The subjunctive appears in a variety of constructions, but fear clauses provide a particularly clear way to examine how primary and historic tense sequences affect meaning and how Latin subjunctive verbs can be translated. The accompanying image includes all the subjunctive forms of both active and passive verbs discussed, along with the nuances they convey.
English does not
always convey the inherent uncertainty of a fear clause, whereas Latin does
through the subjunctive. Therefore, I have used both (1) ‘may’ and ‘might’ to
retain the uncertainty, and (2) English verb forms that do not explicitly show
it.
Primary
Sequence
[a] simultaneous /
future action
Timet [present indicative] nē hostēs urbem capiant
[present subjunctive]. │ He fears that the enemy (1) may /
(2) will capture the city.
Timet nē urbs ab hostibus capiātur [present
subjunctive; passive]. │ He fears that the city (1) may be / (2) will
be captured by the enemy.
[b] completed
action
Timet nē hostēs urbem cēperint [perfect
subjunctive]. │ He fears that the enemy (1) may have (2) have captured
the city.
Timet nē urbs ab hostibus capta sit [perfect
subjunctive; passive]. │ He fears that the city (1) may have been / (2) has
been captured by the enemy.
Historic
Sequence
[a] simultaneous /
future action
Timēbat [imperfect indicative] nē hostēs urbem caperent
[imperfect subjunctive]. │ He was afraid that the enemy (1) might
/ (2) would capture the city.
Timēbat nē urbs ab hostibus caperētur
[imperfect subjunctive; passive]. │ He was afraid that the city (1) might be
/ (2) would be captured by the enemy.
[b] completed
action
Timēbat nē hostēs urbem cēpissent
[pluperfect subjunctive]. │ He was afraid that the enemy (1) might have
/ (2) had captured the city.
Timēbat nē urbs ab hostibus capta esset [pluperfect
subunctive; passive]. │ He was afraid that the city (1) might have been
/ (2) had been captured.
The fears of
Cicero
One of the most
significant figures in Classical Latin literature is Cicero, and his letters
and speeches provide very good contextual examples of how the language works. It
is important, therefore, to see authentic quotations to take you beyond the
text books. Below are examples of the way in which the primary and historic
tense sequences operate from some of Cicero’s correspondence with Atticus.
[1] Primary
sequence
Timeō, ¦ nē absim │ I am afraid ¦ I
may be absent.
Timeō, ¦ nē in eum
exsistam crūdēlior │ I fear ¦ that I might come across as too
cruel toward him.
Metuō ¦ nē obsit │ I fear ¦ he
may cause trouble.
Haec metuō equidem
nē sint somnia │ I fear these may be dreams.
Nunc vērō sībilīs
volgī, sermōnibus honestōrum, fremitū Ītaliae vereor nē exārserint
[perfect subjunctive]. │ But now I am afraid they might have flared up from
the hisses of the crowd, the talk of the loyalists, and the murmurs of Italy.
Note the two
different ways of expressing the negative i.e. ut or nē … nōn
Et tamen vereor,
¦ ut hīs ipsīs contentus sit │ And yet I fear that he might
not be content with these very things.
Sed timeō, ¦ nē
nōn impetrem │ I fear I may not succeed.
Vereor, ¦ nē
exercitum firmum habēre nōn possit │ I fear he may not be able
to have a reliable army.
[2] Historic
sequence
Hanc epistulam … veritus
sum ¦ nē solveret │ I was afraid ¦ he might open this
letter.
Tū autem veritus es fortasse, nē ego
invītus audīrem But perhaps you feared that I should be sorry
at the news [literally: … that I might listen unwillingly].
Nē interclūderer,
metuēbam │ I was afraid that I might be shut in there.
Nōn sum veritus, nē vidērer adsentārī │ I was
not afraid that I might appear / be seen to flatter him.
“Quid vōs, … praesidium
ā nōbīs postulābātis? an, nē nummī vōbīs ēriperentur, timēbātis?” │ “Why
did you ask us for a guard? Were you afraid that coins would be snatched
from you?”
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