Indicative Mood, simple sentences
by Elissa Braitman
I. Normal Uses
The indicative mood is used for direct assertion and to express reality.
Indicatives can be substituted by the historical infinitive.
II. Special Uses
A. In Latin, the indicative is often found where one might expect subjunctive.
For example, abstract ideas of obligation, possibility, necessity
(in English) are considered to be factual in Latin.
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So, the seemingly subjunctive phrase "I ought to help..." is actually "Debeo
iuvare...," (the present, active, indicative form of the verb).
Other verbs that can be used in this way and examples-
a. Oportet= it is proper/ one should, Oportet agere gratias hospiti
- It is proper to thank the host.
b. Convenit= it is fitting/ it agrees with, Oraculum conveniebat-
The oracular response was fitting.
c. Necesse est= it is necessary, Laborare necesse est- It is necessary
to work.
d. Possum= I am able/ I can, Possum ambulare ad Capitolinum- I can walk
to the Capitoline.
e. Infinitum est= it is endless, Labor est infinitum- The work is endless.
f. Longum est= it is tedious/ too long, Latine reddere est longum-
It is tedious to translate into Latin.
g. Par/aequum est= it is fair, Non aequum est incipere certamen-
It is not fair to begin the contest
h. Difficile est= it is difficult, Difficile est excedere a Italia- It
is difficult to leave Italy.
B. The imperfect indicative can be used in simple sentences as a tense
of disappointment. Gildersleeve and Lodge call this a "conditional
in disguise" because it implies opposition to the current state, and is
equivalent to an apodosis to a present contrafactual conditional:
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Debebam laborare- I ought to work [but I do not.]