| Moods |
|
| Latin verb of fearing | English meaning |
| timeo, timere, timui, --- | to fear, dread, be apprehensive (fear of something that is actually present) |
| metuo, metere, metui,--- | to fear, dread, be afraid (fear of something that is threatening rather than actually present) |
| vereor, vereri, veritus sum, --- | to fear, stand in awe of, feel reverence for, be anxious about, suspect |
| extimesco, extimescere, extimui, --- | to be greatly afraid, to dread |
| pertimescere, pertimescere, pertimui, --- | to be very afraid, to fear exceedingly |
| sollicitus, -a, um est... | is anxious... |
| periculum est... | there is danger... |
An infinitive can be used where one is stating a fact:
Timebant silvam intrare.
They were afraid to enter the forest.
Fear of what might happen can be expressed in a simple sentence with no subordinate verb clause:
Caesar consensum Gallorum timuit.
Caesar feared the union of the Gauls.
However, verbs and phrases that express fear of an anticipated situation are followed by a subjunctive clause. The subjunctive clause is introduced by ut or ne. This type of construction gives insight into the speaker's attitude towards the anticipated condition:
Timeo ne cadat
I fear that he may/will fall (i.e., I hope he does NOT fall)
Timeo ut cadat = I fear that he may/will not fall (i.e., I hope that he DOES fall).
Notice how the last two sentences are translated. What you would expect after ut and ne is REVERSED. That's the trickiest part of such clauses. Thinking of "fear" as a form of indirect wish may help you to remember this reversal of these two introductory words.
ut = HOPE it will happen = FEAR it may NOT happen
ne = HOPE it will NOT happen = FEAR it may happen
In English attention is concentrated on the positive or negative of what might happen, whereas in Latin one focuses on the positive or negative concept of what one wishes and anticipates. Thus, what the speaker fears may happen is introduced by ne. What he fears may not happen is introduced by ut.
Sometimes a subjunctive clause of fearing uses ne... non... in place of ut. This results in a double negative:
Metuo ne hodie grammaticus non me interroget
I fear that the teacher may fail to call on me today.
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