[1553.] The subjunctive of desire may be used to denote willingness, assumption, or concession: as,
ōderint dum metuant, Poet. in Suet. Cal. 30, they are welcome to hate, as long as they fear. nē sit sānē summum malum dolor, malum certē est, TD. 2, 14, grant for aught I care that pain is not the worst evil, an evil it certainly is. nīl fēcerit, estō, J. 6, 222, he may be guiltless, be it so.
[II. THE SUBJUNCTIVE OF ACTION CONCEIVABLE.]
[1554.] The subjunctive is often used to represent action as conceivable, without asserting that it actually takes place.
In some of its applications, this subjunctive is often more exactly defined by an expression of doubt or of assurance: as, fors fuat an in Plautus, forsitan from Terence on (rarely forsan, fors), fortasse, may be, perhaps; opīnor, haud sciō an, I fancy; facile, easily, sine ūllā dubitātiōne, unhesitatingly, &c., &c. The negative used with this subjunctive is nōn.
[1555.] This subjunctive is particularly common in guarded or diffident statements: thus, velim, I could wish, nōlim, I should not be willing, mālim, I would rather, dīxerim, I should say, are often preferred to a blunter volō, I insist, nōlō, I won’t, mālō, I prefer, or dīcō, I say.
[1556.] The present denotes action in an indefinite future: as,
([a.]) ego forsitan in grege adnumerer, RA. 89, as for me, I might perhaps be counted in the common herd. mūtuom argentum rogem, Pl. Tri. 758, money I might borrow. haud sciō an rēctē dīcāmus, Sest. 58, I rather think we may say with propriety. (b.) The second person singular generally has an imaginary subject ([1030]): as, dīcās hīc forsitan, J. 1, 150, here peradventure thou mayst say, i.e. anybody may say. rogēs mē quid sit deus, auctōre ūtar Simōnidē, DN. 1, 60, you may ask me what god is; I should follow the lead of Simonides. migrantīs cernās, V. 4, 401, thou canst descry them on the move ([1635]). Often with some generalizing word, such as saepe, numquam, plūrēs: as, saepe videās, H. S. 1, 4, 86, thou oft canst see. Fortūnam citius reperiās quam retineās, Publil. Syr. 168, dame Fortune thou mayst sooner find than bind. (c.) nunc aliquis dīcat mihi, H. S. 1, 3, 19, now somebody may say to me (more commonly dīcet aliquis, dīcēs, [1620]). forsitan aliquis dīcat, L. 5, 52, 5, perhaps somebody may say. hoc vōbīs incrēdibile videātur, V. 3, 109, this may seem incredible to you.
[1557.] (1.) The perfect seldom occurs in old Latin. Later, it is rarely used of past time. In this use it resembles the perfect of concession ([1553]): as,