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

—;93 THE -VERB.—TENSES. § 45would be wiser ;" post hcec prcecipitem darem, " afterwards, 1would throw him down headlong."2. Sometimes, the imperfect is rendered as the pluperfectas, si quis diceret, nunquam puiarem, &c, " if any one hadsaid it, I never would have thought," .&c.3. After a verb or clause denoting hindrance, the subjunotive imperfect, and sometimes the present, with quominus, ne,may often be rendered by from with the present participleas,Si te tua infirmitas valetudmis tenuit, Quo minusad ludos venires, " Ifyour weak state of health has prevented you from coming to the games."So, Ne quis impediretur quo minus ejus rebus FRUERETUR,"That no one mightbe hindered from enjoying," &c. Nep.— Impedltus ne portaret, "Beinghindered from carrying." Sale. Jug., 39. Me impediet quo minus— vestrumjus defendant, " Shall hinder me from defending your right."4. In historical narration, after ut or quum (cum), " when," orother words denoting time, the imperfect subjunctive is translatedlike the perfect indefinite or aorist ; or, when it expressesa continued action, like the perfect indicative : as, cum ab hisqueer eret, " when he inquired of these ;" cum id ultro polliceretur," since of his own accord he promised that ;" cumsummus mons ieneretur, "when the top of the "mountain wasoccupied."173.—III. The Perfect subjunctive is used todenote an act or event spoken of as already past,or which, will be past at some future time, butabout which there is at present some contingencyor uncertainty, in the mind of the speaker.This tense is commonly rendered by the signs may have;as, fortasse scripserim, " perhaps I may have written," implying,"if so, I have at present forgotten it."This general idea is expressed with much variety in English,according as the tense stands connected with other words inthe sentence. This will be best explained by a few examples.1. It is sometimes rendered like the present; as, ut sicdixerim, " that I may so speak." Sometimes like the imperfeet; as, ubi ego uudiverim? "where should I have heard it?"fortasse erraverim, " perhaps I might be in an error."2. This tense sometimes inclines very much to a future-Cic.