Download Uses of the Subjunctive: Fear Clauses

CL210: Intermediate Latin
Skidmore College/Spring, 2008
C. Welser
Uses of the Subjunctive: Fear Clauses
►As the name suggests, a fear clause expresses fear that something will happen. A
negative fear clause expresses fear that something will not happen.
Fear clauses most commonly follow verbs that express fear, worry, or anxiety, of which
the most common are:
timeō, timēre timuī, -----metuō, metuere, metuī, metūtum
vereor, verērī, veritus sum
these three verbs all mean “I fear”;
the differences in nuance among them
are relatively slight
►A fear clause is generally introduced by nē.
►A negative fear clause is introduced by ut (or by nē followed by nōn or some
other negative word such as nihil, nūllus, -a, -um etc.).1
Timēmus nē mox moriāmur.
We’re scared that we will die soon.
Timuī nē quid scelus fēcisset.
I was afraid that he had done some wicked deed.
Metuit ut imperātor redīret Rōmam.
He feared that the emperor would not return to Rome.
Verentur nē vēritās numquam sciātur.
They are afraid that the truth will never be known.
A fear clause may also be found with other verbs, or with phrases implying the
presence of fear or anxiety:
Sentiō esse magnum perīculum nē amīcitiam rēgis
amittāmus.
1
I sense that there is a great danger
that we will lose the king’s friendship.
This is a reversal of the rule for purpose and result clauses, which can seem confusing at first. In fact, all these
types of clauses were originally just hortatory (or optative) subjunctives introduced by ut, which expressed a positive
desire, or by nē, which expressed a negative desire. Such subjunctives might be employed as independent clauses
(i.e. sentences) to clarify the reason either for an action or a fear. It was only later in Latin’s development that the
subjunctives began to be seen as fully subordinated to the sense of a preceding verb. So the “basic” meaning of a
sentence like legimus ut discamus (“We read in order that we may learn.”) is “We are reading. (Legimus.) Let us
learn. (Ut discamus.)” Likewise, in the case of fear clauses, a sentence like metuunt ut pater salvus sit (“They are
afraid that their father will not be safe.”) originally meant just “They are afraid. (Metuunt.) May their father be safe.
(Ut pater salvus sit). ” Thus, what came to represent a positive aim in the case of a purpose clause also came to
correspond grammatically, in the case of a fear clause, to a concern that a particular thing might not happen.