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In an unreal conditional, the imperfect subjunctive refers to a situation contrary to fact at the present time or at the time of the story, while in a past ideal conditional, the imperfect subjunctive refers prospectively to a situation that might have occurred at a later time than the time of the narrative.
Imperfect subjunctive + pluperfect subjunctive: vellem vērum fuisset (Cicero) [49] 'I wish it had been true' When the main verb is primary, an imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive in a clause that is already subordinate in the original sentence may often remain: dīc, quid factūrus fuerīs, sī cēnsor fuissēs? (Livy) [59]
The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of an utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude toward it.Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality such as wish, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, obligation, or action that has not yet occurred; the precise situations in which they are used ...
The imperfect subjunctive can also be used to represent an imagined or wished for situation in present time: [337] utinam Servius Sulpicius vīveret! (Cicero) [338] 'if only Servius Sulpicius were alive (now)!' In a conditional clause representing an unreal situation in present time, the imperfect subjunctive is used in both clauses:
(Spanish: "Si yo fuera/fuese rico, compraría una casa.") [66] The perfect past subjunctive (the imperfect subjunctive of haber and then a past participle) refers to an unfulfilled condition in the past, and the other clause would be in the perfect conditional: "Si yo hubiera/hubiese tenido dinero, habría comprado la casa" ("If I had been rich ...
In the literary language, past unreal conditional sentences as above may take the pluperfect subjunctive in one clause or both, so that the following sentences are all valid and have the same meaning as the preceding example: Si j ' eusse su, je ne serais pas venu; Si j ' avais su, je ne fusse pas venu; Si j ' eusse su, je ne fusse pas venu.
A negative order can also use the perfect subjunctive: [8] dē mē nihil timuerīs [9] 'do not be afraid on my account' In later Latin, nē plus the present subjunctive became more common, for example in the Vulgate Bible. In the following example the first three verbs use the present subjunctive, and the third the perfect subjunctive:
ar (< older ară, are) allegedly comes from the imperfect subjunctive (3sg ' habēret and 3pl habērent); and; aș (< older ași) continues Latin pluperfect subjunctive habessim (cf. Italian impf. subj. avessi, French eusse) which formed the basis of the Romance imperfect subjunctive. [12]