In yesterday’s post, which you can find here, we began to look at the (comparatively) complicated rules that govern the correct Tense to use in an Indirect Question.
In Rule 1 we saw that that the Verb within the Indirect Question is always Subjunctive. Compare quid Alanus emit? What is Alan buying? with scio quid Alanus emat. I know what Alan is buying.
In Rule 2 we saw that that the Indirect Question will always refer to one of three time periods (consecutive with, before or after the Main Verb), and that this partially determines the tense of the Subjunctive Verb.
i) I know what Alan is buying. scio quid Alanus emat.
ii) I know what Alan bought. scio quid Alanus emerit.
iii) I know what Alan is going to buy. scio quid Alanus empturus sit.
We then began to look at Rule 3, which states that the Tense of the Main Verb (and here the main Verb is scio I know) also plays a part in determining the Tense of the Subjunctive Verb in the Indirect Question. The Main Verb is considered to refer to one of two time periods;
a) the Present or Future or
b) the Past.
scio I know, for example, refers to the Present. sciam I will know, to the Future. sciebam I used to know refers to the Past. So does scivi I knew*. Now watch how Rules 2 and 3 work together to determine the Tense of the Subjunctive Verb.
ai) Main Verb is Present or Future : question is consecutive with the Main Verb
I know what Alan is buying. scio quid Alanus emat. emat is Present Subjunctive.
bi) Main Verb is Past : question is consecutive with the Main Verb
I knew what Alan was buying. scivi quid Alanus emeret. emeret is Imperfect Subjunctive.
aii) Main Verb is Present of Future : question refers to something previous to the Main Verb
I know what Alan bought. scio quid Alanus emerit. emerit is Perfect Subjunctive.
bii) Main Verb is Past : question refers to something previous to the Main Verb
I knew what Alan had bought. scivi quid Alanus emisset. emisset is Pluperfect Subjunctive.
aiii) Main Verb is Present : question refers to something after the Main Verb
I know what Alan is going to buy. scio quid Alanus empturus sit. empturus is a Future Participle which means about to buy. sit is a Present Subjunctive that means is.
biii) Main Verb is Past : question refers to something after the Main Verb
I knew what Alan was going to buy. scivi quid Alanus empturus esset. empturus is a Future Participle which means about to buy. esset is an Imperfect Subjunctive that means was.
And so, we have six possible Tenses of the Subjunctive Verb in an Indirect Question, which is considerably more complicated than most thing in Latin grammar.
*And, just to make things that little bit more complex, the Perfect Tense can refer to either the Present or the Past. Let’s look at the Verb rogo, rogare, rogavi, rogatum to ask. The Perfect Tense rogavi can refer to the Present I have asked or to the Past I asked. But, as long as you know which you mean, the Rules will still apply;
rogavi quid Alanus emat. I have asked what Alan is buying.
rogavi quid Alanus emeret. I asked what Alan was buying.
Alan is going to buy a dog for his son. For Scipio loves dogs very much and has wanted his own dog for a long time. Alan, therefore, is leading his son to the Pet Shop.