A temporal clause is an adverbial clause of time, that is to say, a clause which informs the reader about the time when the action of main verb of the sentence occurred. So in a sentence such as "after I had said this, he went out", the first clause is a temporal clause. The name comes from the Latin word , genitive , 'time".
Typically in Latin a temporal clause has a conjunction of time such as "when" or "after" at or near the beginning of the clause and a verb at the end. The verb in a Latin temporal clause is usually in the indicative mood, although sometimes, especially when the conjunction is , it is in the subjunctive. But if the clause is part of indirect speech, the verb is nearly always in the subjunctive mood.Bennett (1908), p. 206.
The conjunctions used to introduce temporal clauses sometimes have other, non-temporal, meanings. For example, can mean "when", "since", or "although"; can mean "while", "until", or "provided that"; can mean "when" or "where", and so on.
Another possibility commonly used in Latin for expressing time is a participial phrase. For example, the temporal clauses (Nepos)Nepos, Ep. 9.4. "after he heard this" and (Cicero)Cicero, Off. 3.112. "when he heard this" both mean much the same thing as the participial phrase (Pliny)Plin. Ep. 7.6.11. (literally, "with which heard").
Temporal clauses are very frequent in certain styles of Latin such as history, and it is not uncommon to find a sentence introduced by two or three temporal clauses, often mixed with participial phrases of time.
Classification of temporal clauses A common way of classifying temporal clauses is according to whether the action or situation described in the temporal clause is antecedent, contemporaneous, or subsequent to that of the main verb:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 359.Woodcock (1959), pp. 172–187.
A. The action of the temporal clause verb is antecedent to that of the main verb: The temporal clause describes an event completed before the main verb: e.g. "after the signal was given, they began fighting" The temporal clause describes a situation which began before the main verb and which may overlap with it: e.g. "once the soldiers were in position, the generals came forward"
B. The action of the temporal clause verb is contemporaneous with the main verb: Two events co-occur: e.g. "when he fell, he was hurt" Two situations are co-extensive: e.g. "he was happy as long as he lived" The main clause event occurs during the temporal clause situation: e.g. "they arrived while he was sleeping" The temporal clause event occurs during the main clause situation: e.g. "when they arrived he was sleeping" The main clause situation is interrupted by a temporal clause event e.g. "he was sleeping, when suddenly they arrived" The temporal clause defines the start-point of a situation: e.g. "he had lived there since he was born" The temporal clause defines the end-point of a situation: e.g. "he lived there until he died"
C. The action of the temporal clause is subsequent to that of the main verb:
The temporal clause event happened: e.g. "he left before I arrived" The temporal clause event did not happen: e.g. "he left before I had a chance to speak"
A second way of classifying temporal clauses is whether the sentence refers to a definite time, as in the above examples, or is iterative, describing a generalisation or repeated action at an indefinite time:
e.g. "whenever they win, they make a sacrifice"
A third classification is whether the main verb and hence the sentence as a whole is situated in past, present, or future time.
A fourth method of classification, followed in this article, is according to the different conjunctions used.
Choice of conjunction Roman authors differ from one another in style, and this is shown among other things by their preference for different conjunctions. The table belowSchlicher (1909), p. 266. shows the number of temporal clauses for some of the most common conjunctions in three historians of the republican period, Julius Caesar, Cornelius Nepos, and Sallust, and two poets of the following generation, Virgil and Ovid. The conjunctions are "when, while", "after", "when", "as, as soon as, when", "as soon as". The figures for and are included with and .
Author (indic.) (subj.) Caesar 10 147 22 55 5 6 Nepos 13 181 45 4 26 4 Sallust 22 24 90 119 0 0 Virgil 51 11 19 30 22 1 Ovid 35 13 30 25 36 13
The figures for here are for clauses of time only, omitting causal or concessive ones.Nutting (1916), p. 156.
The table shows that the narrative with the subjunctive is very common in Caesar and Nepos, but little used by the other three authors. Sallust used more than any other of the conjunctions, but it was avoided by Nepos. Conversely, Nepos and the two poets make frequent use of , but it is never used by Sallust. Caesar made relatively little use of compared with the other authors.
The following tableSteele (1910), p. 266. shows the relative use of and "after" and and "before":
Author Cicero 57 187 203 90 Caesar 13 9 2 17 Nepos 35 9 0 32 Sallust 89 2 1 14 Livy 428 4 97 308
From this table it can be seen that Cicero had a clear preference for , while the other authors preferred . The conjunction is more common than in Cicero, and was used to an extent by Livy, but is almost completely avoided by Caesar, Nepos, and Sallust.
The conjunctions and , both meaning "until" or "as long as", also show variation. occurs 144 times in Cicero but only twice in Tacitus.Perseus PhiloLogic . It is rare in poetry, occurring once in Horace and twice in Lucretius only. Conversely, is hardly found at all in writers of the republican period, but became popular under the empire; in Tacitus it occurs 140 times.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 367.Perseus PhiloLogic .Steele (1910), pp. 268–9.
Author Cicero 144 3 Caesar 7 0 Sallust 2 0 Nepos 11 0 Livy 1–10 4 54 Tacitus 2 140
Tense and mood The tense and mood of the verb used in a temporal clause can affect the meaning. For example, (pluperfect subjunctive) means "after he came", but (pluperfect indicative) means "whenever he came". Or again, (present indicative) means "while he was coming", but (imperfect subjunctive) means "until he came".
The tense and mood used in a temporal clause may also vary with the conjunction: ("after he heard") uses the perfect indicative, but ("when he had heard") uses the pluperfect subjunctive, although the meaning is very similar or identical. In a past context, the conjunctions , , , and tend to use the perfect or imperfect indicative, whereas is usually followed by the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive.
Over the three centuries between 200 BC and 100 AD, the use of the subjunctive in temporal clauses became more common. The conjunction mostly has the indicative in Plautus, but in Caesar the majority of clauses have the subjunctive. Iterative clauses (that is, those meaning "whenever...") usually have the indicative in Caesar and Cicero, but from Livy onwards the subjunctive became usual.Woodcock (1959), p. 175. A similar increased use of the subjunctive can be seen in clauses containing "while / until" and "before".Woodcock (1959), pp. 180, 181, 186.
On the whole, temporal clauses use the indicative mood unless they are in indirect speech. The main exceptions are the common use of cum with the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive, and clauses of the type "before X could happen" or "until such time as X might happen" which anticipate some future event.
One difference from English grammar is that in temporal clauses referring to the future (e.g. "when you receive this, write back"), the future or future perfect tense is usually used in Latin where English uses the present. Thus the Latin equivalent is "when you will have received this, write back". In such sentences, if the main verb is an imperative, the future imperative (e.g. "write (at that time)") is used. The same tenses are used with conditional sentences starting with "if":
ubi nihil erit quod scrībās, id ipsum scrībitō (Cicero)Cicero, Att. 4.8A.4. "when there is (lit. "will be") nothing to write about, write that fact itself"
sī quid acciderit ... scrībitō (Cicero)Cicero, Att. 10.1.3. "if anything happens (lit. "will have happened"), write"
Word order
A temporal clause can come before the main clause, after it, or in the middle. It is also possible, in the case of separated , for the main verb to be placed in the middle of the conjunction. In the majority of cases, however, temporal clauses precede the clauses which they modify.Greene (1907), p. 646. This is because the main information which the speaker wishes to communicate, or "focus" of the sentence, tends to be placed second. But if the main information is in the temporal clause (as with clauses), they come after the main clause.
Quite frequently a topic word precedes the temporal clause conjunction.Spevak, Olga (2010). Constituent Order in Classical Latin Prose, p. 14. The topic word sometimes comes from the temporal clause itself, for example and in the following sentences:
(Cicero)Cicero, Verr. 2.4.32. "when I got there, the governor was taking a siesta"
(Caesar)Caesar, Civ. 2.11.2. "when they saw this, they changed their plan"
In other sentences the topic word comes from the main clause, such as in the example below:
(Cicero)Cicero, Fam. 6.19.2. "As for Balbus, I haven't seen him since you left"
Sometimes several topic words can precede the temporal clause, as in the following:
(Cicero)Cicero, Fam. 13.29.4. "when Caesar saw him there, he didn't say anything harsh or unkind"
The verb in the temporal clause usually comes at the end of the clause, although as the examples below show, there are occasional exceptions.
Different conjunctions
The most commonly used conjunction in temporal clauses is ; an older spelling was , showing its derivation from the relative pronoun . The usual meaning is "when", but it can also mean "since/in view of the fact that" or "although/despite the fact that" (concessive ). These meanings can overlap to an extent.
Grammarians usually divide the meanings into two classes: the purely temporal , which takes an indicative mood verb, and the circumstantial , which takes the subjunctive mood. The circumstantial is divided into historical, causal, and concessive uses.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 370–1.
In the early Latin of Plautus, both types of were followed by the indicative mood; however, in the classical period, whenever the meaning is causal or concessive, is always followed by the subjunctive mood. When the meaning is purely of time, in a present or future context, the indicative is usual; in a past context, in the classical period, both subjunctive and indicative are used, but the subjunctive is much more common.Nutting (1916), p. 157.
When has the subjunctive mood, it usually expresses a fact of secondary importance. In such clauses 'the mind of the writer seems always fixed on something farther on, which is of more importance to him".Schlicher (1909), p. 275. This is known as "circumstantial ".
Historic One of the most common uses of , often found in historical writing, is with the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive, giving the circumstances in which an action took place. This is known as the "historic" or "narrative" use of .Nutting (1920), p. 26.Woodcock (1959), pp. 187ff.
When the tense is imperfect subjunctive, it usually describes a situation already happening when the main action took place. A common way of translating it is "while":
(Cicero) "while I was sitting sadly at home, Venerius suddenly came running up"
(Caesar)Caesar, Civ. 2.7.3. "while the ship was approaching the city, the whole population poured out to find out the news"
(Gellius)Gellius, 15.16.2. "when by chance he was making a journey alone, he saw an oak-tree near the road"
With the pluperfect subjunctive, it usually means "after X had happened":
(Livy)Livy, 45.12.