Intro to Subjunctive MoodStage 23/24

What is SUBJUNCTIVE? The Subjunctive is one of the three

different moods a Latin verb can take.

The two other moods are the Indicative and the Imperative.

The subjunctive is perhaps the most common and also most difficult to grasp, and there is a great number of different subjunctive uses

Why are there different Moods? Each Mood has its own

distinct purpose:• Imperative Mood is used for

direct commands• Indicative Mood is used for

things that actually happened• The Subjunctive Mood is used

for things that might happen or haven’t happened yet.

The CUM clause When a sentence begins with

CUM and has a subjunctive verb in it we call this a CUM clause.

CUM in this case is translated as “when” (although it can have other uses you will learn later)

This formal name for this is a CUM TEMPORAL clause

VERB POWER! Different Moods have different

strengths:• Imperative is the strongest mood, it is

always the main verb.• Indicative is the next strongest, it is the

main verb as long as there is not an imperative in the sentence.

• Subjunctive is the weakest mood: it is rarely the main verb

How do I identify subjunctive mood?

The imperfect subjunctive is formed by adding the personal endings (-m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt) to the present infinitive (often the second principal part).

The pluperfect subjunctive is formed by adding the personal endings to the perfect infinitive (3rd pp + isse)

Imperfect Subjunctive Example

For voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum the imperfect subjunctives are formed thus:

Vocare-m vocare-mus Vocare-s vocare-tis Vocare-t vocare-nt

And are translated “When _____ was/were calling”

Pluperfect Subj. Example For voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum the

pluperfect subjunctives are formed thus:

Vocav-isse-m Vocav-isse-musVocav-isse-s Vocav-isse-tisVocav-isse-t Vocav-isse-nt

And are translated “when _____ had called”

Conjugate the following Imperfect Subjunctive MOVEO, MOVERE, MOVI, MOTUS

Pluperfect Subjunctive AMO, AMARE, AMAVI, AMATUS