Questions: Direct & Indirect
Latin doesn't change word order to ask a question — it tags the sentence with a particle. The neutral marker is the enclitic -ne glued onto the emphatic word (videsne?, "do you see?"), but the same sentence can lean yes or no before the verb even arrives: nōnne expects "yes," num expects "no." For specific information you get the familiar pronoun/adverb openers — quis, quid, ubi, cūr, quōmodo.
The trap is indirect questions. Once you tuck a question inside another verb (rogāvit quid esset, "he asked what it was"), the verb MUST go subjunctive in classical prose.
Students keep it indicative and lose the construction; train your eye to flip the mood the moment a question leaves Cicero's mouth and enters someone else's report.
Learnings0 core · 1 AP claim
AP framework claims (1)— verbatim from AP CED
Particles, not word order, tag the sentence as a question; embedding it under another verb forces the subjunctive.
Indirect questions take the subjunctive in classical Latin (A&G § 574) — the most common student error is leaving the verb indicative.
See It In Action
— Cic. Cat. i. 1
The textbook rhetorical question. Tandem shoves emphasis onto the interrogative — Cicero isn't asking for a number, he's accusing.
— Cic. Cat. i. 1
No -ne in sight — Latin can leave the question particle off entirely, and only tone (or punctuation we add) tells you it's a question, not a flat statement.
— A&G § 330
The direct version is quid est? — when it's reported, the verb flips to subjunctive (esset). This mood-shift is the entire teaching point.
— Caes. B. C. ii. 32
Classic -ne… an… skeleton. Caesar pivots blame on the conjunction — the chiastic word order does half the rhetorical work.
"is/does [subj] [verb]?" — let the particle set the bias
nōnne videt? → "surely he sees?" (yes-leaning)
"[interrog-word] [verb] [subj]?" — translate the question word literally
ubi es? → "where are you?"
"is it X or Y?" / "whether X or Y" — keep both members parallel
utrum nescīs an putās…? → "don't you know, or do you think…?"
"[verb of asking] [whether/what/where] [subj] [verb]" — drop the question mark, render the subjunctive as plain English indicative
nesciō ubi sim → "I don't know where I am"
no real answer wanted — translate as accusation or exclamation
quō usque tandem…? → "how much longer, in heaven's name…!"
All three open yes/no questions, but each cues a different expected answer — the speaker's bias is baked in.
genuine question, no bias
videsne stellās?
do you see the stars?
the speaker assumes yes
nōnne animadvertis?
you do notice, don't you? (Cic. N. D. iii. 89)
Tip: Ask: "What answer does the speaker want?" Yes → nōnne. No → num (num dubium est? = "there's no doubt, is there?"). Genuinely unsure → -ne.
In Cicero's rogāvit quid in conventū fuisset, why is fuisset pluperfect SUBJUNCTIVE rather than the indicative fuerat?
Study Tips
- •When you see a sentence-initial nōnne or num, decide the expected answer BEFORE you translate — it's the speaker's tone, not a real choice.
- •Any verb of asking, knowing, doubting, telling, or seeing can introduce an indirect question. Watch for rogō, quaerō, sciō, nesciō, dīcō, videō, dubitō — then flip the embedded verb to subjunctive in your head.
- •-ne attaches to the FIRST emphatic word, not always the verb. Tūne id veritus es? puts the stress on "YOU" — the question is about who.
- •In double questions, learn the skeleton utrum… an… first; once that's automatic, the variants (-ne… an, … an, … necne) read themselves.