2301. A verb is sometimes used to denote action proposed, attempted, or
begun, but not necessarily carried out. This is called the _Conative
Use_ of the verb: as,
#ancillās dēdō#, T. _Hec._ 773, _I try to give_, or _I offer up the
servant girls_. #sine ūllā dubitātiōne condemnant#, _Clu._ 75, _without
a moment’s hesitation they vote to condemn_. #dum id inpetrant#, Pl.
_Cap._ 233, _as long as they’re trying to get it_. #sī plācēs
inlacrimābilem Plūtōna#, H. 2, 14, 5, _shouldst thou the stonyhearted
Pluto strive to melt_. #sī discēdās#, J. 7. 50, _should you attempt to
leave_. #in cūriam abiēcit, quam vīvus ēverterat#, _Mil._ 90, _he shoved
the corpse into the senate house, which the man in his lifetime had done
his best to overthrow_. #adsurgentem rēgem umbōne resupīnat#, L. 4, 19,
5, _with the boss of his shield he put the king flat on his back, when
he tried to get up_.
2302. This use is particularly common in the imperfect indicative: as,
#nostrōs ingredī prohibēbant#, 5, 9, 6, _they tried to stop our people
from getting in_. #Apellēs faciēbat#, Plin. _NH. praef._ 26, _Apelles
undertook to do this_, or _an attempt of Apelles’s_. #sēdābant tumultūs,
sēdandō interdum movēbant#, L. 3, 15, 7, _they tried to quell the
riotings, but by trying they started them once in a while afresh_. #num
dubitās id mē imperante facere, quod iam tuā sponte faciēbās?# _C._ 1,
13, _do you possibly hesitate to do at my command what you wanted to do,
as it was, yourself?_ The conative use is not very common in old Latin,
but more frequent from Cicero and Caesar on.
2303. When the conative use is to be expressed more distinctly, a form
of #volō# or #cōnor# is used, or a frequentative, like #vēnditō#, _try
to sell_, #adventō#, _strive to come_.