1563. I. The subjunctive is often used to ask what action or whether any
action is desired, commanded, proper, or necessary.
In many instances a negative answer or no answer at all is expected The
negative is #nē#, sometimes #nōn#.
(_a._) #quō mē vertam?# _Scaur._ 19, _which way shall I turn?_ #quid
faciam, praescrībe :: quiēscās :: nē faciam, inquis, omnīnō versūs?# H.
_S._ 2, 1, 5, _lay down the law, what I’m to do :: keep still :: wilt
have me write, sayst thou, no verse at all?_ #quid igitur faciam? nōn
eam?# T. _Eu._ 46, _what then am I to do? not go?_ #quid nī meminerim?#
_DO._ 2, 273, _why should not I remember?_ or _of course I remember_.
#huic cēdāmus? huius condiciōnēs audiāmus?# _Ph._ 13, 16, _shall we bow
the knee to him? shall we listen to his terms?_ (_b._) #quid tandem mē
facere decuit? quiēscerem et paterer?# L. 42, 41, 12, _what in the world
ought I to have done? keep inactive and stand it?_
1564. Such questions sometimes have the alternative form: as,
#Corinthiīs bellum indīcāmus, an nōn?# _Inv._ 1, 17, _are we to declare
war against Corinth, or not?_ #utrum indicāre mē e͡i thēnsaurum aequom
fuit, an ego alium dominum paterer fierī hīsce aedibus?# Pl. _Tri._ 175,
_should I have pointed out the hoard to him, or should I have allowed
another to become the owner of this house?_ here #paterer# is equivalent
to #aequom fuit patī# (1495).
1565. II. The subjunctive is often used to ask whether action is
conceivable: as,
(_a._) #quis putet celeritātem ingenī L. Brūtō dēfuisse?# _Br._ 53, _who
can suppose that Brutus lacked ready wit?_ i.e. #nēmō putet# (1556),
#putābit# (1620), or #putāre potest#. #sī enim Zēnōnī licuit, cūr nōn
liceat Catōnī?# _Fin._ 3, 15, _for if it was allowed Zeno, why should
not it be allowed Cato?_ (_b._) #hoc tantum bellum quis umquam
arbitrārētur ab ūnō imperātōre cōnficī posse?# _IP._ 31, _who would ever
have dreamed that this stupendous war could be brought to a close by a
single commander?_ The imperfect sometimes denotes action not performed
at the present time (1560): #quis enim cīvis rēgī nōn favēret?# _D._ 6,
_for what Roman would not feel for the king?_ (_c._) #ego tē vidēre
nōluerim?# _QFr._ 1, 3, 1, _I have objected to seeing you?_
1566. The subjunctive is often used in interrogative outbursts of
surprise, disapprobation, indignation, or captious rejoinder. In such
questions a pronoun, #ego#, #tū# (#ille#), is usually expressed. The
negative is #nōn#.
This subjunctive occurs in Plautus and Terence, in Cicero, oftenest the
letters, in Horace, Vergil, and Livy. Not in Caesar nor Sallust.
1567. (1.) The question may have no interrogative word, or may have
#-ne#, especially in comedy: as,
(_a._) #nōn tacēs? :: taceam?# T. _Ph._ 987, _you hold your tongue :: I
hold my tongue?_ #nē flē :: egone illum nōn fleam?# Pl. _Cap._ 139,
_weep not :: what, I not weep for him?_ #tū pulsēs omne quod obstat?# H.
_S._ 2, 6, 30, _what, you, sir, punch whatever’s in your way?_ #faveās
tū hostī? ille litterās ad tē mittat?# _Ph._ 7, 5, _you, sir, sympathize
with the enemy? he correspond with you?_ #sapiēnsne nōn timeat?# _Ac._
2, 135, _a sage not be afraid?_ (_b._) #ego mihī̆ umquam bonōrum
praesidium dēfutūrum putārem?# _Mil._ 94, _could I have dreamed that I
should ever lack the protection of the patriotic?_ (_c._) #‘apud
exercitum mihī̆ fuerīs’ inquit ‘tot annōs?’# _Mur._ 21, _‘to think of
your having been with the army, bless my soul?’ says he, ‘so many
years.’_ (_d._) #mihī̆ cuiusquam salūs tantī fuisset, ut meam
neglegerem?# _Sull._ 45, _could anybody’s safety have been so important
in my eyes as to make me disregard my own?_
1568. (2.) The question may have #utī# or #ut#: as,
#tē ut ūlla rēs frangat? tū ut umquam tē corrigās?# _C._ 1, 22, _any
thing break you down? you ever reform?_ #pater ut obesse fīlīo dēbeat?#
_Planc._ 31, _a father morally bound to work against his son?_
1569. (3.) The question with #utī# or #ut# is sometimes attended by a
remnant of another question with #-ne# or #-n#. In this combination,
#-ne# either precedes, joined to an emphatic word, or it is attached
directly to #utī# or #ut#: as,
(_a._) #egone ut tē interpellem?# _TD._ 2, 42, _what I? interrupt you?_
#illīne ut impūne concitent fīnitima bella?# L. 4, 2, 12, _what, they be
allowed to stir up border warfare with impunity?_ #virgō haec līberast
:: meane ancilla lībera ut sit, quam ego numquam ēmīsī manū?# Pl. _Cur._
615, _this girl is free :: my servant-girl? she to be free, when I have
never set her free?_ (_b._) #utne tegam spurcō Dāmae latus?# H. _S._ 2,
5, 18, _what, I’m to shield a nasty Dama’s side?_ #somnium. utine haec
īgnōrāret su͡om patrem?# T. _Ph._ 874, _oh bosh, not to have known the
father that begat her?_ See 1505 and 1532.
1570. It may be mentioned here, that the interrogative subjunctive is
often used in subordinate sentences: see 1731.
[Erratum:
1565a ... _Fin._ 3, 15
_Fin_ 3,]