CI: Lesson - Independent Uses: Imperative Subjunctives

Image: a crowd looks on at an event in a Roman amphitheater Imperative Subjunctives

The second use of the independent subjunctive will be to expand the use of imperatives to include commands in the 1st and 3rd person, as well as the 2nd person. Let the crowds cheer! The image shows a modern audience participating in a re-enactment of an ancient sporting event. Let the crowds cheer is a type of imperative, which will be handled by the subjunctive mood in Latin.

Imperative Mood - Review

In Latin I, we were introduced to the Imperative Mood. It was used for direct, 2nd person commands, being either singular or plural, and was based on the present stem of the verb. For instance: Porta aquam! (singular) or Portate aquam! (plural). Both of these imperatives would be translated: Carry the water!

  • Porta = one person being told to carry the water
    • Porta, Marce, aquam!
    • Carry the water, Marcus!
  • Portate = more than one person being told to carry the water
    • Portate, pueri, aquam!
    • Carry the water, boys!

With both the singular and plural, the command is being directed to a 2nd person, in essence, telling someone directly to do something: 

  • Carry the water!
    • Who is being told to carry water? You are.

Imperative Subjunctives

What if, though, you were issuing a command to a group of people that included yourself? Or if you were trying to give a suggestion to some third party? In Latin, the present tense of the subjunctive mood was used to express an imperative subjunctive, also sometimes called a polite command. While the imperative subjunctive can be any person (1st, 2nd or 3rd), we will focus on its use in the 1st and 3rd person. The negative for an imperative subjunctive will use ne. When translating the imperative subjunctive, begin with the word Let followed by the subject:

  • Eamus!
    • Let us go!
  • Eat!
    • Let him go!
    • Let her go!
    • Let it go!
  • Eant!
    • Let them go!

Notice that the subject of each of these commands is in the English object case (we = subject; us = object).

A Final Note: the 1st person plural imperative subjunctive is sometimes referred to as hortatory while the 3rd person (both singular and plural) imperative subjunctive is sometimes called jussive. These names are derivatives of two Latin verbs, which help us understand the usages:

  • Hortatory:
    • hortor, hortari, hortatus sum - to encourage, urge
  • Jussive:
    • iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussus - to order, command
    • Remember, the consonant i in classical Latin eventually becomes the letter j:
      • iussus -> jussus 

While it is useful to be aware of these terms, there is no actual difference in usage between first and third person for these commands, which is why we refer to this usage collectively as the imperative subjunctive.

Examples of the Imperative Subjunctive in Context

The examples below sometimes use contractions for Let us (Let's) and Do not (Don't). Feel free, when forming your own translations, to use these common contractions to make a smoother reading.

  • Eamus ad ludos!
    • Let us go to the games!
    • Let's go to the games!
  • Ne relinquamur.
    • Let us not be left behind.
    • Do not let us be left behind.
  • Putemus de eis quos perdidimus.
    • Let us think about those whom we have lost.
  • Situ malo, ne desperemus.
    • Though the situation is bad, let's not lose hope.
  • Sit vincens cursum.
    • Let him be the winner of the race.
      • Literally: Let him be the one winning the race. vincens is participle being used as a substantive (the one winning = a winner)
  • Capiant amicos suos ad ludos.
    • Let them take their friends to the games.
  • Ne cognoscat veritatem.
    • Let her not learn the truth.
    • Don't let her learn the truth.
  • Ne dicitur certamen esse iniquum.
    • Let it not be said that the contest was unfair.
    • Don't let it be said that the contest was unfair.