[1770.] Sentences with a subjunctive due to another subjunctive or to an infinitive are put as follows:
[1771.] (1.) Sentences of relative time express contemporaneous, antecedent, and subsequent action like corresponding indicative sentences, with the appropriate sequence: as,
vereor, nē, dum minuere velim labōrem, augeam, Leg. 1, 12, I am afraid that while I wish to make the work less, I may make it more. crocodīlōs dīcunt, cum in terrā partum ēdiderint, obruere ōva, DN. 2, 129, they say that the crocodile, after laying on land, buries her eggs. dīcēbam quoad metuerēs, omnia tē prōmissūrum: simul ac timēre desīssēs, similem tē futūrum tuī, Ph. 2, 89, I said that as long as you were afraid, you would promise everything; the moment you ceased to fear, you would be just like yourself. cōnstituērunt ea, quae ad proficīscendum pertinērent, comparāre, 1, 3, 1, they resolved to get such things ready as were necessary for the march. erat scrīptum: nisi domum reverterētur, sē capitis eum damnātūrōs, N. 4, 3, 4, it stood written that, if he did not come back home, they would condemn him to death (direct form nisi revertēris, damnābimus). lēgātī vēnērunt, quī sē ea, quae imperāsset, factūrōs pollicērentur, 4, 22, 1, some envoys came, to engage to do what he ordered (direct form quae imperāris, faciēmus). Venetī cōnfīdēbant Rōmānōs neque ūllam facultātem habēre nāvium, neque eōrum locōrum ubī̆ bellum gestūrī essent portūs nōvisse, 3, 19, 6, the Venetans felt assured that the Romans had not any proper supply of ships, and were not acquainted with the ports in the places where they were to fight.
[1772.] (2.) Sentences with independent time retain the independent time in the subjunctive in primary sequence ([1744]); in secondary sequence the present becomes imperfect, and the perfect becomes pluperfect: as,
([a.]) quamquam opīniō est, eum quī multīs annīs ante hōs fuerit, Pīsistratum, multum valuisse dīcendō, Br. 27, though there is an impression that the man who lived years and years before these people, Pisistratus, was a very telling orator (direct form, quī fuit, [1738]). dīcitur, posteā quam vēnerit, paucīs diēbus esse mortuus, Clu. 175, he is said to have died a few days after he came ([1739]). (b.) cōgnōvit Suēbōs, posteā quam pontem fierī comperissent, nūntiōs in omnēs partēs dīmīsisse, 4, 19, 2, he ascertained that after the Suebans had learned of the building of the bridge, they had sent out messengers in every direction.
[THE INDIRECT QUESTION.]
[1773.] The subjunctive is used in indirect questions or exclamations.
Thus, when the direct question, quī scīs, how do you know? is subordinated to a main sentence, such as quaerō, I ask, the scīs becomes sciās: quaerō quī sciās, RA. 59, I ask how you know. Questions or exclamations thus subordinated are called Indirect ([1723]). In English, indirect questions are usually characterized simply by the position of the words, the subject standing before the verb.
[1774.] The indirect question is one of the commonest of constructions. It depends on verbs or expressions meaning not only ask, but also tell, inform, ascertain, see, hear, know, consider, deliberate, doubt, wonder, fear, &c., &c.