To understand the distinction between a substantive clause and a relative clause, follow this link.
Of substantive clauses, those that take the subjunctive have two central uses:
- To express purpose
- To describe results
Both such clauses either take ut or nē (where the purpose/results are negative).
- He warns him to avoid all suspicious activities: monet ut omnēs suspīciōnēs vītet.
- I beg that you aid her: tē rogō ut eam iuvēs.
- He persuades them to leave: persuādet ut abeant.
- He orders his men not to return: suīs imperāvit nē redeant.
A few things to note in the examples above:
- The third phrase would look identical as either a substantive clause of purpose or result. One must use context to determine whether he is in the process of persuading them to leave, or whether he has already achieved this result.
- The verbs that take substantive clauses may also take secondary objects (I beg you; He orders them) in any case except the nominative.
Substantive Clauses of Purpose are used with a variety of verbs and verbal phrases to denote actions that have future/planned directive. Such as:
- (id) agō, agere, ēgī, actum, I do it (so that)
- censeō, censēre, censuī, censum, I think, suppose, judge, recommend
- ēdīcō, ēdīcere, ēdīxī, ēdictum, I publish, decree
- mandō, mandāre, mandāvī, mandātum, I order, command
- precor, precārī, precātus sum, I beg, pray
In general, verbs of admonishing, asking, bargaining, commanding, decreeing, determining, permitting, persuading, resolving, urging and wishing are apt to take an ut/nē substantive clause of purpose. For a fuller list, see A&G 563 fn1.
In poetry, don’t be surprised to find an infinitive clause standing as a substitute for the substantive. There are also more common prose variations for particular verbs and verbal phrases under this general heading, which I’ll sort through in coming posts.
The Essential AG: 563
Latin for Addicts 