When, speaking English, we often ask questions which are looking for a simple, answer 'Yes' or 'No', and the manner in which we pose the question sometimes signals clearly to the respondent which answer we are expecting to receive, often indicating thereby the attitude or viewpoint of the questioner. Set out below is an analysis of the three types of such questions. Each example in English is translated into Latin and Greek. You will note that English has different forms of asking these questions, depending on the degree of emphasis the questioner wishes to inject. Readers with no previous knowledge of Latin, but who have heard references to 'Nonne' or 'Num' questions, will now be able to decipher what this distinction means.

Introduction: the analysis and purpose of conditional sentences. In any language, the ability to construct or translate conditional sentences is amongst the more demanding challenges which grammar sets us. Conditionals are more complex than other types of adverbial clause, because in the sentences in which they occur, careful attention has to be given to both clauses. A Conditional sentence consists of two clauses: (i) a subordinate adverbial clause, called the 'protasis', which expresses the condition or premise; and (ii) a main clause, called the 'apodosis' or consequence, which states what stems from that condition and therefore naturally follows after it in order of time. The 'protasis', in English the 'if-clause', is dependent, and expresses a supposition or imaginary event; the 'apodosis' is the principal clause, and states what will be the outcome if the 'protasis' is realised.