F. Indirect Questions.

300. 1. Indirect Questions are Substantive Clauses used after verbs of asking, inquiring, telling, and the like. They take their verb in the Subjunctive^[56]. Like Direct Questions (see § 162) they may be introduced—

a) By Interrogative Pronouns or Adverbs; as,—

dīc mihi ubi fuerīs, quid fēcerīs, tell me where you were, what you did;

oculīs jūdicārī nōn potest in utram partem fluat Arar, it cannot be determined by the eye in which direction the Arar flows;

bis bīna quot essent, nesciēbat, he did not know how many two times two were.

NOTE.—Care should be taken to distinguish Indirect Questions from Relative Clauses. The difference between the two appears clearly in the following:—

effugere nēmō id potest quod futūrum est, no one can escape what is destined to come to pass; but saepe autem ne ūtile quidem est scīre quid futūrum sit, but often it is not even useful to know what is coming to pass.

b) By num or -ne, without distinction of meaning; as,—

Epamīnōndās quaesīvit num salvus esset clipeus, or salvusne esset clipeus, Epaminondas asked whether his shield was safe;

disputātur num interīre virtūs in homine possit, the question is raised whether virtue can die in a man;

ex Sōcrate quaesītum est nōnne Archelāum beātum putāret, the question was asked of Socrates whether he did not think Archelaus happy.

NOTE.— Nōnne in Indirect Questions occurs only after quaerō, as in the last example above.

2. Often the Indirect Question represents a Deliberative Subjunctive of the direct discourse; as,—

nesciō quid faciam, I do not know what to do. (Direct: quid faciam, what shall I do!)

3. After verbs of expectation and endeavor (exspectō, cōnor, experior, temptō) we sometimes find an Indirect Question introduced by sī; as,—

cōnantur sī perrumpere possint, they try whether they can break through.

a. Sometimes the governing verb is omitted; as,—

pergit ad proximam spēluncam sī forte eō vēstīgia ferrent, he proceeded to the nearest cave (to see) if the tracks led thither.

4. Indirect Double Questions are introduced in the main by the same particles as direct double questions (§ 162, 4); viz.;—

utrum... an;

-ne... an;

——... an;

——... ne.

Examples:—

quaerō utrum vērum an falsum sit, quaerō vērumne an falsum sit, quaerō vērum an falsum sit, quaerō vērum falsumne sit,

} } I ask whether it } is true or false? }

a. 'Or not' in the second member of the double question is ordinarily expressed by necne, less frequently by an nōn; as,—

dī utrum sint necne, quaeritur, it is asked whether there are gods or not.

5. Haud sciō an, nesciō an, by omission of the first member of the double question, occur with the Subjunctive in the sense: I am inclined to think, probably, perhaps; as,—

haud sciō an ita sit, I am inclined to think this is so.

6. In early Latin and in poetry the Indicative is sometimes used in indirect Questions.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES.

301. Conditional Sentences are compound sentences (§ 164) consisting of two parts, the Protasis (or condition), usually introduced by sī, nisi, or sīn, and the Apodosis (or conclusion). There are the following types of Conditional Sentences:—

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