30.05.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [43] passive forms [i] present passive (1)

By this stage you should now be comfortable with the active forms of the subjunctive and you have seen them being used in several different ways. Before we continue with the dependent uses of the subjunctive, we will bring in passive forms of the subjunctive in contexts that you have already seen.

In this post we deal with the present passive subjunctive: remember wE fEAr A lIAr

Note the poetic alternative / archaic 2^nd person singular forms ending in -re which look like infinitives.

1^st conjugation

Active > Passive

portEm > portEr

portēs > portēris; or: portēre

portet > portētur

portēmus > portēmur

portētis > portēminī

portent > portentur

2^nd conjugation

Active > Passive

monEAm > monEAr

moneās > moneāris; or moneāre

moneat > moneātur

moneāmus > moneāmur

moneātis > moneāminī

moneant > moneantur

3^rd conjugation

Active > Passive

dūcAm > dūcAr

dūcās > dūcāris; or: dūcāre

dūcat > dūcātur

dūcāmus > dūcāmur

dūcātis > dūcāminī

dūcant > dūcantur

3^rd-iō conjugation

Active > Passive

capIAm > capIAr

capiās > capiāris; or: capiāre

capiat > capiātur

capiāmus > capiāmur

capiātis > capiāminī

capiant > capiantur

4^th conjugation

Active > Passive

audIAm > audIAr

audiās > audiāris; or: audiāre

audiat > audiātur

audiāmus > audiāmur

audiātis > audiāminī

audiant > audiantur

Notes

[i] I used a personal ‘short-hand’ way of remembering the changes. The passive personal endings for all conjugations are added to the stems i.e. it isn’t a question of learning all the conjugations separately

Active > passive

-m > -r

-s > -ris (-re)

-V̌t > -V̄tur (the short Vowel of the active becomes long in the 3^rd person singular passive e.g. -Et > -Ētur; -eAt > eĀtur)

-mus > -mur

-tis > -minī

-nt > -ntur

[ii] Don’t try to amass all the information at one time; at this Level 4, the purpose is to recognise and understand usage of the subjunctive forms in the literature. Bear in mind that a considerable amount of literature is narrative about somebody else and, therefore, focus initially on 3^rd person singular and plural forms.

Librum scrībit ¦ ut ab omnibus legātur. │ He is writing the book ¦ so that it may be read by everyone.

Tam dīligenter labōrat ¦ ut ab omnibus laudētur. │ He works so diligently ¦ that he is praised by everyone.

Omnēs mīlitēs fugiunt ¦ nē sagittīs vulnerentur. │ All the soldiers flee ¦ so that they may not be wounded by arrows.

Tantus est clāmor ¦ ut verba senātōris vix audiantur. │ The shouting is so great ¦ that the senator’s words are scarcely heard.

[iii] Examples of other forms are rarer, but here are a few from the authors:

(1) Nunc prius praecaveō sciēns sumque ōrnāta ita ut aegra videar, quasi puerperiō cubem (Plautus) │ Now, first, I take precautions deliberately, and I am made up in such a way that I may appear ill, as though I were lying in bed from childbirth.

(2) Numquid accidere tibi, sī damnāris, potest dūrius quam ut mittāris in exilium, ut dūcāris in carcerem? (Seneca) │ Can anything harsher happen to you, if you were to be condemned, than that you be sent into exile, than that you be led into prison?

(3) Finge aliquid saltem commodē ut nē plānē videāris id facere quod apertē facis (Cicero) │ At least invent something suitable so that you may not obviously be seen doing what you are openly doing.

(4) Quō mihi ācrius adnītundum est, utī neque vōs capiāminī et illī frūstrā sint (Sallust) │ For which reason I must strive the more vigorously, so that neither you may be deceived nor they may be disappointed.

(5) Further quotations from Cicero: note that Cicero, although talking about himself alone, frequently uses the 1^st person plural. If you are moving into the literature, then it is useful – gradually – to become familiar with the styles of different authors.

Effice ¦ ut ab omnibus laudēmur et amēmur (Cicero) │ See to it ¦ that we are praised and loved by everyone. [ = that I am praised and loved]

Sed, nē ingrātī … videāmur, hoc omittō (Cicero) │ But about that I will say no more, so that we may not appear / be seen as ungrateful [= that I may not appear / be seen as]

Libente mē vērō, ut aliquid aliquandō dē doctrīnae studiīs admoneāmur (Cicero) │ Indeed, I gladly welcome being occasionally reminded about the studies of learning [literally: Indeed, gladly on my part, in order that we may at some point be reminded [= Cicero: I may …]