[1675.] (5.) The interrogative particle an sometimes becomes a disjunctive conjunction, or, or possibly, or perhaps: as, Simōnidēs an quis alius, Fin. 2, 104, Simonides or possibly somebody else. Common in Cicero, though not so in his speeches, and in Livy, commonest in Tacitus.
[(c.) Adversative Conjunctions.]
[1676.] Adversative conjunctions connect the sentences, but contrast the meaning. They are autem, on the other hand, sed, vērum, cēterum, but, vērō, but, indeed, at, but, tamen, nihilō minus, nevertheless.
Of these conjunctions, autem and vērō are put after one word, or sometimes after two closely connected words; tamen is put either at the beginning, or after an emphatic word.
[1677.] (1.) autem, again, on the other hand, however, simply continues the discourse by a statement appended to the preceding, without setting it aside: as,
hōrum prīncipibus pecūniās, cīvitātī autem imperium tōtīus prōvinciae pollicētur, 7, 64, 8, to the chieftains of this nation on the one hand he promises moneys, and to the community on the other hand the hegemony of the whole province. The opposition in a sentence introduced by autem, again, is often so weak that a copulative, and, might be used: as, ille quī Dī̆ogenem adulēscēns, post autem Panaetium audierat, Fin. 2, 24, the man who in his early youth had sat at the feet of Diogenes, and afterwards of Panaetius. autem is oftenest used in philosophical or didactic discourse, less frequently in history, oratory, or poetry.
[1678.] autem is often used in questions: as, metuō crēdere :: crēdere autem? Pl. Ps. 304, I am afraid to trust :: trust, do you say?
[1679.] (2.) sed or set, and vērum, but, are used either in restriction, or, after a negative, in direct opposition: as,
vēra dīcō, sed nēquīquam, quoniam nōn vīs crēdere, Pl. Am. 835, I tell the truth, but all in vain, since you are bent not to believe. nōn ego erus tibī, sed servos sum, Pl. Cap. 241, I am not your master, but your slave.
[1680.] nōn modo, or nōn sōlum, not only, not alone, is followed by sed etiam or vērum etiam, but also, by sed . . . quoque, but ... as well, or sometimes by sed or vērum alone: as,