science

Latin tenses with modality

Latin tenses with modality is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Latin tenses with modality rather than just read about it. In short: This article covers free indications of frequency, probability, volition and obligation. Gerundive tenses Present gerundive The gerundive of the verb (an adjectival form ending in -ndus) can be combined with the verb sum 'I am' to make a passive periphrastic tense.

Key takeaways

Latin tenses with modality belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Latin tenses with modality to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Latin tenses with modality from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This article covers free indications of frequency, probability, volition and obligation.

Gerundive tenses

Present gerundive The gerundive of the verb (an adjectival form ending in -ndus) can be combined with the verb sum 'I am' to make a passive periphrastic tense. This usually expresses what is needing to be done:

ego nec rogandus sum nec hortandus (Pliny) 'I don't need to be asked or encouraged' (i.e. I will do it willingly) hī tumōres incīdendī sunt (Celsus) 'tumours of this kind need to be lanced'

Negative The negative gerundive usually means 'not needing to be', as in the first example above. However, sometimes the interpretation 'ought not to be' or 'it isn't possible for it to be' is more appropriate:

illud enim iam nōn es admonendus nēminem bonum esse nisī sapientem (Seneca) 'you do not need to be reminded now that no one is good except the wise man' Callimachī numerīs nōn est dīcendus Achillēs (Ovid) 'the story of Achilles shouldn't (or can't) be told using the metre of Callimachus'

Impersonal construction Very often the passive periphrastic is used impersonally, together with a dative of the agent:

vōbīs hodiernō diē cōnstituendum est (Cicero) 'a decision needs to be made by you today' The impersonal form of this tense can also be made using intransitive verbs such as eō 'I go' and verbs such as persuādeō 'I persuade' and ūtor 'I use' which do not take an accusative object:

nōn est respondendum ad omnia (Cicero) 'there is no need to reply to everything' mihī Arpīnum eundum est (Cicero) 'I have to go to Arpinum' tuō tibī iūdiciō est ūtendum (Cicero) 'you must use your judgement'

Future gerundive An example of a future gerundive periphrastic is the following:

quoniam id quidem non potest, ōrandus erit nōbīs amīcus meus, M. Plaetōrius (Cicero) 'since that isn't possible, we will need to ask my friend, Marcus Plaetorius'

Imperfect gerundive An example of the imperfect passive periphrastic is the following:

timēbat, nōn ea sōlum quae timenda erant, sed omnia (Cicero) 'he was afraid not only of those things which needed to be feared, but everything'

Perfect gerundive As with the active perfect periphrastic, in a conditional sentence the perfect gerundive periphrastic tense can mean "would have done":

sī ūnum diem morātī essētis, moriendum omnibus fuit (Livy) 'if you had delayed just one day, you would all have died' Another meaning of the perfect passive is "ought to have been done":

aut exercitus adimendus aut imperium dandum fuit (Cicero) 'either his army should have been taken away or he should have been given the command' In the following result clause, this tense becomes subjunctive:

dē Pomptīnō rēctē scrībis. est enim ita ut, sī ante Kal. Iūniās Brundisī futūrus sit, minus urgendī fuerint M. Anneius et L. Tullius (Cicero) 'what you write about Pomptinus is correct: for the fact is that, if he is going to be in Brundisium before the 1st June, it wasn't so necessary for Marcus Anneius and Lucius Tullius to have been urged to hurry'

Future perfect gerundive The active future perfect periphrastic tense is not found, but the passive occurs:

cum aedificandum fuerit, ante biennium ea saxa eximantur (Vitruvius) 'whenever (at some future time) it is necessary for a building to be made (using local stone), the stones for it should be quarried two years in advance' For gerundive infinitive tenses see #Gerundive infinitives below.

Subjunctive tenses

Wishes The present subjunctive can express a wish for the future (the word utinam is usually added):

utinam illam diem videam! (Cicero) 'I hope I may see that day!' The negative is nē:

nē vīvam sī sciō (Cicero) 'may I not live if I know!' Less commonly, the perfect subjunctive expresses a wish for the past, leaving open the possibility that it may have happened:

utinam vērē augurāverim (Cicero) 'may I have prophesied correctly!' hāc Trōiana tenus fuerit fortūna secūta (Virgil) 'may it turn out that Trojan ill-fortune has followed us this far, no further!' The perfect subjunctive can also be used in a wish for the future, but this use is described as "archaic".

quod dī ōmen averterint! (Cicero) 'but may the gods avert this omen!' The imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive are used in wishes to represent an imagined or wished for situation or event which is no longer capable of fulfilment:

utinam Servius Sulpicius vīveret! (Cicero) 'if only Servius Sulpicius were alive!' utinam ille omnīs sēcum suās cōpiās ēduxisset! (Cicero) 'if only he had led out all his forces with him!' Sometimes velim or vellem 'I would that' is used instead of utinam. In the following sentence, the imperfect subjunctive vellem is used to wish for something that cannot now come true, while the present subjunctive velim leaves open the possibility that it may be true:

dē Menedēmō vellem vērum fuisset, dē rēgīnā velim vērum sit. (Cicero) 'I wish it had been true about Menedemus; I hope it may be true about the queen'

Jussive subjunctive When the present subjunctive has a jussive or hortatory meaning, it can be a suggestion or command in the 1st or 3rd person:

vīvāmus, mea Lesbia, atque amēmus (Catullus) 'let's live, my Lesbia, and let's love' sedeat hīc (Gellius) 'let him sit here!' exeant, proficīscantur, nē patiantur dēsideriō suī Catilīnam miserum tābēscere (Cicero) 'let them go out, let them depart; let them not allow poor Catiline to waste away with desire for them!' In philosophy it can set the scene for a discussion:

vēndat aedēs vir bonus (Cicero) 'let us suppose that a good man is selling a house' The jussive subjunctive is only used in the 2nd person when the person is indefinite:

exoriāre, aliquis nostrīs ex ossibus ultor! (Virgil) 'may you arise, some avenger, from our bones!' Another use of the present or perfect subjunctive is concessive:

sit fūr, sit sacrilegus, sit flāgitiōrum omnium vitiōrumque prīnceps; at est bonus imperātor (Cicero) 'he may be a thief, he may be a temple robber, he may be the leader of all outrages and vices; nonetheless he is a good general!' fuerit aliīs; tibī quandō esse coepit? (Cicero) 'he may have been so to others; when did begin to be so to you?' The present and imperfect subjunctives are also used in deliberative questions (which are questions which expect an imperative answer):

dē Pompeiō quid agam? (Cicero) 'what action should I take about Pompey?' quid facerem? (Virgil) 'what was I to do?' With the negative particle nē the perfect subjunctive can express a negative command:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Latin tenses with modality

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Latin tenses with modality claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Latin tenses with modality before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Latin tenses with modality ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Latin tenses with modality

In research: Latin tenses with modality appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Latin tenses with modality in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Latin tenses with modality is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grammatical tenses, Latin grammar, Linguistic modality, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Latin tenses with modality outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Latin tenses with modality in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Latin tenses with modality means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Latin tenses with modality out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Latin tenses with modality in simple terms?

This article covers free indications of frequency, probability, volition and obligation. Gerundive tenses Present gerundive The gerundive of the verb (an adjectival form ending in -ndus) can be combined with the verb sum 'I am' to make a passive periphrastic tense.

Why does Latin tenses with modality matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Latin tenses with modality?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Latin tenses with modality.