Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
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Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
Pyrrhus, Fabricii virtutem admiratus, illi secreto quartam etiam regni sui partem obtulit si patriam desereret.
- bedwere
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
It's the protasis of a conditional clause in indirect speech. It must be subjunctive.
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- Constantinus Philo
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
Can we say: si patriam deserturus esset? I think it would be wrong but I don't know why.
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
The sentence does not look like the usual form of indirect speech to me.
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
It's subjunctive because it implicitly represents what Pyrrhus said to Fabricius: "I am offering you a quarter of my kingdom if you desert." A speech act is implicit in obtulit.
I don't think deserturus esset, representing a future indicative verb in direct speech, would necessarily be wrong, but see Allen & Greenough 468, 516.2.a, Note, and 516.2.f:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 99.04.0001
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 99.04.0001
I don't think deserturus esset, representing a future indicative verb in direct speech, would necessarily be wrong, but see Allen & Greenough 468, 516.2.a, Note, and 516.2.f:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 99.04.0001
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 99.04.0001
Bill Walderman
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
Is this sentence an example of what some refer to as informal indirect discourse?
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
Ah yes, implied oratio obliqua. Thank you Constinus
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Re: Why is the subjunctive used in this sentence?
"Pyrrhus, having admired the manly virtue of Fabricius, proffered to him in secret, even a fourth part of his realm, if he would desert his fatherland."
[Note to the side: secreto is an adverbial use of an adjective to predicate an attribute to a person in the
specific context only. The text is not claiming that Fabricius is a secretive fellow as a matter of character but that he is secretive in this instance. Called by some "the adverbial use of an adjective as secondary predicate."]
We are used to seeing the imperfect subjunctive in contrary-to-fact conditionals. However the imperfect subjunctive can also be used of a possible future event (one that could actually come to fruition) that is future to a past situation. From Allen and Greenough 516, f:
"A future conditional is frequently thrown back into past time, without implying that it is contrary to fact." A&G give this example from Caesar:
non poterat, nisi decertare vellet
"He was not able, unless he wished to fight".
[Note to the side: secreto is an adverbial use of an adjective to predicate an attribute to a person in the
specific context only. The text is not claiming that Fabricius is a secretive fellow as a matter of character but that he is secretive in this instance. Called by some "the adverbial use of an adjective as secondary predicate."]
We are used to seeing the imperfect subjunctive in contrary-to-fact conditionals. However the imperfect subjunctive can also be used of a possible future event (one that could actually come to fruition) that is future to a past situation. From Allen and Greenough 516, f:
"A future conditional is frequently thrown back into past time, without implying that it is contrary to fact." A&G give this example from Caesar:
non poterat, nisi decertare vellet
"He was not able, unless he wished to fight".