The Causal Particles
quod
and
quia
take the Indicative, when the reason is given on the authority of the
writer
or
speaker;
the Subjunctive, when the reason is given on the authority of
another:
—
-
Indicative:—
-
cum tibi agam grātiās
quod
mē vīvere
coēgistī
(Att. 3.3)
,
when I may thank you that you have forced me to live.
-
cūr igitur pācem nōlō?
quia
turpis
est
(Phil. 7.9)
,
why then do I not wish for peace? Because it is disgraceful.
-
ita fit ut adsint proptereā
quod
officium
sequuntur
, taceant autem
quia
periculum
vītant
(Rosc. Am. 1)
,
so it happens that they attend because they follow duty, but are silent because they seek to avoid danger.
-
Subjunctive:—
-
mihi grātulābāre
quod audīssēs
mē meam prīstinam dīgnitātem obtinēre
(Fam. 4.14.1)
,
you congratulated me because
[as you said]
you had heard that I had regained my former dignity.
-
noctū ambulābat Themistoclēs
quod
somnum capere nōn
posset
(Tusc. 4.44)
,
Themistocles used to walk about at night because
[as he said]
he could not sleep.
-
mea māter īrāta est
quia
nōn
redierim
(Pl. Cist. 101)
,
my mother is angry because I did n't return.
Quod
introduces either a
fact
or a
statement
, and accordingly takes either the Indicative or the Subjunctive.
Quia
regularly introduces a fact; hence it rarely takes the Subjunctive.
Quoniam
,
inasmuch as, since
,
when now, now that
, has reference to motives, excuses, justifications, and the like and takes the Indicative.
Under this head what the speaker himself thought under other circumstances may have the Subjunctive (§
592
. 3. N.): as,
ego laeta
vīsa
sum
quia
soror vēnisset
(
Pl. Mil. 387
),
I seemed
(in my dream)
glad because my sister had come.
So with
quod
even a
verb of saying
may be in the Subjunctive: as,
—rediit
quod
sē oblītum nesciō quid dīceret
(Off. 1.40)
,
he returned because he said he had forgotten something.
Nōn quod
,
nōn quia
,
nōn quō
, introducing a reason
expressly to deny it
, take the Subjunctive; but the Indicative sometimes occurs when the statement is
in itself
true, though not the
true reason.
In the negative,
nōn quīn
(with the Subjunctive) may be used in nearly the same sense as
nōn quod nōn
. After a comparative,
quam quō
or
quam quod
is used:—
-
pugilēs ingemēscunt,
nōn quod doleant
, sed quia profundendā vōce omne corpus intenditur
(Tusc. 2.56)
,
boxers groan, not because they are in pain, but because by giving vent to the voice the whole body is put in a state of tension.
-
nōn quia
rēctior ad Alpīs via
esset
, sed crēdēns
(Liv. 21.31.2)
,
not because the route to the Alps was more direct, but believing
, etc.
-
nōn quīn
parī virtūte et voluntāte aliī
fuerint
, sed tantam causam nōn habuērunt
(Phil. 7.6)
,
not that there were not others of equal courage and good-will
,
but they had not so strong a reason.
-
haec amōre magis impulsus scrībenda ad tē putāvī,
quam quō
tē
arbitrārer
monitīs et praeceptīs egēre
(Fam. 10.3.4)
,
this I thought I ought to write to you
,
rather from the impulse of
(prompted by)
affection than because I thought that you needed advice and suggestion.
Quoniam
and
quandō
,
since
, introduce a reason given on the authority of the writer or speaker, and take the Indicative:—
-
locus est ā mē,
quoniam
ita Murēna
voluit
, retrāctandus
(Mur. 54)
,
I must review the point, since Murena has so wished.
-
quandō
ita
vīs
, dī bene vortant
(Pl. Trin. 573)
,
since you so wish, may the gods bless the undertaking.
-
quandō
ad mâiōra
nātī sumus
(Fin. 5.21)
,
since we are born for greater things.
The Subjunctive with
quoniam
is unclassical.
Quandō
,
since
, in the causal sense, is mostly archaic or late.
Quandō
,
when
, is used as interrogative, relative, and indefinite: as,
quandō
?
hodiē
,
when? to-day;
sī quandō
,
if ever.
Causal clauses introduced by
quod
,
quia
,
quoniam
, and
quandō
take the Subjunctive in Indirect Discourse, like any other dependent clause (see §
580
).
A Relative, when used to express
cause
, regularly takes the Subjunctive (see §
535
.
e
).
Cum
causal takes the Subjunctive (see §
549
).
For Substantive Clauses with
quod
, see §
572
.
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