2305. A verb is sometimes used to indicate action that can be done, and
especially action that can be done at any time. This is called the
_Potential Use_ of the verb: as,
#clārē oculīs videō#, Pl. _MG._ 630, _I can see distinctly_. #proptereā
quod inter fīnēs Helvētiōrum et Allobrogum Rhodanus fluit isque
nōnnūllīs locīs vadō trānsītur#, 1, 6, 2, _because the Rhone runs
between the district of the Helvetians and Allobrogans, and the river in
some places can be forded_, or _is fordable_. Particularly with a
negative: as, #apertē adūlantem nēmō nōn videt#, _L._ 99, _an open
flatterer anybody can see through_. #nōn facile dīiūdicātur amor vērus
et fīctus#, _Fam._ 9, 16, 2, _real love and pretended love cannot easily
be told apart_. #ubī̆ Crassus animadvertit, suās cōpiās nōn facile
dīdūcī, nōn cunctandum exīstimāvit#, 3, 23, 7, _when Crassus saw that
his forces could not easily be divided, he thought he ought to lose no
time_. #quoniam prōpositum nōn tenuerat#, Caes. _C._ 3, 65, 4, _seeing
that he had not succeeded in carrying out his plan_. Sometimes this idea
is expressed by the subjunctive (1554).