Independent vs. Dependent: How the Subjunctive is Used in Latin

In Latin, the subjunctive mood is used in two distinctive ways: there are independent uses and there are dependent uses. How you approach the translation of a subjunctive verb will depend very much on which of these two uses is in effect.

Independent Uses - an independent subjunctive is being used in an independent clause, which is a clause that can stand alone as its own sentence. Independent clauses are also called main clauses. For independent uses, the subjunctive mood is used as the verb in an independent clause. The subjunctive verb does not require (or depend) on other verbs to support it. The independent uses include:
- Potential Subjunctives
- Imperative Subjunctives
- Optative Subjunctives (wishes)
- Deliberative Questions
Dependent Uses - a dependent subjunctive is being used in a dependent clause, which is a clause that cannot stand alone as its own sentence. Dependent clauses are also called subordinate clauses. For dependent uses, the subjunctive verb is used to further explain, describe or set conditions on the independent clause. These uses include: indirect commands and questions, purpose clauses, result clauses, circumstantial clauses and conditional clauses. We will learn more about dependent uses of the subjunctive mood in future modules.

The focus of this module is to discuss the independent uses of the subjunctive mood.