The subjunctive mood in Latin () is a grammatical mood used to express hypothetical, unreal, or dependent actions and their temporal relationships in the Latin language. It comprises four primary forms: present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect subjunctive. No subjunctive forms exist for future tenses; instead, a periphrastic construction with the future participle is used. The subjunctive appears in both independent and dependent clauses. In independent clauses, it denotes unreal actions, with the specific subjunctive form indicating the speaker's stance toward the action. It is more commonly used in dependent clauses, where its form depends on the temporal relationship with the main clause's verb, governed by the sequence of tenses. The subjunctive is prevalent in various dependent clause types, such as indirect discourse, result clauses, and temporal clauses.
Latin verbs can appear in one of four subjunctive forms:
The active voice endings for the present subjunctive are: -m, -s, -t for singular, and , , for plural. The present subjunctive is formed as follows:
The passive voice follows a similar pattern.
The imperfect subjunctive is formed by adding the suffix - to the present stem, followed by the same endings as the present subjunctive: -m, -s, -t for singular, and , , for plural. These forms resemble the active infinitive, though historically, the developed differently. The passive voice follows a similar pattern.
For the verb , the imperfect subjunctive stem is .
The perfect subjunctive is formed by adding the endings , , , , , to the perfect stem (third principal part). The pluperfect subjunctive uses the endings , , , , , .
The passive subjunctive is formed by combining the past participle (from the supine stem) with the present subjunctive of (, , , etc.) for the perfect subjunctive, or the imperfect subjunctive of (, , , etc.) for the pluperfect:
The subjunctive, sometimes called the conjectural mood, is used in independent clauses to express unreality. The speaker adopts one of two stances toward the unreal action: a rational stance or a volitional stance. The rational stance is expressed as follows:
The negation for the subjunctive in the rational stance is .
The volitional stance reflects the speaker's desire for the unreal action to occur, expressed as:
The negation for the subjunctive in the volitional stance is .
The optative subjunctive expresses a wish, which may be possible or impossible:
Derived from , (to encourage), this form expresses encouragement in the first person plural, using the . The negation is . For example, â Let us therefore rejoice, â That they may be one.
Derived from , (to command), this form is used for commands in the third person singular and plural, and occasionally in the second person as a substitute for the imperative. For example, â Whatever you do, do it wisely and consider the end!
Derived from , (to prevent, forbid), this form complements the imperative mood. It is used in the first person plural and third person singular and plural with the negations or . For example, â Let us not fear nor despair of salvation. For prohibitions in the second person, the construction + is used: â Do not despair.
This form expresses possibility or supposition in the present, often in impersonal expressions using the in the second person. The negation is . It frequently appears in rhetorical questions with interrogative or indefinite pronouns as subjects. For example, â Among the soldiers, you could hardly distinguish the leader. â Who would believe this? For past possibilities, the is used: â Who could have believed this? â Who could doubt?
This form expresses unreal or counterfactual actions. For present actions, the is used: â Without friends, life would be sad. For past actions, the is used, with as a possible negation. For example, â What could human life have been without learning?
Derived from , (to doubt), this form expresses doubt, hesitation, or indecision, primarily in interrogative sentences. The is used for present actions, and the for past actions, with as a possible negation. For example, â What should I do? â Where should I have turned?
This form expresses concession, indicating an action occurring despite unfavorable conditions, translated into English with conjunctions like "although" or "even though". The negation is . For example, â Even if pain is not the greatest evil, it is certainly an evil. â Although Minos possesses everything, he does not possess the skies.
Both purpose and object clauses use the subjunctive, with the form depending on the tense of the main clause. Main clauses can be in primary tenses (present or future) or historical tenses (past tenses, including the , a present tense used to vividly describe past actions):
The sequence of tenses () determines which form of the subjunctive mood should be used in a subordinate clause. There are two conditions that govern the use of tenses in complex sentences: the grammatical tense of the main clause and the temporal relationship of the action expressed in the subordinate clause in relation to the main clause. For the purpose of the sequence of tenses, the tenses of the main clause are divided into present and future (called the main tense) and past tenses, called historical. In the main clause, the verb may appear in various moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive); , when used as or , is treated as a primary tense. The subjunctive in the present tense may also occur. The relation of the main clause to the subordinate clause can be simultaneous (both actions occur at the same time), anterior, when the action in the subordinate clause took place before the action expressed in the main clause, or posterior, when the action in the subordinate clause took place later than the action expressed in the main clause.
If the main clause is in a primary tense:
If the main clause is in a historical tense:
Exceptions occur when the tense of the dependent clause is determined relative to the speaker's perspective rather than the main clause. This is common in result clauses. After historical tenses in the main clause, the expresses a result continuing to the present, and the indicates a past result relative to the speaker's time. The negation is . For example:
In subordinate clauses that typically use the realis mood, the subjunctive may appear if the clause depends on a subjunctive clause or an (ACI) construction. This phenomenon, called , involves mood assimilation. The negation is . For example:
In indirect questions not using ACI, the subjunctive is always used, typically after verbs like , , or . The negation is . For example:
Present unreal actions use the , and past unreal actions use the . Unlike some languages (e.g., English), both the main and dependent clauses use the subjunctive. For example:
Present potential actions use the , and past potential actions use the . For example:
Mixed conditionals with different types are also possible.
The subjunctive is typical in temporal clauses, including those with causal or resultative meanings. These follow the sequence of tenses: simultaneous actions use the , and prior actions use the . For example: