LATIN FOR RESEARCH IN THE HUMANITIES
SEMINAR 9
REPORTED QUESTIONS
As mentioned in seminar 2, there are two main types of direct questions:
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qu- questions, beginning with an interrogative word, such as ‘quid’
‘fact’ questions, which invite us to agree or disagree with a fact, and employ the
suffix –ne instead of an interrogative word.
Reported questions in Latin sustain the distinction between the two types of direct question.
(1) qu- questions
When reported, qu- questions involve the same interrogative word as in the direct question
(used as a conjunction), and a subjunctive, the tense of which corresponds to the original, but
which pays heed to the sequence of tenses.
DIRECT QUESTION:
Quid facis?
What are you doing?
REPORTED QUESTION:
Me rogavit quid facerem.
He asked me what I was doing.
Fac me certiorem quando adfuturus sis.
Let me know when you will be here.
CICERO
In general, the interrogative words used as conjunctions in reported questions are the same as
those for direct questions, but there are some exceptions. Cur and quomodo are not normally
used in reported questions: cur is usually replaced with quare or quam ob rem, and quomodo
is commonly replaced with quem ad modum.
(2) Fact questions
When fact questions are reported, ‘num’ is most commonly used as a conjunction, and the
verb in the subordinate clause is again in the subjunctive, reflecting the tense of the original
question, but following the sequence of tenses.
DIRECT QUESTION:
Valesne?
Are you well?
REPORTED QUESTION:
Me rogavit num valerem.
He asked me if I was well.
Sometimes, fact questions are introduced by –ne, rather than by num.
Quaesivit salvusne esset clipeus.
He asked if his shield was safe.
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(3) The sequence of tenses revisited
It is important to look again at the sequence of tenses to understand how best to translate
reported questions. Let us consider the example given in §1, above:
DIRECT QUESTION:
Quid facis?
What are you doing?
REPORTED QUESTION:
Me rogavit quid facerem.
He asked me what I was doing.
In this example, the verb in the original question is in the present tense. In the reported
question, however, the main verb (indicative active) is in an historic tense (the perfect), and
so the verb in the subordinate clause (subjunctive active) is also in an historic tense, following
the sequence of tenses. The indicative present verb in the original question becomes an
imperfect subjunctive in the reported question. Note also that whereas the verb in the direct
question is in the second person, the subjunctive in the reported question is in the first person
(as in English). Just for the sake of clarity, the sequence of tenses is as follows:
Primary tenses
Historic tenses
Present
Future
Perfect (in subord. clauses)
—
Future Perfect
Imperfect
‘Future-in-past’
Pluperfect
Perfect (in main clauses)
—
A fuller impression of how this corresponds to reported questions can be gleaned from the
following table:
Original Question
Present
Quid facis?
Perfect
Quid fecisti?
Future
Quid facies?
Present
[Primary]
Rogat quid faciam.
He asks what I am
doing
[pres. → pres.]
Rogat quid fecerim.
He asks what I did.
[perf. → perf.]
Rogat quid facturus sim
He asks what I shall do.
[fut. → fut.]
Perfect
[Historic]
Rogavit quid facerem
Rogavit quid fecissem.
He asked what I was doing. He asked what I had done.
[pres. → imperf.]
[perf. → pluperf.]
Main Verb of Reported
Question
Rogavit quid facturus
essem.
He asked what I was
going to do.
[fut. → fut. in past]
There are two points to note from this which have not been covered in previous seminars:
(a) The future subjunctive. The future subjunctive is formed using a future participle +
sim [present subjunctive of ‘sum’].
(b) The ‘future-in-past’. This is formed using a future participle + essem [imperfect
subjunctive of ‘sum’].
(4) Verbs commonly introducing reported questions
Reported questions are commonly introduced by verbs meaning ‘ask’, but can also be
introduced by verbs meaning ‘say’, ‘know’, etc.:
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(te) rogo, -are
(a te) quaero, -ere, quaesivi, quaesitum
(tibi) dico, dicerem dixi, dictum
intellego, -legere, -lexi, -lectum
mirror, -ari
(te) certiorem facio, facere, feci, factum
cognosco, -noscere, -novi, -nitum
obliviscor, -livisci, -litus
(te) doceo, docere, docui, doctum
scio, scire, scivi, scitum
audio, -ire, -ivi, -itum
memini, -isse
sentio, -ire, sensi, sensum
video, videre, vidi, visum
nescio, -scire,
to ask
to ask
to say
to perceive, discern, understand
to wonder
to let [someone] know
to learn, know
to forget
to teach, instruct
to know
to hear
to remember
to perceive
to see
not to know, to be ignorant of
Impersonal constructions:
incertum est
mirum est
it is uncertain
it is wonderful
Exercises
(1) Magister scire vult quis fenestram fregerit.
(2) Puella hominem rogavit quot pisces cepisset.
(3) Incerti sumus quare cives ad templum progrediantur.
(4) Dux nesciebat quid hostes facturi essent.
(5) Cognoscere conabar num femina maritum occidisset.
(6) Oculis iudicari non potest in utram partem fluat Arar. (Caesar)
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