Purpose clauses

A purpose clause (also called a final clause, from Latin fīnis, “end, aim”) tells you the aim of the action in the main clause. It is introduced by ut (or its older form utī) when the purpose is positive, and by nē when it is negative, and its verb is always in the subjunctive.

Accelerat Caesar, ut proeliō intersit.
“Caesar hurries on to take part in the battle.” (Caesar)

Vercingetorīx iubet portās claudī, nē castra nūdentur.
“Vercingetorix orders the gates to be shut, so that the camp will not be left unguarded.” (Caesar)

The subjunctive is there because the clause describes something intended, not something that has actually happened. Caesar hurries so that he may take part; the sentence does not tell you whether he did.

• ut or nē with a subjunctive verb, often a present or imperfect subjunctive: intersit, nūdentur, vītārent, posset.
• The main clause is complete without it. The purpose clause adds the reason for an action that could stand on its own: accelerat Caesar, “Caesar hurries”.
• The main verb is an ordinary action, often a verb of motion, sending, giving or doing (mittit, venit, proficīscitur, dat, facit), not a verb of asking, ordering or urging (see “Common mistakes” below).
• No signpost word of degree such as tam, ita, sīc, adeō, tantus, tālis in the main clause. Those point to a result clause instead.

A negative purpose uses nē, and “and so that … not” is nēve or neu. After nē, “anyone” and “anything” are quis and quid (not aliquis): nē quis “so that no one”, nē quid “so that nothing”.

hās mūnītiōnēs īnsequentibus auxit diēbus, ut prō mūrō obiectās habēret neu dīmicāre invītus cōgerētur.
“He strengthened these defenses over the following days, to have them in front of him as a wall and not be forced to fight against his will.” (Caesar)

A purpose always looks forward from the time of the main verb, so a purpose clause uses only two tenses of the subjunctive. Which one you get depends on the tense of the main verb:

• Primary sequence: after a main verb in the present, future, future perfect or imperative, the purpose clause has a present subjunctive.
• Secondary sequence: after a main verb in a past tense (imperfect, perfect, pluperfect), it has an imperfect subjunctive.

Petis ut tibi avunculī meī exitum scrībam, quō vērius trādere posterīs possīs.
“You ask me to write you an account of my uncle’s death, so that you can hand it down to posterity more accurately.” (Pliny) Present petis, present subjunctive possīs.

Postrīdiē eius diēī māne tripertītō mīlitēs equitēsque in expedītiōnem mīsit, ut eōs quī fūgerant persequerentur.
“Early the next day he sent out soldiers and cavalry in three columns, to pursue those who had fled.” (Caesar) Perfect mīsit, imperfect subjunctive persequerentur.

The tense of the subjunctive tells you nothing about the time of the purpose itself, which is always “later”. In English both come out the same way: “to pursue”, “so that you can hand it down”.

Historians love the historic present, a present tense used for vivid narrative of past events. It can be followed by either sequence, so do not be surprised to see both:

Itaque, nē subitō ex collibus dēcursū Albānōrum interclūderentur ab oppidō, terga vertunt.
“So, to avoid being cut off from their town by a sudden charge of the Albans down from the hills, they turn and run.” (Livy) Historic present vertunt, imperfect subjunctive interclūderentur; compare iubet … nē castra nūdentur above, with a present.

When the purpose clause contains a comparative (an adjective or adverb in -ior, -ius, or maior, minus, magis and so on), Latin normally uses quō instead of ut. Quō is really an ablative, “by which (amount)”: “so that by this means … the more”.

Praetereā Gabīnium arcessit, quō maior auctōritās sermōnī inesset.
“He also sends for Gabinius, so that his words might carry more weight.” (Sallust)

sed ratiōnem cōnsiliī meī accipite, quō firmiōre animō in proelium prōdeātis.
“But hear the reasoning behind my plan, so that you may go into battle with greater confidence.” (Caesar)

Look for the comparative straight after quō: quō facilius “so that … more easily”, quō tūtius “so that … more safely”. The rule is not absolute, and ut with a comparative also occurs: … ut id libentius faciātis …, “so that you may do this more gladly” (Cicero). Do not confuse this with quōminus (quō minus) after verbs of preventing, where it means “from …ing”.

A relative pronoun with a subjunctive can also express purpose. This is especially common after verbs of sending and choosing, where the relative refers to the person sent: “he sent men who were to …”, that is, “he sent men to …”.

Hīs rēbus cognitīs, explōrātōrēs centuriōnēsque praemittit quī locum castrīs idōneum dēligant.
“When he learned this, he sent scouts and centurions ahead to choose a suitable place for a camp.” (Caesar)

Postquam autem audiērunt mūrōs struī, lēgātōs Athēnās mīsērunt, quī id fierī vetārent.
“When they heard that the walls were going up, they sent envoys to Athens to forbid it.” (Nepos)

The relative here does the work of ut plus a pronoun: quī vetārent = ut iī vetārent, “so that they might forbid”. It follows the same sequence of tenses. Translate with a plain “to …”, not “who forbade”: the subjunctive tells you the action was still only intended.

Besides clauses, you will meet three shorter constructions that also mean “to …” or “for the purpose of …”:

• ad + gerund or gerundive (accusative): inde ad foedus faciendum ducēs prōdeunt, “then the leaders come forward to make a treaty” (Livy); ipse in citeriōrem Galliam ad conventūs agendōs profectus est, “he himself set out for Nearer Gaul to hold the assizes” (Caesar).
• causā (or grātiā) after a genitive gerund or gerundive, “for the sake of …ing”: prīmā nocte aquandī causā nēmō ēgreditur ex castrīs, “on the first night no one goes out of the camp to fetch water” (Caesar).
• The supine in -um after a verb of motion: it looks like the neuter of the perfect participle and can take an object: … Vēientēs pācem petītum ōrātōrēs Rōmam mittunt, “the Veientes send spokesmen to Rome to seek peace” (Livy).

Notice that classical prose does not use a plain infinitive for purpose (“he came to see”). Poets and the Vulgate sometimes do, but in Caesar or Cicero a purpose will be one of the forms on this page.

Choose the English that sounds natural. When the subject of the purpose clause is the same as the subject of the main verb, English almost always uses an infinitive:

• to …: … ut prōderet eum illīs “to betray him to them” (Vulgate)
• in order to … / so as to …, for a little more weight: … ut timōris suspīciōnem vītārent … “so as to avoid the suspicion of fear” (Caesar)
• so that … may / might / could, when the subject changes: … nē quam noctū oppidānī ā mīlitibus iniūriam acciperent “so that the townspeople would suffer no harm from the soldiers during the night” (Caesar)
• nē = so that … not, so as not to …: … nē multitūdine circumīrētur “so as not to be surrounded by sheer numbers” (Nepos)
• nē = to avoid …ing, in case, for fear that, or old-fashioned “lest”: nē … interclūderentur “to avoid being cut off” (Livy)

Use “may” after a present main verb and “might” or “would” after a past one, or avoid the issue with “to …”. A purpose clause often comes before the main clause in Latin (nē … interclūderentur, terga vertunt); English usually puts it after.

• Mixing up purpose and result. Both use ut + subjunctive, but a result clause tells you what actually happened as a consequence, and it is usually announced by a word like tam, ita, adeō, tantus in the main clause. The negatives are the surest test: purpose is nē, result is ut … nōn. In Ipse autem Ariovistus tantōs sibi spīritūs, tantam arrogantiam sūmpserat, ut ferendus nōn vidērētur, “Ariovistus himself, moreover, had taken on such pride and such arrogance that he seemed unbearable” (Caesar), tantam … ut … nōn marks a result: no one intended him to seem unbearable. (The Vulgate, which follows later usage, sometimes has ut nōn for a negative purpose, as in Haec locūtus sum vōbīs, ut nōn scandalizēminī, “I have said these things to you so that you may not stumble”. In classical prose expect nē.)
• Reading ut + indicative as purpose. With an indicative verb, ut means “as” or “when”, and has nothing to do with purpose: Quiētā Galliā Caesar, ut cōnstituerat, in Ītaliam ad conventūs agendōs proficīscitur, “With Gaul quiet, Caesar, as he had decided, set out for Italy to hold the assizes” (Caesar); At illī ut vīdērunt eum ambulantem suprā mare, putāvērunt phantasma esse, et exclāmāvērunt, “But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out” (Vulgate). Always check the mood of the verb before you decide what ut means.
• Taking an indirect command for a purpose clause. After verbs of asking, ordering, urging and persuading (rogō, imperō, hortor, persuādeō, petō), ut or nē + subjunctive gives the content of the request, not its aim: … Eurylochō imperāvit ut sine morā viam ad istam domum dēmōnstrāret (Ritchie) is “he ordered Eurylochus to show him the way to that house without delay”, not “he gave an order so that …”. The grammar is identical; only the meaning of the main verb tells them apart.
• Translating the subjunctive as a statement of fact. … lēgātōs Athēnās mīsērunt, quī id fierī vetārent does not say that the envoys forbade it, only that they were sent to. “Who forbade it” turns an intention into an event.