CIC: Lesson - Grammar - Fear Clauses

Image: a statue of a man's face with a terrified expression.Fear Clauses

Fear can be expressed in many different ways. In Latin, we have seen verbs of fear take a noun as an accusative or dative or an infinitive in the same role, as well as noun phrases expressing fear, like the descriptive and objective genitive uses: 

  • Accusative:
    • Canes timeo.
    • I am afraid of dogs.
  • Dative:
    • Tibi vereor.
    • I fear for you.
  • Infinitive:
    • In via ambulare timeo.
    • I am afraid of walking in the street.
  • Descriptive Genitive:
    • Senatores de timore mortis dixerunt.
    • The senators talked about their fear of death.
  • Objective Genitive:
    • Multum metum salutis habuimus.
    • We had a great deal of fear for our safety.

Latin has another other important way of expressing fear: using the participle ut + a verb in the subjunctive mood.

Subjunctive Fear Clause

The fear clause is closely related to a purpose clause, and is introduced with ut or ne. The reason this clause must be mentioned separately is that the normal translation is backwards for positive and negative:

  • ut = that not (also rarely ne non)
  • ne = that

Why? Consider what is being said when expressing a fear of something:

  • I fear that my friend will not come.
    • The desire here is positive: for the friend to come. So, Latin uses ut to introduce this clause:
    • Timeo ut meus amicus veniat.
  • I feared that my friend might come.
    • Now, the person fearing desires something not to happen: they wish for the friend to not come. So, Latin uses ne to introduce this clause:
    • Timui ne meus amicus veniret.
  • Ne non can sometimes be used instead of ut:
    • When the verb of fearing is negated (non timeo ne non... = I don't fear that something may not...)
    • When a specific word in the dependent clause is being negated, not the whole clause (timeo ne non tam = I fear that something is not so much...)

Fear not: the meaning should be clear when you are translating, so long as you remember: fear is already a negative emotion. Keep that in mind, and you will have nothing to fear.

Fear Clause Examples

Latin actually expresses fear in several different ways, including without using the subjunctive.

Fear Clause Examples

Source

Latin Example

Translation
Constructed Cicero veritus est ut hostis capturus esset.

Cicero feared that his enemy would not be captured.

(His desire: capturing the enemy)
Constructed Cicero metuet ne res publica deficiat.

Cicero fears that the republic might suffer.

(His desire: for the republic to avoid suffering)
Constructed Cicero non timebat ne veritas non crederetur.

Cicero was not afraid that his truth would not be believed.

(His desire: his truth to be believed; independent clause negative, double negative)

Cicero

Si te iam, Catilina, comprehendi, si interfici iussero, credo, erit verendum mihi, ne non potius hoc omnes boni serius a me quam quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat.

If, O Catiline, I would now order you to be arrested, or if I might order you to be put to death, I must be afraid, I believe, that all good men would say that I had acted too slowly, rather than that anyone should claim that I acted cruelly.

Nota bene - Cicero Example

  • Note the use of ne non - Cicero may be poking at Catiline a bit here, by saying that the fear is not actually his own, but Catiline's.
  • Note also the use of the passive periphrastic (gerundive + form of sum: erit verendum) for the introduction of the fear clause.