CI: Lesson - Purpose Clauses vs. Indirect Commands

Purpose Clauses vs. Indirect Commands

Both the purpose clause and the indirect command use ut and ne to introduce a dependent clause that is often best translated in English with an infinitive clause. What distinguishes the two clauses? Differences are marked in boldface.

Indirect Command vs. Purpose Clause

Characteristics	Indirect Command	Purpose Clause
Introduced by:	ut	ut
Often translated by:	infinitive that	infinitive so that so as in order to/that
Negated with:	ne	ne
Introductory Verb:	Verb of speaking, ordering, urging	Verb of action, doing, motion
Role of Clause:	To tell someone to do something	To express why main action happened

Compare Latin Examples

While it is useful to see those characteristics side by side, it is likely better to directly compare two examples. Look below and connect the characteristics above to the example sentences to help understand why each clause was used.

Purpose Clause vs. Indirect Command

Latin Example	Translation
Example Purpose Clause: Pseudolus cum Selena in templo conveniet ut de investigatione dicant.	Pseudolus will meet with Selene to talk about the investigation. Pseudolus will meet with Selene so that they may talk about the investigation.
Example Indirect Command: Pseudolus Selenem rogabit ut de investigatione dicat.	Pseudolus will ask Selene to talk about the investigation. Pseudolus will ask that Selene talk about the investigation.