Indirect Questions/Commands

Indirect Questions/Commands

Tell me again why these aren’t just like indirect statements???

Tell me again why these aren’t just like indirect statements???

What are they?What are they?

Indirect questions and indirect commands are about what you would expect them to be, from the names and what you know “indirect speech” means.

An indirect question is a question embedded inside a declarative sentence; an indirect command is a direct order embedded in a declarative sentence.

English ExamplesEnglish Examples

Direct question: Catullus says to a girl, “Do you love me?”

Indirect question: “Catullus asked a girl whether she loved him.”

More English Examples

More English Examples

Direct command: Caesar tells his soldiers, “Form up ranks!”

Indirect command: “Caesar told his soldiers to form up ranks.”

Uhh. . .Uhh. . .From these examples in English, it can be very easy to think that these sentences should be written in Latin with accusative-and-infinitive construction.

However, they’re not. Both of these constructions require a subjunctive subordinate clause. Their construction closely resembles purpose and result clauses.

Indirect Question Formation

Indirect Question Formation

To create an indirect question in Latin, use the question word that started the original direct question as a conjunction, and then put the whole thing into subjunctive, using the sequence of tenses rules we just learned.

Latin ExamplesLatin Examples

Suppose you start with the question, “Ubi sunt exploratores?” (Where are the scouts?) As an indirect question, this can become:

Caesar rogat ubi exploratores sint. (Caesar asks where the scouts are.)

Caesar rogavit ubi exploratores essent. (Caesar asked where the scouts were.)

More Tense PossibilitiesMore Tense Possibilities

Indirect questions can cover the whole range of sequence of tenses without logical problems. So you could just as well write:

Caesar rogabit ubi exploratores sint. (Caesar will ask where the scouts are.)

Caesar rogat ubi exploratores erint. (Caesar asks where the scouts were.)

Caesar rogavit ubi exploratores fuissent. (Caesar asked where the scouts had been.)

Yes/No QuestionsYes/No Questions

What if there is no question word that you can use as the conjunction to get into a indirect question? This will happen with yes/no questions.

In this case, use num as your conjunction. In the context of an indirect question, num does not have the negative, leading tone that it does in a direct question.

ExamplesExamples

Starting with “Exploratoresne insidias fugerunt?” (Did the scouts escape the ambush?)

Caesar rogat num exploratores insidias fugierint. (Caesar asks whether the scouts escaped the ambush.)

Caesar rogavit num exploratores insidias fugissent. (Caesar asked whether the scouts [had] escaped the ambush.)

Indirect CommandsIndirect Commands

Indirect commands work much the same way, except that you use ut/ne as the conjunction, not a question word.

Yes, this is the exact same construction as for purpose clauses. However, telling them apart in context is almost always straightforward: in an indirect command, the main verb will always have a meaning relating to giving an order. Vocabulary and grammar work together.

ExamplesExamples

Once again, suppose that Caesar tells his army, “Form up!” (Instruete!) As an indirect command, you could write:

Militibus Caesar imperat ut instruant. (Caesar orders the soldiers to form up.)

Militibus Caesar imperavit ut instruerent. (Caesar ordered the soldiers to form up.)

NB: impero, one of the most common verbs for introducing indirect questions, happens to take the dative. This isn’t a general rule for all indirect questions.

Negative ExamplesNegative Examples

Of course, you can also tell people not to do something. Suppose Ovid tells his girlfriend, “Don’t go to that party!” (Noli ad cenam istam ire!)

Ovidius puellam imploravit ne ad cenam istam iret.

Logic Strikes Again!Logic Strikes Again!

If you think about it, then you may realize that, just like with purpose and result clauses, you would realistically never see a perfect or pluperfect subjunctive in an indirect command.

What is the point of telling people to have already done something??

One Little WrinkleOne Little Wrinkle

Just because this wasn’t confusing enough, there are a small number of verbs that you would logically expect to take indirect commands after them, but which actually DO take accusative-and-infinitive.

This most commonly happens with iubeo (to order) and veto (to forbid).

Since the result is fairly similar to the English equivalent (He tells him to do blah-blah-blah. . .), this is not actually much of a barrier to fluent Latin reading, and we’re not writing original Latin in this class.