WHAT IS A PURPOSE CLAUSE?
Purpose clauses are clauses that describe the reason or purpose for doing the main action of the sentence. There are several different variations of what they look like in English. Some of them look very similar to other things that aren't purpose clauses, so it's important to understand what they look like and what you're dealing with.
Examples:
I went to the store to buy cheese.
The soldiers breached the wall in order to enter the city.
The Chosen One is returning so that the prophecy may be fulfilled.
Notice that in each of these examples, someone is doing something for the purpose of accomplishing something else. In the first sentence, I went to the store. Why? In order to buy cheese. In the second sentence, the soldiers breached the wall. Why? So they could enter the city. Purpose clauses always answer the question, "why did you do that?"
Purpose clauses are fairly easy and straightforward in Latin, but they're actually kinda tricky in English because they can take so many different forms. If you look at the examples above and replace the verbs with "wumbo," you'll see that the first one is worded "to wumbo," the second is worded "in order to wumbo," and the third is worded "so that the thing may wumbo." These are all purpose clauses, but they all look pretty different from each other, and there are many more possible variations beyond these.
The important thing, then, is not to worry so much about the individual words, but rather the concept - that someone is doing something for the purpose of accomplishing something else. If you train yourself to recognize that concept wherever and however it appears, you'll have no trouble with purpose clauses.
One thing in particular to watch out for is when the purpose clause looks like an infinitive, as in the first example, "I went to the store to buy cheese." You might see that and think, "Oh, 'to buy' is an infinitive, so I'll just put an infinitive there and move on." But that's not really what's being said. When you say "I went to the store to buy cheese," you're giving the purpose or reason for going to the store, which is a different thing.
Examples:
I went to the store to buy cheese.
The soldiers breached the wall in order to enter the city.
The Chosen One is returning so that the prophecy may be fulfilled.
Notice that in each of these examples, someone is doing something for the purpose of accomplishing something else. In the first sentence, I went to the store. Why? In order to buy cheese. In the second sentence, the soldiers breached the wall. Why? So they could enter the city. Purpose clauses always answer the question, "why did you do that?"
Purpose clauses are fairly easy and straightforward in Latin, but they're actually kinda tricky in English because they can take so many different forms. If you look at the examples above and replace the verbs with "wumbo," you'll see that the first one is worded "to wumbo," the second is worded "in order to wumbo," and the third is worded "so that the thing may wumbo." These are all purpose clauses, but they all look pretty different from each other, and there are many more possible variations beyond these.
The important thing, then, is not to worry so much about the individual words, but rather the concept - that someone is doing something for the purpose of accomplishing something else. If you train yourself to recognize that concept wherever and however it appears, you'll have no trouble with purpose clauses.
One thing in particular to watch out for is when the purpose clause looks like an infinitive, as in the first example, "I went to the store to buy cheese." You might see that and think, "Oh, 'to buy' is an infinitive, so I'll just put an infinitive there and move on." But that's not really what's being said. When you say "I went to the store to buy cheese," you're giving the purpose or reason for going to the store, which is a different thing.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN LATIN?
As I said before, purpose clauses are much more simple and straightforward in Latin than they are in English. There's only one way to write them, and it's pretty easy. All you need are two things:
1. ut or ne
Purpose clauses in Latin always start with one of these two words. You use ut if you want to say "in order that X might happen" or ne if you want to say "in order that X might NOT happen." Put a different way, if you want the action in the purpose clause to happen, you use ut, but if you don't want it to happen, you use ne.
Examples:
I ran slowly so that the dog could catch me.
lente cucurri ut canis me prehendere posset.
I ran quickly so that the dog could not catch me.
celeriter cucurri ne canis me prehendere posset.
2. a subjunctive verb
The verb in the purpose clause - the thing you want to happen or don't want to happen - should be in the subjunctive. Why? Because, in this sentence, you aren't saying whether it actually did happen, just that someone was trying to make it happen or not happen. Within this sentence, it's unclear whether it happened or not, and so it should be in the subjunctive.
As a general rule, if the sentence as a whole occurred in the past, use the imperfect subjunctive within the purpose clause. If it is happening now or will happen in the future, use the present subjunctive within the purpose clause.
Examples:
I went to the store to buy cheese.
tabernam adii ut caseum emerem.
The soldiers breached the wall in order to enter the city.
milites murum ruperunt ut urbem intrarent.
The Chosen One is returning so that the prophecy may be fulfilled.
Unus Electus revenit ut oraculum perficatur.
1. ut or ne
Purpose clauses in Latin always start with one of these two words. You use ut if you want to say "in order that X might happen" or ne if you want to say "in order that X might NOT happen." Put a different way, if you want the action in the purpose clause to happen, you use ut, but if you don't want it to happen, you use ne.
Examples:
I ran slowly so that the dog could catch me.
lente cucurri ut canis me prehendere posset.
I ran quickly so that the dog could not catch me.
celeriter cucurri ne canis me prehendere posset.
2. a subjunctive verb
The verb in the purpose clause - the thing you want to happen or don't want to happen - should be in the subjunctive. Why? Because, in this sentence, you aren't saying whether it actually did happen, just that someone was trying to make it happen or not happen. Within this sentence, it's unclear whether it happened or not, and so it should be in the subjunctive.
As a general rule, if the sentence as a whole occurred in the past, use the imperfect subjunctive within the purpose clause. If it is happening now or will happen in the future, use the present subjunctive within the purpose clause.
Examples:
I went to the store to buy cheese.
tabernam adii ut caseum emerem.
The soldiers breached the wall in order to enter the city.
milites murum ruperunt ut urbem intrarent.
The Chosen One is returning so that the prophecy may be fulfilled.
Unus Electus revenit ut oraculum perficatur.
