Purpose clauses

Introduction to Purpose Clauses

• Purpose Clauses in Latin express the goal or aim of an action. They answer the question “to what end?” or “for what purpose?”.
• These clauses are commonly introduced by ‘ut’ or ‘ne’. ‘Ut’ translates into English as ‘in order to’ or ‘so that’. ‘Ne’ translates as ‘in order not to’ or ‘lest’.
• Purpose clauses are dependent, which means they cannot stand alone as a complete thought. They must be used along with a main or independent clause.

Formation of Purpose Clauses

• Purpose clauses are formed using the subjunctive mood. To construct a purpose clause, begin with the main clause in the indicative mood, followed by ‘ut’ or ‘ne’ and then the verb of the purpose clause in the subjunctive mood.
• The verb in the purpose clause will be in the same tense as the verb in the main clause.
• Purpose clauses are usually used with verbs of motion.

Examples of Purpose Clauses

• For example, Venio ut te videam which translates as ‘I come in order to see you’ or ‘I come so that I might see you’.
• Another example, Legimus ut sciamus, translates as ‘We read in order to know’ or ‘We read that we may know’.
• When you want to express a negative purpose, you use ‘ne’. For example, Discit ne ignarus sit translates as ‘He is learning in order not to be ignorant’.

Exception

While ‘ut’ and ‘ne’ are the most common, sometimes ‘qui’, ‘quae’, ‘quod’ are used to introduce purpose clauses when the antecedent is in the same clause.

• For example, Dedit pecuniam servo quī emeret panem which translates as ‘He gave money to the slave in order to buy bread’. Here ‘quī’ introduces the purpose clause and ‘servo’ is the antecedent.

Purpose Clauses in Indirect Statement

• Purpose clauses follow the rules of sequence of tenses, and thus their usage varies slightly in indirect statements or reported speech.
• When the leading verb in the main clause is in the present, future, or future perfect tense, purpose clauses use present subjunctive. If the leading verb is in a past tense, then the purpose clause uses the imperfect subjunctive.
• For example Dico ut scias (I say so that you may know). Versus Dixi ut scires (I said so that you might know). Here ‘scias’ and ‘scires’ are the subjunctive forms of ‘to know’ in the present and imperfect tense respectively.

Just remember, in purpose clauses, always use the subjunctive mood and pay attention to verbs and sequence of tenses.