The principles of Latin grammar; comprising the ... - Essan.org

———§ 45 THE VEKB.—TENSES. 99signification, and is rendered by should, would, could, can, will,shall; as, Citius credidcrim, "I should sooner believe." Juv.Libenter audierim, "1 would gladly hear." Cic.— Ciceronemcuicunque eorum facile opposuerim, " I could easily match Cicerowith any of them ;" non facile dixerim, "I cannot well tell— ;"nee tdmen excluserim alios, " and yet I will not excludeothers." Si pendulum modo quid te fugerit, ego perierim, "Ifany tiling however trifling escape you, I shall be undone."Ter.3. After quasi, tanquam, and the like, it is sometimesrendered by had; as, quasi affuerim, " as if I had been present ;"perinde ac si jam vicerint, "just as if they had already conquered."4. It is sometimes used in concessions ;as, paria sit pecunia," suppose the money were gotten." Sometimes as the imperative,with the idea of urgency ; as, hcec dicta, sint patribus," let these things be told quickly to the fathers."174.—IV. The Plupeefect subjunctive denotesan action or event contingent at some past time,but regarded as to be perfected before anotheraction or time subsequent to it, and connectedwith it ; as,Quodcunque jussisset me facturum esse dixi, " I said (then)that I would do whatever he should order." Here his orderingwas contingent at the time referred to, (then) ; but it wasto take place before the doing connected with it. So, Id responderuntse facturos esse, cum ille venio Aquilone Lemnumvenisset, " They replied that they would do that, when he shouldreturn to Lemnos with a north wind." In such constructions,the leading verb is usually in the past tense, or in the presentused for the past. It is variously rendered by would, could,might, had, might have, could have, would have, should have, orought to have; as, si jussisset paruissem, " if he had commanded,I would have obeyed." Hence, observe :1. That though the action or state is often future in respectto the time of the leading verb, yet it is past with regard tothe action or state dependent on it.2. After quum, it is used in the sense of the pluperfect, toexpress an action antecedent to another past action connectedciwith it ; as, Ccesar quum hcec dixisset, profectus est, wheu