Latin tenses in commands

Commands represent actions to be carried out and states to reach (read more on Imperative mood). However, these actions and states are demanded, not posited as being either future, present or past. This means that commands have no primary tense. Notwithstanding, they may have a secondary tense because not all tasks are to be carried out right away (no tense), some are to be carried out after, while or before another event takes place (secondary tense).

Latin grammar
For the formation of the verb paradigms, see Latin conjugation.
For the formation of the verb group paradigms, see Latin periphrases.
For tenses in indicative clauses, see Latin tenses (semantics).

No Tense
Imperative modes of representing events (functionally organised)
IndicativeImperative IImperative IIImperative IIIPolite ImperativePoetic ImperativeEarly ImperativeLate Imperative
dīcisdīcedīcitōnōlī dīceredīcēsnē dīcenē dīxerīsnē dīcās
dīcitisdīcitedīcitōtenōlīte dīceredīcētisnē dīcitenē dīxerītisnē dīcātis
loquerisloquereloquitornōlī loquīloquērisnē loquere*nē loquāris
loquiminīloquiminīloquitōminīnōlīte loquīloquēminīnē loquiminī*nē loquāminī

Positive commands

The present imperative mood is the normal tense used for giving direct orders which the speaker wishes to be carried out at once. The active form can be made plural by adding -te:

dā mī bāsia mīlle, deinde centum! (Catullus)[1]
'give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred!'
date dexterās fidemque! (Livy)[2]
'give me your right hands and your oath!'

Deponent verbs such as proficīscor 'I set out' or sequor 'I follow' have an imperative ending in -re or -minī (plural):

patent portae: proficīscere! (Cicero)[3]
'the gates are open: depart!'
sequiminī mē hūc intrō ambae (Terence)[4]
'follow me this way inside, both of you'

The future can also be used for polite requests, as when Cicero sends greetings to his friend Atticus's wife and daughter:

Pīliae salūtem dīcēs et Atticae (Cicero)[5]
'please give my greetings to Pilia and Attica'

Negative commands

An imperative is usually made negative by using nōlī(te) (literally, 'be unwilling!') plus the infinitive:

nōlīte mīrārī (Seneca the Elder)[6]
'don't be surprised'

However, in poetry an imperative can sometimes be made negative with the particle nē:

nē mē terrēte timentem, obscēnae volucrēs! (Virgil)[7]
'do not terrify me, who am already scared, obscene birds!'

A negative order can also use the perfect subjunctive:[8]

dē mē nihil timuerīs (Cicero)[9]
'do not be afraid on my account'

In later Latin, nē plus the present subjunctive became more common, for example in the Vulgate Bible.[10] In the following example the first three verbs use the present subjunctive, and the third the perfect subjunctive:

nē adulterēs, nē occīdās, nē fūrēris, nē falsum testimōnium dīxerīs (Mark, 10.19)
'do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not speak false testimony'

Secondary tense

A command can be made for someone to do something at some point in time after the command, however a command can be temporally located. In this case, the task is to be carried out before, during or after a future event or within a future time window and is represented by 'future imperative' verbs.[11] This mode of representing tasks is very frequent in text by early writers (Plautus and Cato) and sporadically found in texts by later authors (Cicero and Martial):

Examples of 'future imperative' clauses - relative tense
Inner Meaning Outer Meaning Paradigm Latin example English translation Comment
relative to future future in future 'future imperative' sī quid acciderit, ... scrībitō (Cicero)[12] 'if anything happens, write to me' do in English
rīdētō multum quī tē, Sextille, cinaedum dīxerit et digitum porrigitō medium (Martial)[13] 'Sextillus, laugh a lot at anyone who calls you a 'faggot' and show them the middle finger'
ubī nōs lāverimus, sī volēs, lavātō (Terence)[14] 'when we are done with bathing, bathe yourself here if you wish'
present in future 'future imperative' crūdam sī edēs, in acētum intinguitō (Cato)[15] 'if you are eating it (cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar'
past in future 'future imperative' crās petitō, dabitur (Plautus)[16] 'should you ask for it tomorrow, you will be given it' should do in English

Other meanings of the 'future imperative'

Some verbs have only the second imperative, for example scītō 'know', mementō 'remember'.[11] In this case the imperative often has a present rather than future meaning:

fīliolō me auctum scītō, salvā Terentiā (Cicero)[17]
'know that I have been blessed with a little son, and that Terentia is safe'

In theory there is also a future passive imperative, but it is extremely rare. It can be is either 2nd or 3rd person:[18]

pār parī iugātor coniūx (Ausonius)[19]
'A spouse should be joined equal to equal' (or: 'Be joined as a spouse equal to an equal')
Meanings of 'perfect indicative' verbs
MeaningForm NameLatin exampleEnglish translationComment
future event in promise 'future perfect indicative' Pompōnia, tū invītā mulierēs, egō virōs accīverō (Cicero)[20] 'Pomponia, go invite the women, I'll summon the men' 'will' in English

3rd person formal imperative

Related to the colloquial future imperative is the formal imperative (usually used in the 3rd person) of legal language, as in this invented law from Cicero's de Lēgibus:

rēgiō imperiō duo suntō, iīque ... ā cōnsulendō cōnsulēs appellāminō; nēminī pārentō; ollīs salūs populī suprēma lēx estō (Cicero)[21]
'there shall be two men with royal power; and from consulting they are to be called 'consuls'; they are to obey nobody; for them the welfare of the people shall be the supreme law'

According to J.G.F. Powell, appellāminō is not a genuine archaic form; in early Latin -minō is used only in deponent verbs and is 2nd or 3rd person singular.[22]

Meminī, ōdī, nōvī

The future perfect and pluperfect of these verbs serve as the equivalent of a future or imperfect tense: meminerō 'I will remember', memineram 'I remembered'. meminī has an imperative mementō 'remember!' There is also a subjunctive which can be used in a hortatory sense:

vīvōrum meminerīmus! (Petronius)[23]
'let us remember the living (not the dead)!'

References
  1. Catullus 5.
  2. Livy, 1.58.7.
  3. Cicero, Cat. 1.10.
  4. Terence, Hec. 793.
  5. Cicero, Att. 16.6.4.
  6. Seneca the Elder, Controv. 7.7.2.
  7. Virgil, Aen. 12.875.
  8. Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 173.
  9. Cicero, Att. 4.17.4.
  10. Gerd V.M. Haverling, in Baldi & Cuzzolin (eds), p. 400.
  11. Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 174.
  12. Cicero, Att. 10.1.3.
  13. Martial, 2.28.
  14. Terence, Eunuchus, 592.
  15. Cato, de Agri Cultura 156.
  16. Plautus, Mercātor 770.
  17. Cicero, Att. 1.2.
  18. Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 75.
  19. Ausonius, Septem Sapientium Sententiae.
  20. Cicero, ad Att. 5.1.3.
  21. Cicero, Leg. 3.8.
  22. Powell (2005), p. 137.
  23. Petronius, Sat. 43.1.
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