A Free Guide
A free guide . . . who can pass up a deal like that? Especially when it comes to uses of the Latin subjunctive mood.
We don’t see much of the subjunctive anymore in English, which makes it a little mystifying. There are also so many different things the subjunctive can mean in Latin. And yet, they all look so much alike. How can cum mean both “since” and its near opposite, “although”? For that matter, how can a little word like ut mean so many different things?
Qui Bene Distinguit . . .
This single-sheet guide to Uses of the Subjunctive is the result of decades of working out those questions with my students in the classroom. It contains 22 different uses of the subjunctive. The uses are divided into Independent Subjunctives, Cum Clauses, Conditional Clauses, and Other Subordinate Subjunctives.
Listings include helpful hints for identifying the specific application of the subjunctive mood. For subordinate subjunctives, for instance, uses are grouped by the introductory word, such as ut or qui, quae, quod. Each use is further distinguished within that group by what clues we might find in the main clause. When ut follows a form of timeo, for instance, we have a clause after fearing. When the main clause contains accidit or evenit, the ut introduces a substantive clause of result. And so on.
Tested and Tempered
Since I created the first version of this guide in the mid 1990s my students have kept copies of it in their notebooks. I’ve received countless positive reviews of its efficacy. At the same time, they’ve made numerous suggestions for its improvement. This handy little tool has been tested and tempered over time.
Of course, it takes more than just two sides of an 8 x 12 sheet to fully explain 22 uses of the Latin subjunctive mood. But this free guide is a great reference and reminder.
Download and Print!
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Featured image top of page: A Carolingian manuscript, c. 831. Rabanus Maurus (left), with Alcuin (middle), dedicating his work to Archbishop Odgar of Mainz (right)
