DRN: 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: Titus cum Lucia in templo conveniet ut de investigatione dicant.	Titus will meet with Lucia to talk about the investigation. Titus will meet with Lucia so that they may talk about the investigation.
Example Indirect Command: Titus Luciam rogabit ut de investigatione dicat.	Titus will ask Lucia to talk about the investigation. Titus will ask that Lucia talk about the investigation.

[CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Links to an external site.] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION - INTENDED ONLY FOR USE WITHIN LESSON.