1531. A question in the indicative present or future may be used to
intimate command or exhortation, deliberation, or appeal: as,
(_a._) #abin hinc?# T. _Eu._ 861, _will you get out of this?_ #abin an
nōn? :: abeō#, Pl. _Aul._ 660, _will you begone or not? :: I’ll go_.
#quīn abīs?# Pl. _MG._ 1087, _why won’t you begone?_ or _get you gone_,
_begone_. #nōn tacēs?# T. _Ph._ 987, _won’t you just hold your tongue?_
#ecquis currit pollinctōrem arcēssere?# Pl. _As._ 910, _won’t some one
run to fetch the undertaker man?_ #quīn cōnscendimus equōs?# L. 1, 57,
7, _why not mount?_ or _to horse, to horse_. (_b._) #quid est, Crasse,
īmusne sessum?# _DO._ 3, 17, _what say you, Crassus, shall we go and
take a seat?_ #quoi dōnō lepidum novum libellum?# Cat. 1, 1, _unto whom
shall I give the neat new booklet?_ #quid agō? adeō, maneō?# T. _Ph._
736, _what shall I do? go up and speak, or wait?_ (_c._) #eōn? vocō hūc
hominem? :: ī, vocā#, Pl. _Most._ 774, _shall I go, and shall I call him
here? :: go call him_. See also 1623. Such indicative questions occur
particularly in old Latin, in Catullus, in Cicero’s early works and
letters, and in Vergil.
1532. Some set forms occur repeatedly, especially in questions of
curiosity, surprise, incredulity, wrath, or captiousness: as,
#sed quid ais?# T. _Andr._ 575, _but apropos_, or _but by the way_
(1500). #quid istīc?# T. _Andr._ 572, _well, well, have it your way_:
compare #quid istīc verba facimus?# Pl. _E._ 141. #ain tū?# _Br._ 152,
_no, not seriously?_ #itane?# T. _Eu._ 1058, _not really?_ Frequently
#egone#: as, #quid nunc facere cōgitās? :: egone?# T. _Hau._ 608, _what
do you think of doing now? :: what, I?_ In Plautus, threats are
sometimes introduced by #scīn quō modō?# _do you know how?_ i.e. at your
peril.
1533. A question is sometimes united with a participle, or an ablative
absolute, or thrown into a subordinate sentence: as,
#quem frūctum petentēs scīre cupimus illa quō modō moveantur?# _Fin._ 3,
37, _with what practical end in view do we seek to know how yon bodies
in the sky keep in motion?_ #quā frequentiā prōsequente crēditis nōs
illinc profectōs?# L. 7, 30, 21, _by what multitudes do you think we
were seen off when we left that town?_ #‘hominēs’ inquit ‘ēmistī.’ quid
utī faceret?# _Sest._ 84, _‘you bought up men’ says he; with what
purpose?_
[Erratum:
1532 ... T. _Andr._ 575,
575.]