If: si
If, for something that is simply true or might be.
How It Works
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Si Marcum video, gaudeo. | If I see Marcus, I am glad. |
| Si Marcus venit, Iulia ridet. | If Marcus comes, Iulia laughs. |
| Si vales, bene est. | If you are well, it is good. |
This is the simplest kind of condition. It says nothing about whether the condition is likely. Level 5 adds the kinds that talk about what might happen or what did not happen.
The word si never changes, and it sounds like SEE in both classical and Church Latin. If you want to say if not, Latin uses nisi, which comes at Level 4.
Examples (5)
- Si Marcum video, gaudeo.
If I see Marcus, I am glad.
Both verbs are plain present forms.
- Si Marcus venit, Iulia ridet.
If Marcus comes, Iulia laughs.
The si clause comes first.
- Si vales, bene est.
If you are well, it is good.
A greeting that Romans used at the start of a letter.
- Si cantas, gaudeo.
If you sing, I am glad.
Cantas is the you form of cantare.
- Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?
If God is for us, who is against us?
From Paul's letter to the Romans. The si clause has no verb, and Latin allows that.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Si starts a clause the way quia does.
Related Patterns
- dum, ubi, postquam, cum (When, While, After)When, While, After
Words that tell when.
Level 3 - nisi, quamquam, antequam, priusquam (Unless, Although, Before)Unless, Although, Before
Nisi, which means if not.
Level 4 - If He Comes: si venerit
A condition about the future, at Level 5.
Level 5 - Starting and Ending a Letter
Si vales and other letter formulas.
Level 5
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice If: si in Bubblegum
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