The Imperative.

281. The Imperative is used in commands, admonitions and entreaties (negative nē), as,—

ēgredere ex urbe, depart from the city;

mihi ignōsce, pardon me;

valē, farewell.

1. The Present is the tense of the Imperative most commonly used, but the Future is employed—

a) Where there is a distinct reference to future time, especially in the apodosis of conditional sentences; as,—

rem vōbīs prōpōnam; vōs eam penditōte, I will lay the matter before you; do you (then) consider it;

sī bene disputābit, tribuitō litterīs Graecis, if he shall speak well, attribute it to Greek literature.

b) In laws, treaties, wills, maxims, etc.; as,—

cōnsulēs summum jūs habentō, the consuls shall have supreme power;

hominem mortuom in urbe nē sepelītō, no one shall bury a dead body in the city;

amīcitia rēgī Antiochō cum populō Rōmānō hīs legibus et condiciōnibus estō, let there be friendship between Antiochus and the Roman people on the following terms and conditions;

quārtae estō partis Mārcus hērēs, let Marcus be heir to a fourth (of the property);

ignōscitō saepe alterī, numquam tibi, forgive your neighbor often, yourself never.

2. Except with the Future Imperative the negative is not used in classical prose. Prohibitions are regularly expressed in other ways. See § 276, b.

3. Questions in the Indicative introduced by quīn (why not?) are often equivalent to an Imperative or to the Hortatory Subjunctive; as,—

quīn abīs, go away! (lit. why don't you go away?);

quīn vōcem continētis, keep still! (lit. why don't you stop your voices?);

quīn equōs cōnscendimus, let us mount our horses (lit. why do we not mount our horses?)

MOODS IN DEPENDENT CLAUSES.

Clauses of Purpose.

282. 1. Clauses of Purpose are introduced most commonly by ut (utī), quō (that, in order that), nē (in order that not, lest), and stand in the Subjunctive, as,—

edimus ut vīvāmus, we eat that we may live;

adjūtā mē quō hōc fīat facilius, help me, in order that this may be done more easily;

portās clausit, nē quam oppidānī injūriam acciperent, he closed the gates, lest the townspeople should receive any injury.

a. Quō, as a rule, is employed only when the purpose clause contains a comparative or a comparative idea. Occasional exceptions occur; as,—

haec faciunt quō Chremētem absterreant, they are doing this in order to frighten Chremes.

b. Ut nē is sometimes found instead of nē. Thus:—

ut nē quid neglegenter agāmus, in order that we may not do anything carelessly.

c. Ut nōn (not nē) is used where the negation belongs to some single word, instead of to the purpose clause as a whole. Thus:—

ut nōn ējectus ad aliēnōs, sed invītātus ad tuōs videāre, that you may seem not driven out among strangers, but invited to your own friends.

d. To say 'and that not' or 'or that not,' the Latin regularly uses nēve (neu); as,—

ut eārum rērum vīs minuerētur, neu pontī nocērent, that the violence of these things might be lessened, and that they might not harm the bridge;

profūgit, nē caperētur nēve interficerētur, he fled, that he might not be captured or killed.

e. But neque (for nēve) is sometimes used in a second Purpose Clause when ut stands in the first, and, after the Augustan era, even when the first clause is introduced by nē.

f. Purpose Clauses sometimes stand in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun: as,—

hāc causā, ut pācem habērent, on this account, that they might have peace.

2. A Relative Pronoun (quī) or Adverb (ubi, unde, quō) is frequently used to introduce a Purpose Clause; as,—

Helvētiī lēgātōs mittunt, quī dīcerent, the Helvetii sent envoys to say (lit. who should say);

haec habuī, dē senectūte quae dīcerem, I had these things to say about old age;

nōn habēbant quō sē reciperent, they had no place to which to flee (lit. whither they might flee).

a. Quī in such clauses is equivalent to ut is, ut ego, etc.; ubi to ut ibi; unde to ut inde; quō to ut eō.

3. Relative Clauses of purpose follow dignus, indignus, and idōneus; as,—

idōneus fuit nēmō quem imitārēre, there was no one suitable for you to imitate (cf. nēmō fuit quem imitārēre, there was no one for you to imitate);

dignus est quī aliquandō imperet, he is worthy to rule sometime.

4. Purpose Clauses often depend upon something to be supplied from the context instead of upon the principal verb of their own sentences; as,—

ut haec omnia omittam, abiimus, to pass over all this, (I will say that) we departed.