1499. The indicative is the mood ordinarily used in enquiries and in
exclamations: as,
(_a._) #huic ego ‘studēs?’ inquam. respondit ‘etiam.’ ‘ubī̆?’
‘Mediōlānī.’ ‘cūr nōn hīc?’ ‘quia nūllōs hīc praeceptōrēs habēmus,’#
Plin. _Ep._ 4, 13, 3, _said I to the boy, ‘do you go to school?’ ‘yes,
sir,’ said he; ‘where?’ ‘at Mediolanum;’ ‘why not here?’ ‘oh because we
haven’t any teachers here.’_ (_b._) #ut ego tuum amōrem et dolōrem
dēsīderō#, _Att._ 3, 11, 12, _how I always feel the absence of your
affectionate sympathy_.
1500. Questions and exclamations are used much more freely in Latin than
in English. Particularly common are two questions, of which the first is
short and general, leading up to the real question: as,
#sed quid ais? ubi nunc adulēscēns habet?# Pl. _Tri._ 156, _but tell me,
where is the youngster living now?_ #estne? vīcī? et tibī̆ saepe
litterās dō?# Cael. in _Fam._ 8, 3, 1, _is it true? have I beaten? and
do I write to you often?_ The real question is often preceded by #quid
est#, #quid dīcis#, or by #quid#, #quid vērō#, #quid tum#, #quid
posteā#, #quid igitur#, #quid ergō#, &c., &c.: as, #quid? canis nōnne
similis lupō?# _DN._ 1, 97, _why, is not the dog like the wolf?_
1501. There are two kinds of questions: (1.) Such questions as call for
the answer _yes_ or _no_ in English: as, _is he gone?_ These may
conveniently be called _Yes or No Questions_. (2.) Questions introduced
by an interrogative pronoun, or by a word derived from an interrogative
pronoun: as, _who is gone?_ _where is he?_ These are called _Pronoun
Questions_.