Ibi illa multa cum
iocōsa fīēbant, / quae tū volēbās nec puella nōlēbat (Catullus) │
There where many playful things took place, which you wanted, nor did
the girl refuse (nor was the girl unwilling)
Fortūnam temptāre
Galbā nōlēbat (Caesar) │ Galba did not want to tempt Fortune.
Catō esse quam
vidērī bonus mālēbat (Sallust) │ Cato preferred to be good rather
than seem so
Loquar līberē ¦
quae volam (Plautus) │ I shall speak freely ¦ as I wish [literally: what
I shall want]
Images #1 and #2: the
three verbs form the imperfect and future tense in the same way as any other 3rd
conjugation verb although the endings are added to an irregular stem:
Imperfect
velle > volēbam,
volēbās etc. │ I wanted / was wanting; used to want etc.
nōlle >
nōlēbam, nōlēbās etc. │ I did not want / used to be unwilling / was refusing
etc.
mālle >
mālēbam, mālēbās etc. │ I used to prefer etc.
Future
velle > volam,
volēs etc. │ I shall want etc.
nōlle > nōlam,
nōlēs etc. │ I shall not want / shall refuse / shall be unwilling etc.
mālle > mālam,
mālēs etc. │ I shall prefer etc.
Exercise: Complete the Latin quotation with the
verbs listed below each section
[i] Imperfect
tense
- I wanted or rather longed that he should be with me. │ Ego __________ autem vel cupiēbam potius esse eum nōbīscum. (Cicero)
- And, what you wanted to know, … │ Et, quod tū scīre __________, … (Cicero)
- I was reluctant that so intimate an acquaintance of yours
should come to you [ = I did not want … to come to you] │ hominem
tibi tam familiārem … ad tē venīre __________. (Cicero)
- For you yourself were unwilling to understand │ Nam ipse intellegere __________. (Pliny)
- You preferred to be what you had been │ __________ quidem
hoc esse quod fuerās (Pliny)
- He wanted to marry her │ Eam in mātrimōnium dūcere __________.
- He was
unwilling for these
matters to be discussed │ Eās rēs iactārī __________.
- She preferred you to come here than (she) go to you │ Tē
hūc venīre quam sē ad tē īre __________. (Cicero)
- For the citizens did not want to have a conversation with him. │ __________ enim cīvēs sermōnem cum eō habēre.
- The consuls preferred to wage war than make peace │ Cōnsulēs bellum gerere quam pācem facere __________.
mālēbant;
mālēbās; mālēbat; nōlēbam; nōlēbant; nōlēbās; nōlēbat; volēbam; volēbās;
volēbat
[ii] Future tense
- If I (will) want anything of you, where will you be? │ Sī quid tē __________, ubi eris? (Plautus)
- But just as you please [ = as you will wish] │ Sed omnia, ut __________. (Cicero)
- Understand this one thing, that that which is disagreeable [ = which you will not want] comes much more speedily than that which you wish for. │ sed ūnum hōc scītō: nimiō celerius veniet quod __________ quam illud, quod cupidē petās. (Plautus)
- But if she is purchased for that certain person who gave you the commission, will he choose (want) it then? If I purchase her for that person who gave me the commission, will he then not choose (not want) it? │ Quid? illī quoidam quī mandāvit tibi sī emētur, tum __________, sī ego emō illī quī mandāvit, tum ille __________? (Plautus)
- So we shall easily get what we (will) want through him. │ Per eum igitur, quod __________, facile auferēmus. (Cicero)
- But if we do not wish [ = will not wish] to use the Direct Opening, we must begin our speech with a law, a written document, or some argument supporting our cause. │ Sīn prīncipiō utī __________, ab lēge, ab scrīptūrā, aut ab aliquō nostrae causae adiūmentō prīncipium capere oportēbit. (Cicero)
- You will rather, O judges, retain at home, for yourselves
and for your children, a man energetic in undertaking the toils of war │
iūdicēs, virum ad labōrēs bellī impigrum… domī vōbīs ac līberīs vestrīs
retinēre __________. (Cicero)
- The learned, as I said, will prefer to go to the Greeks │ Doctī, ut dīxī, ā Graecīs petere __________ (Cicero)
mālent;
mālētis; nōlēmus; nōlēs; nōlet; volam; volēmus; volēs; volet
____________________
[i] Imperfect tense
- Ego volēbam autem vel cupiēbam potius esse eum nōbīscum. (Cicero)
- Et, quod tū scīre volēbās, … (Cicero)
- hominem tibi tam familiārem … ad tē venīre nōlēbam. (Cicero)
- Nam ipse intellegere nōlēbās. (Pliny)
- Mālēbās quidem hoc esse quod fuerās (Pliny)
- Eam in mātrimōnium dūcere volēbat.
- Eās rēs iactārī nōlēbat.
- Tē hūc venīre quam sē ad tē īre mālēbat. (Cicero)
- Nōlēbant enim cīvēs sermōnem cum eō habēre.
- Cōnsulēs bellum gerere quam pācem facere mālēbant.
[ii]
Future tense
- Sī quid tē volam, ubi eris? (Plautus)
- Sed omnia, ut volēs. (Cicero)
- sed ūnum hōc scītō: nimiō celerius veniet quod nōlēs quam illud, quod cupidē petās. (Plautus)
- Quid? illī quoidam quī mandāvit tibi sī emētur, tum volet, sī ego emō illī quī mandāvit, tum ille nōlet? (Plautus)
- Per eum igitur, quod volēmus, facile auferēmus. (Cicero)
- Sīn prīncipiō utī nōlēmus, ab lēge, ab scrīptūrā, aut ab aliquō nostrae causae adiūmentō prīncipium capere oportēbit. (Cicero)
- iūdicēs, virum ad labōrēs bellī impigrum… domī vōbīs ac līberīs vestrīs retinēre mālētis. (Cicero)
- Doctī, ut dīxī, ā
Graecīs petere mālent (Cicero)
Note:
[i] two examples
of the imperfect tense used as an epistolary tense which was discussed
here:
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/06/011025-level-3-epistolary-tenses-brief.html
https://adckl2.blogspot.com/2025/06/level-3-epistolary-tenses-brief-note.html
Capuae Nōnīs Febr.
esse volēbam │ I want [literally: I was wanting] to
be at Capua on the 5th of February
deinde Arpīnum volēbāmus
│ Then I intend [literally: we were wanting] to go to
Arpinum
Cicero describes
what he intends to do but uses the imperfect tense since he
expresses it from the perspective of the recipient / the reader of the letter. They
show, once again, that the epistolary tense is used to refer to events that are
happening / going to happen at the time the letter was written i.e. a temporary
situation at that point, but, by the time they are read, they are over.
[ii] A further
point to note is Cicero’s use (at times) of the first person plural to
refer to himself:
deinde Arpīnum volēbāmus
│ Then I intend to go to Arpinum
Ego volēbam … esse
eum nōbīscum. (Cicero) │ I wanted him to be with me.
