Indirect commands are commands (or other attempts to persuade or influence someone to do something) that you don't hear straight from the speaker's mouth. It's easiest to understand this by first looking at examples of direct commands, then seeing how they would look in an indirect command.
Direct Command Indirect Command
"Walk!" Marcus is telling Quintus to walk.
"Don't leave!" The centurion ordered us not to leave.
"Write a letter!" You asked me to write you a letter.
In each pair of examples, the same order is being given. But in the direct commands, you're hearing the words from the speaker's mouth, exactly as they spoke them. In the indirect commands, you're hearing about them secondhand, as if someone else was paraphrasing it for you. One easy way to remember the difference is that direct commands are commands in quotation marks; indirect commands are not in quotation marks.
In Latin, a direct command is given using the imperative mood. An indirect command, on the other hand, is given using a sentence construction consisting of three parts:
1. A "command" verb.
In order for it to be a command, you have to have somebody issuing a command, right? Duh. But what may not be clear from the get-go is that asking, warning, begging, or persuading someone to do something also falls under the category of "command" - it's basically whenever you get someone to do what you want them to do. So words like "rogare," "monere," "orare," "suadere," and so on are also considered "command" verbs - it doesn't always have to be "imperare" or "iubere."
2. The word "ut" or "ne."
Use "ut" if the person being commanded is supposed to do the verb they're being asked to do, or "ne" if they are NOT supposed to do it. So "I ordered you to walk" is "te imperavi ut ambulares," whereas "I ordered you not to walk" is "te imperavi ne ambulares".
3. A subjunctive verb.
Typically, this subjunctive is only going to be either present or imperfect tense - use the present tense for an order being issued right now ("I order you to walk" = "te impero ut ambules"), and the imperfect tense for an order issued in the past ("I ordered you to walk" = "te imperavi ut ambulares"). Also be sure to match the person and number to the person being ordered. If I ordered you to walk, the verb "walk" should be in the 2nd person (because you are the one who's supposed to walk) and in the singular (because there's only one of you).
Let's translate the indirect command examples from the top of this page into Latin.
Marcus is telling Quintus to walk.
Marcus Quintum instruit ut ambulet.
The centurion ordered us not to leave.
centurio nos imperavit ne abiremus.
You asked me to write a letter to you.
me rogavisti ut epistulam tibi scriberem.
Direct Command Indirect Command
"Walk!" Marcus is telling Quintus to walk.
"Don't leave!" The centurion ordered us not to leave.
"Write a letter!" You asked me to write you a letter.
In each pair of examples, the same order is being given. But in the direct commands, you're hearing the words from the speaker's mouth, exactly as they spoke them. In the indirect commands, you're hearing about them secondhand, as if someone else was paraphrasing it for you. One easy way to remember the difference is that direct commands are commands in quotation marks; indirect commands are not in quotation marks.
In Latin, a direct command is given using the imperative mood. An indirect command, on the other hand, is given using a sentence construction consisting of three parts:
1. A "command" verb.
In order for it to be a command, you have to have somebody issuing a command, right? Duh. But what may not be clear from the get-go is that asking, warning, begging, or persuading someone to do something also falls under the category of "command" - it's basically whenever you get someone to do what you want them to do. So words like "rogare," "monere," "orare," "suadere," and so on are also considered "command" verbs - it doesn't always have to be "imperare" or "iubere."
2. The word "ut" or "ne."
Use "ut" if the person being commanded is supposed to do the verb they're being asked to do, or "ne" if they are NOT supposed to do it. So "I ordered you to walk" is "te imperavi ut ambulares," whereas "I ordered you not to walk" is "te imperavi ne ambulares".
3. A subjunctive verb.
Typically, this subjunctive is only going to be either present or imperfect tense - use the present tense for an order being issued right now ("I order you to walk" = "te impero ut ambules"), and the imperfect tense for an order issued in the past ("I ordered you to walk" = "te imperavi ut ambulares"). Also be sure to match the person and number to the person being ordered. If I ordered you to walk, the verb "walk" should be in the 2nd person (because you are the one who's supposed to walk) and in the singular (because there's only one of you).
Let's translate the indirect command examples from the top of this page into Latin.
Marcus is telling Quintus to walk.
Marcus Quintum instruit ut ambulet.
The centurion ordered us not to leave.
centurio nos imperavit ne abiremus.
You asked me to write a letter to you.
me rogavisti ut epistulam tibi scriberem.
