Mē absente nēminem volō intrō mittī (Plautus)│ During my absence, I want nobody to be allowed inside.
Nōlunt discere quī numquam didicērunt (Seneca
Iunior) │ Those who never learned do not want to learn.
Īre per hanc nōlī, quisquis es (Ovid) │
Do not go through that (way), whoever you are.
Catō enim ipse iam
servīre quam pugnāre māvult (Cicero) │ Cato himself prefers to be
a slave rather than to fight.
These three verbs
are related to each other:
[i] volō, velle:
want
[ii] nōlō, nōlle:
not want; be unwilling; refuse [ne- (not)* + volō (want) >
nōlō: I don’t want / I refuse]
*compare: sciō (I
know) / nesciō (I don’t know)
Note that in the 2nd
and 3rd person singular, and the 2nd person plural, the
verb does not have its own forms but is merely the negative of velle: nōn
vīs, nōn vult, nōn vultis
[iii] mālō, mālle:
prefer; want more; [magis (more) + volō (want) > mālō: I
prefer; I want more]
Image #1: present
tenses
Neither velle
nor mālle have imperative forms; nōlle, however, does have
imperative forms:
nōlī! (singular);
nōlīte! (plural)
These are
regularly used to form negative imperatives i.e. Don’t [literally: be
unwilling to] do something:
Nōlī mē
tangere! │ Don’t touch me!
Nōlī timēre!
│ Don’t be afraid!
Nōlīte
spēluncās intrāre! │ Don’t go in the caves!
Nōlīte mē
vexāre! │ Don’t annoy me!
Exercise: complete the Latin quotations with the
appropriate present tense of velle, nōlle and mālle listed
below.
- I want that to be said │ id dīcī __________
(Plautus)
- Do you want me to hug you, and you me? │ __________ ego
tē ac tū mē amplectāre? (Plautus)
- I don't wish her to have an excuse │ __________ illam
habēre causam (Plautus)
- I speak the truth, but in vain, for you do not want to believe │ Vēra dīcō, sed nēquīquam, quoniam nōn vīs __________. (Plautus)
- But do you now prefer yourself to be single and a free man, or, as a married man … │ sed utrum nunc tū caelibem tē esse __________ līberum an marītum (Plautus)
- For no one wishes laws to be upheld merely for their own sake │ Nēmō enim lēgēs lēgum causā salvās esse __________ (Cicero)
- Now she is not willing, you too, powerless, must not want [ = be unwilling i.e. imperative]│ nunc iam illa __________: tū quoque, impotēns, __________ (Catullus)
- If someone prefers medicine … │ Sī medicāmentum aliquis __________ … (Celsus)
- Spectators, we wish you farewell and that you will grant us loud applause. │ Spectātōrēs, vōs valēre __________ et clārē adplaudere. (Plautus)
- We are
unwilling to depart │ Abīre
__________ (Plautus)
- We prefer to be feared rather than to be dear and to
be loved │ Metuī quam cārī esse et dīligī __________. (Cicero)
- If you (pl.) do not wish to fight, you can flee │ Sī pugnāre __________, licet fugere (Seneca)
- Unless you (pl.) prefer perishing with Philip to conquering with the Romans │nisi perīre cum Philippō quam vincere cum Rōmānīs __________ (Livy)
- Do not [talking to a group], in the name
of the immortal gods, compel the allies … │ __________, per deōs
immortālīs, cōgere sociōs (Cicero)
- Hurray! Hurray! the Gods want me to be safe and preserved!│ Eugē, eugē, dī mē salvom et servātum __________. (Plautus)
- They have no
wish to feed a gluttonous
man │ Alere __________ hominem edācem (Terence)
- since the tribunes
prefer a Roman citizen to be scourged with rods before their eyes than
themselves be murdered in their beds by you │ quoniam tribūnī cīvem Rōmānum in
cōnspectū suō virgīs caedī __________ quam ipsī in lectō suō ā vōbīs
trucīdārī (Livy)
mālumus; mālunt; māvīs; māvult; māvultis; nōlī; nōlīte; nōlō; nōlumus; nōlunt; nōn vīs; nōn vult; nōn vultis; vīsne; volō; volumus; volunt; vult
____________________
- id dīcī volō (Plautus)
- Vīsne ego tē ac tū mē amplectāre? (Plautus)
- nōlō illam habēre causam (Plautus)
- Vēra dīcō, sed nēquīquam, quoniam nōn vīs crēdere. (Plautus)
- sed utrum nunc tū caelibem tē esse māvīs līberum an marītum (Plautus)
- Nēmō enim lēgēs lēgum causā salvās esse vult (Cicero)
- nunc iam illa nōn vult: tū quoque, impotēns, nōlī (Catullus)
- Sī medicāmentum aliquis māvult … (Celsus)
- Spectātōrēs, vōs valēre volumus et clārē adplaudere. (Plautus)
- Abīre nōlumus (Plautus)
- Metuī quam cārī esse et dīligī mālumus. (Cicero)
- Sī pugnāre nōn vultis, licet fugere (Seneca)
- nisi perīre cum Philippō quam vincere cum Rōmānīs māvultis (Livy)
- Nōlīte, per deōs immortālīs, cōgere sociōs (Cicero)
- Eugē, eugē, dī mē salvom et servātum volunt. (Plautus)
- Alere nōlunt hominem edācem (Terence)
- quoniam tribūnī
cīvem Rōmānum in cōnspectū suō virgīs caedī mālunt quam ipsī in lectō
suō ā vōbīs trucīdārī (Livy)
