What Am I to Do?

Level 5

Quid faciam?: a question about what to do.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Quid faciam?What am I to do?
Quo eamus?Where are we to go?
Cur timeam?Why should I be afraid?
Quid facerem?What was I to do?

The plain question Quid facio? means What am I doing? and asks for a fact. The subjunctive faciam asks what is right, or what is possible, to do.

Textbooks also call this the subjunctive of doubt, because the speaker hesitates between choices. It is a question, and the verb is almost always in the first person.

The Gospel of Mark has one: a man asks Jesus Quid faciam ut vitam aeternam percipiam?

Examples (5)

  1. Quid faciam?

    What am I to do?

    Faciam is the present subjunctive in a question that asks what to do.

  2. Quo eamus?

    Where are we to go?

    Eamus is the first person plural of the subjunctive of eo.

  3. Quid dicam?

    What am I to say?

    Dicam is the present subjunctive of dico, in a question of doubt.

  4. Cur timeam?

    Why should I be afraid?

    The question is rhetorical and the subjunctive timeam gives the sense of should.

  5. Magister bone, quid faciam ut vitam aeternam percipiam?

    Good teacher, what am I to do to receive eternal life?

    Mark 10:17. Quid faciam is the deliberative question, and ut percipiam gives the purpose.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the indicative to ask what to do.

    Quid facio?
    Quid faciam?

    Quid facio is correct Latin for a different meaning: What am I doing? To ask what to do, use the subjunctive faciam.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

What Am I to Do?Level 5

Learn This First

What am I to do? uses the present subjunctive in a question.

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Patterns that build on this one.