HUM 493 / REL 493 - Intermediate Latin


Course Notes - Week 9
Jussive Noun Clauses

Wheelock uses this term, which is a bit less clear than the term used by most other courses and books, including the Cambridge Course, - "Indirect Commands"

Wheelock uses "Jussive" to show that there is a command, wish, etc. that someone or something should do, or not do, something.

They can be introduced by any verb denoting an act of the will - request, beg, persuade, entreat, command, tell (someone to do something), wish, want, urge, permit, encourage, warn, resolve, etc

They usually start with "ut" and have a verb in the Subjunctive, not the Indicative.

The clause acts as the Object of the verb - so it stands in place of a noun. That seems to be the reasoning behind the term which Wheelock uses.

They have the form :

"The king commanded that the servants should do this"
"The king commanded that this be done" (using a passive Subjunctive)
"I wish that the teacher would do this"
"You said that the children should not do this"
"We warned the man that he should not do this"
"Cleopatra told Antony that he should leave"
"Cleopatra urged that Antony should leave"

Remember - Indicative is used for statements of fact,
Subjunctive is used when there is doubt about something.
For example, although "the king commanded that the servants should do this" - they might not have obeyed him.

NOTE - on page 253 of Wheelock - the first two examples he gives are NOT Jussive Noun Clauses, but are Direct Commands. Sentence 1 uses a direct Imperative, sentence 2 uses a Subjunctive as a third-person (jussive) direct command.
Sentences 1 and 2 use the exact words that the person giving the order or expressing the wish would use.

The Cambridge Course has sections on Indirect Commands, at Stage 27, page 128, and in the Grammar Review on page 335

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