[Shiloh]

Ok so for #26 and #27, I wrote down “You do not praise that man” instead of the solutions answer which was “See that you do not praise that man” or “Let you not praise that man”. Seeing as the exercise is with subjunctive verbs is my wording incorrect? I did the same for #27, “You do not call that girl” instead of “See that you do not call that girl.”

[Ben Crist]

Shiloh: Thanks for asking! Since the main verb is in the subjunctive mood, you’ll want to make sure your translation carries some aspect of the hypothetical/potential action of that form of verb.

Think of the subjunctive constructions as Clark Kent going into the phonebooth and coming out as Superman. There is something “activated” when you begin a sentence with Ne and the main verb is in the subjunctive mood.

Dwane translates it in the key as “See that you do not…” or “Let you not…”. You don’t want to simply translate it as “You do not…” because the main verb is not in the indicative (think early Latin) mood. In other words, the subjunctive means that the author wants to do more than say you did not praise, he wants to exhort you so that you would not praise.

This usage starts to bump against the negative imperative, which is used for quicker action. “Don’t touch the stove!” is either a frantic plea to stop before burning yourself, or it could be someone yelling as they leave the house ;). But a hortatory subjunctive (as it is formally called), is more like a parent looking you in the eye before leaving you home alone with siblings for the first time and saying “See that you don’t touch the stove.” The parent is imagining the temptation, and helping you have an instruction to fall back on when you may be tempted.

Does that help?

In my classroom, if I knew a student was rocking her forms and was advanced enough, I’d let “Don’t praise” slide so long as she could explain to me when called on that this was not a simple imperative, but an exhortation. So if you know what you are doing, you can break the translation rules 😉

[Shiloh]

Yes that helps a lot! And it is obviously important that I remember what subjunctive means/does even if I translate it a little bit differently.

[Ben Crist]

Here’s a helpful explanation (on the English side) of the subjunctive mood, complete with examples.

[Shiloh]

Thank you!