§538. Clauses of Result (Consecutive Clauses)

The constructions of Purpose and Result are precisely alike in the affirmative (except sometimes in tense sequence, § 485. c); but, in the negative, Purpose takes nē, Result ut nōn etc.:—

• cūstōdītus est nē effugeret, he was guarded in order that he MIGHT not escape.
• cūstōdītus est ut nōn effugeret, he was guarded so that he DID not escape.

So in negative Purpose clauses nē quis, nē quid, nē üllus, nē quō, nē quandō, nēcubi, etc. are almost always used; in negative Result clauses, ut nēmō, ut nihil, ut nūllus, etc.:—

• (1) cernere nē quis eōs, neu quis contingere posset (Aen. 1.413), that no one might see them, no one touch them. [Purpose.]
• nē quandō līberīs prōscrīptōrum bona patria reddantur (Rosc. Am. 145), lest at some time the patrimony of the proscribed should be restored to their children.
• ipse nē quō inciderem, revertī Formiās (Att. 8.3.7), that I might not come upon him anywhere, I returned to Formiœ.
• dispositīs explōrātōribus nēcubi Rōmānī cōpiās trādūcerent (B. G. 7.35), having stationed scouts here and there in order that the Romans might not lead their troops across anywhere.
• (2) multī ita sunt imbēcillī senēs ut nūllum officī mūnus exsequī possint (Cat. M. 35), many old men are so feeble that they cannot perform any duty to society. [Result.]
• quī summum bonum sīc īnstituit ut nihil habeat cum virtūte coniūnctum (Off. 1.5), who has so settled the highest good that it has nothing in common with virtue.

For clauses of Result or Characteristic with quīn, see § 559. For Substantive Clauses of Result, see §§ 567-571.