This page describes how the verb forms are used in independent clauses, the clauses that can stand alone as sentences. It covers the uses of the six tenses of the indicative, the commands (the imperative, the negative command and the jussive subjunctive), the other independent uses of the subjunctive (the wish, the possibility, the question of doubt and the concession), the main types of question, and the passive voice with its agent and its impersonal use. Subordinate clauses are left to the pages on Subordinate clauses, and the forms of the subjunctive are given in full on the page Subjunctive. The complete tables are in Paradigms: regular verbs.
The independent subjunctive appears so often in the sections below that the forms must be at hand. Only the active of amō and of sum is given here, and the full tables are on the page Subjunctive.
| amō present | amō imperfect | amō perfect | amō pluperfect | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg | amem | amārem | amāverim | amāvissem |
| 2 sg | amēs | amārēs | amāverīs | amāvissēs |
| 3 sg | amet | amāret | amāverit | amāvisset |
| 1 pl | amēmus | amārēmus | amāverīmus | amāvissēmus |
| 2 pl | amētis | amārētis | amāverītis | amāvissētis |
| 3 pl | ament | amārent | amāverint | amāvissent |
| sum present | sum imperfect | sum perfect | sum pluperfect | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg | sim | essem | fuerim | fuissem |
| 2 sg | sīs | essēs | fuerīs | fuissēs |
| 3 sg | sit | esset | fuerit | fuisset |
| 1 pl | sīmus | essēmus | fuerīmus | fuissēmus |
| 2 pl | sītis | essētis | fuerītis | fuissētis |
| 3 pl | sint | essent | fuerint | fuissent |
The present subjunctive of the other conjugations is moneat, regat, capiat and audiat in the 3rd singular. The perfect subjunctive resembles the future perfect indicative (amāverit, amāverint) in the 3rd person and differs in the 1st singular (amāverō) and in the long ī of the 2nd singular and the 1st and 2nd plural.
| Tense | Time | Main uses | Example, 3 sg of amō |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | now | present action; habit and general truth; vivid narrative of the past | amat he loves, he is loving |
| Imperfect | past, continuing | background, description, repeated or customary action, attempt | amābat he was loving, used to love |
| Perfect | past, completed | simple past; present result | amāvit he loved, he has loved |
| Pluperfect | before a past time | action completed before another past action | amāverat he had loved |
| Future | later | what will happen | amābit he will love |
| Future perfect | completed before a future time | action completed before another future action | amāverit he will have loved |
Present action: Iam diū tē exspectō. I have been waiting for you for a long time. (constructed) With iam diū, iam dūdum and similar words, Latin uses the present where English uses have been -ing.
General truths and habit: Aqua ex nūbibus cadit. Rain falls from the clouds. (constructed)
The historic present tells a past event as if it were happening, to make the narrative vivid: Caesar ad flūmen pervenit; pontem faciendum cūrat. Caesar reaches the river and has a bridge built. (constructed)
Sīc itur ad astra.
Thus one goes to the stars. (Vergil, Aeneid 9.641; the present of the impersonal passive, see below)
The imperfect describes a situation or an action in progress in the past. It supplies the background against which the perfect reports the events.
Background and description:
Conticuēre omnēs, intentīque ōra tenēbant.
All fell silent and kept their faces intent. (Vergil, Aeneid 2.1; conticuēre is the perfect with the alternative ending -ēre, and tenēbant is the imperfect)
Repeated or customary action: Cotīdiē in forum veniēbat. He used to come to the forum every day. (constructed)
Attempted action (the conative imperfect): Hostēs castra expugnābant. The enemy were trying to storm the camp. (constructed)
Letters. In letters the writer may use the imperfect or the perfect where English has the present, since the tense is that of the reader: Haec scrībēbam nocte. I am writing this at night. (constructed)
The perfect has two functions, which English separates:
The simple past (the aorist), which reports an event: he loved.
Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī.
I came, I saw, I conquered. (attributed to Caesar by Suetonius, Divus Iulius 37)
The present perfect, which reports a past event as a present result: he has loved.
Exēgī monumentum aere perennius.
I have completed a monument more lasting than bronze. (Horace, Odes 3.30.1)
Iacta alea est.
The die has been cast. (Suetonius, Divus Iulius 32; a perfect passive)
Some perfects mean, by their present result, that something has ended: vīxit he has lived (that is, he is dead), fuit it has been (that is, it is no more), dīxī I have spoken (I have finished).
The gnomic perfect states a general truth as a fact of experience: Labor omnia vīcit improbus. Hard work has conquered everything. (Vergil, Georgics 1.145–146)
The perfect is also the tense that Latin uses after cum semel and similar words where English has has:
Nōbīs, cum semel occidit brevis lūx, nox est perpetua ūna dormienda.
For us, once the brief light has set, there is one endless night to sleep. (Catullus 5.5–6)
The pluperfect marks an action that was completed before a past point:
Vīxī et quem dederat cursum Fortūna perēgī.
I have lived, and I have completed the course that Fortune had given. (Vergil, Aeneid 4.653; dederat is the pluperfect, vīxī and perēgī are present perfects)
The future and the future perfect are used more strictly than in English. A clause that refers to a future action takes the future or the future perfect even where English has the present:
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Sī vēneris, gaudēbō. | If you come, I shall be glad. (constructed) |
| Cum domum redierō, tē vidēbō. | When I return home, I shall see you. (constructed) |
| Ubi hoc fēcerō, quiēscam. | When I have done this, I shall rest. (constructed) |
The future perfect is used for an action that will be finished before another future action; English usually has a simple present or perfect: vēnerō I shall have come, once I have come.
The positive command to one or several persons uses the imperative:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| amō | amā | amāte |
| moneō | monē | monēte |
| regō | rege | regite |
| capiō | cape | capite |
| audiō | audī | audīte |
| sum | es | este |
Four verbs lose their final -e in the singular: dīc, dūc, fac and fer (plural dīcite, dūcite, facite, ferte). A future imperative in -tō (amātō) exists and is used in laws and in commands for later action.
Cavē canem.
Beware of the dog. (the mosaic warning in Petronius, Satyricon 29)
Latin does not use nōn with the imperative. A negative command to one or more persons has three forms:
| Form | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| nōlī / nōlīte with the infinitive | Nōlī timēre! | the usual form in prose and speech |
| nē with the perfect subjunctive | Nē timuerīs. | a polite or solemn prohibition |
| nē with the imperative | Nē timē! | poetry and early Latin |
Tū nē quaesierīs, scīre nefās.
Do not ask; it is forbidden to know. (Horace, Odes 1.11.1; nē quaesierīs is the perfect subjunctive in a prohibition)
The present subjunctive expresses a command, an exhortation or a demand where there is no imperative, that is, in the 1st person and in the 3rd person. The negative is nē.
| Person | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| 1st (plural) | amēmus let us love | nē amēmus let us not love |
| 2nd | amā (imperative) | nōlī amāre, nē amāverīs |
| 3rd | amet let him love | nē amet let him not love |
The 1st person is also called the hortatory subjunctive.
Moriāmur et in media arma ruāmus.
Let us die and rush into the midst of the weapons. (Vergil, Aeneid 2.353)
Ōderint dum metuant.
Let them hate, provided that they fear. (a line of Accius quoted by Suetonius, Caligula 30; ōderint is the perfect subjunctive of the defective verb ōdī)
The 2nd person subjunctive can also be a mild command or advice, as when Catullus talks to himself:
Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre, et quod vidēs perīsse perditum dūcās.
Poor Catullus, you should stop being foolish, and what you see has perished you should consider lost. (Catullus 8.1–2)
A wish is expressed by the subjunctive, with or without utinam (if only). The negative is nē or utinam nē. The tense shows whether the wish can still come true:
| Wish about | Tense | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| the future, possible | present | Utinam vīvat! | May he live! |
| the present, unfulfilled | imperfect | Utinam adesset! | If only he were here! |
| the past, unfulfilled | pluperfect | Utinam vēnisset! | If only he had come! |
| negative | nē or utinam nē | Utinam nē vēnissem! | If only I had not come! |
A wish with the present subjunctive and no utinam is also common in formulas: Sit tibi terra levis. May the earth be light on you. (a stock epitaph formula), and Valeat! May he fare well! (constructed)
The subjunctive can state what may, might, could or would happen, without a condition expressed. The negative is nōn.
| Time | Tense | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| present or future | present (or perfect) | Dīcat aliquis. | Someone may say. |
| present or future | present | Quis dubitet? | Who would doubt? |
| past | imperfect | Vidērēs mīlitēs fugientēs. | You would have seen soldiers fleeing. |
| polite statement | present or imperfect | Hoc velim. | I should like this. |
The 2nd person singular is often indefinite (one): crēdās one might believe, vidērēs one would have seen.
Quis cladem illīus noctis, quis fūnera fandō explicet aut possit lacrimīs aequāre labōrem?
Who could tell in words the slaughter of that night, who could match its suffering with tears? (Vergil, Aeneid 2.361–362)
The potential subjunctive is the independent form of the conclusion of a conditional sentence, which is treated on the page Conditionals.
| Type | Marker | Expects | Example (constructed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question of fact | -ne on the first word | open | Audīsne mē? Do you hear me? |
| nōnne | the answer yes | Nōnne mē audīs? Surely you hear me? | |
| num | the answer no | Num mē audīs? You do not hear me, do you? | |
| Word question | quis, quid, cūr, ubi, quō, quandō | information | Cūr tacēs? Why are you silent? |
| Double question | utrum ... an | one of two | Utrum domī manēs an abīs? Do you stay at home or are you going away? |
A question without any marker is also possible, and the intonation or the context shows it. The indicative is the mood of the direct question of fact, and a question that asks what is to be done uses the subjunctive.
The deliberative subjunctive asks what is to be done, or what could be done, and expresses doubt, perplexity or indignation. It is always a question, and the negative is nōn.
| Time | Tense | Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| present or future | present | Quid faciam? | What am I to do? |
| past | imperfect | Quid facerem? | What was I to do? |
| present or future (1st plural) | present | Quō fugiāmus? | Where are we to flee? |
Quid igitur faciam? Nōn eam?
What am I to do, then? Am I not to go? (Terence, Eunuchus 46–49)
Exclamations are often in the accusative (Mē miserum! Poor me!, a stock expression). In the following line the case of the exclamation is disputed:
Ō tempora, ō mōrēs!
What times, what customs! (Cicero, First Catilinarian 1.2; grammarians disagree whether tempora and mōrēs are nominative or accusative of exclamation)
A concession grants a point for the sake of argument. The concessive subjunctive uses the present for a present concession and the perfect for a past one, and the negative is nē:
| Example (constructed) | Translation |
|---|---|
| Sit fūr; tamen homō est. | Granted that he is a thief, he is still a man. |
| Fuerit vir bonus; nōn tamen sapiēns fuit. | Granted that he was a good man, he was not wise. |
| Estō. | Be it so. Granted. |
estō is the future imperative of sum and is used in a concession. The concessive clauses with ut, cum, quamvis and etsī are subordinate clauses, treated on Subordinate clauses.
A transitive verb can be turned from the active to the passive: the object of the active becomes the subject of the passive, and the subject of the active becomes the agent.
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| Mīlitēs Caesarem laudant. The soldiers praise Caesar. | Caesar ā mīlitibus laudātur. Caesar is praised by the soldiers. |
A person as agent takes ā or ab with the ablative (ab before a vowel or h, ā before most consonants): ab hostibus caesī sunt they were cut down by the enemy. (constructed)
A thing as means or instrument takes the ablative alone: Mīlitēs gladiīs vulnerantur. The soldiers are wounded with swords. (constructed)
With the perfect passive participle and the gerundive, the agent is often in the dative (mihi, tibi); see Dative and the page Infinitive and participle constructions.
The agent is often omitted when it is unknown or unimportant:
Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs.
Gaul as a whole is divided into three parts. (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.1)
Some passive forms have a middle sense, in which the subject acts on itself: lavor I wash (myself), vertor I turn (myself).
A deponent has passive forms and an active meaning, and has no true passive (see Deponent and semi-deponent verbs).
An intransitive verb cannot have a personal passive, since there is no object to become the subject. It has an impersonal passive in the 3rd person singular (and the neuter in the perfect), which names the action without naming the actors:
| Form | Translation |
|---|---|
| ītur | people go, there is a going (from eō) |
| pugnātur | there is fighting, they fight |
| vīvitur | one lives |
| ventum est | they came, people came |
| itum est | there was a going |
Sīc itur ad astra.
Thus one goes to the stars. (Vergil, Aeneid 9.641)
Verbs that take the dative are also intransitive in Latin, and their passive is impersonal: Mihi nōn crēditur. I am not believed (literally it is not believed to me), Nōbīs persuāsum est. We have been persuaded. (both constructed) A personal passive such as ego persuādeor does not exist.
| Use | Mood and tense | Negative | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement | indicative, six tenses | nōn | Amat. |
| Command | imperative | nōlī with the infinitive; nē with the perfect subjunctive | Amā. |
| Exhortation, 1st and 3rd person | present subjunctive (jussive) | nē | Amēmus. Amet. |
| Wish | present, imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive (optative) | nē, utinam nē | Utinam adesset! |
| Possibility | present, perfect or imperfect subjunctive (potential) | nōn | Dīcat aliquis. |
| Doubt | present or imperfect subjunctive (deliberative) | nōn | Quid faciam? |
| Concession | present or perfect subjunctive | nē | Sit fūr. |
Give the tense, mood and voice, the person and number, and the use.
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