always holds good however! In constructions such as Result /Consequence clauses, or after the conjunction "CUM", for example, verbs in the Subjunctive definitely do actually happen….!

   I suppose the truest general statement that can be made is to say that the Subjunctive is VERY RARELY, if ever, the MAIN VERB in a sentence; it is nearly always in a dependent clause, relying on an Indicative verb to supply the main idea of the sentence's meaning.

THAT CLEARS THAT ONE UP, THEN….(?!)

FORMING & RECOGNISING THE SUBJUNCTIVE

            To be able to recognise a Subjunctive verb in a sentence, it really helps to know how the various tenses are formed.

Most verbs in Latin have FOUR subjunctive tenses:

                     PRESENT
                     IMPERFECT
                     PERFECT
                     PLUPERFECT

     These can exist in both the Active and Passive.

     In certain circumstances it is also possible to find a so-called 'Future Subjunctive'; most reference books however refuse to classify this as a fully-fledged tense, which seems a little unfair considering that it is formed in a very similar way to some of the 'official' subjunctive tenses!

      Perhaps someone needs to start a Future Subjunctive Support and Appreciation Society….

     I shall include details of its formation on the page of the construction where you will actually come across it (namely the Indirect Question).

   For now, here are the 'official' tenses:

          CHART OF FORMATION

     When trying to learn these, it is useful to remember that each Principal Part is used twice - but not necessarily for the same tense! I have colour-coded the chart to represent which tenses are formed from which Principal Part:

         e.g.    MITTO    MITTERE   MISI    MISSUM

   Note #1: With PERFECT & PLUPERFECT PASSIVE, the endings "-US (-a -um)" change to "-I (-ae -a)" for the Plural persons of the verb.

    Note #2: "SIM" and "ESSEM" (etc.) are actually the Present and Imperfect Subjunctives of 'SUM'. See below.

    Note #3: Another way of forming the Pluperfect Subjunctive (both Active & Passive) is to take the Perfect INFINITIVES (Act/Pass) and add the Person endings -m, -s, -t, etc. This corresponds to the way the Imperfect Subjunctive is formed from the Present Infinitive.

        EXAMPLE CHARTS

     1.   PARO  -ARE  -AVI  -ATUM  (1, regular)

   2.   MITTO  MITTERE MISI  MISSUM (3)

    IRREGULARS

   Some of the Irregular Verbs form their PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE irregularly. These are SUM (and its compounds, including POSSUM),VOLO, NOLO and MALO.

    All their other subjunctive tenses however follow normal formation rules.

    EO and FERO form all their subjunctives in the normal ways.

    The following pages will attempt to explain the uses of the Subjunctive.