Nescio: Not to Know

Nesciō means “not know,” “be unaware,” or “not know how.” Its principal parts are nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī (also nesciī), nescītum. Historically it contains the negative element ne- plus sciō, but Classical Latin treats it as a single lexical verb. A second nōn therefore reverses the negative: nōn nesciō is grammatical litotes for “I am well aware,” not an ordinary way to say “I do not know.”

Its most important complements match sciō: a direct object for the thing one does not know, accusative-and-infinitive for a statement, and a subjunctive indirect question for missing information.

Complete Active Paradigm

As with sciō, first-person nesciam is future indicative or present subjunctive. Clause type and discourse context decide.

Present-System Passive Forms and Their Limits

This table shows how the forms would be built, not that every cell is attested or idiomatic. Classical prose securely uses chiefly impersonal nescītur “it is unknown,” normally with an indirect question. The participle nescītus, -a, -um “unknown” and compound perfect-passive forms belong chiefly to later or otherwise rare usage; do not treat a mechanically generated nescītum est as the normal Classical counterpart of nescīvī.

Non-Finite Forms and Commands

Present active commands are nescī, nescīte, though a command to “be ignorant” is semantically unusual. Future and passive imperatives can be generated morphologically, but they have no ordinary role in Classical prose and belong chiefly in a full paradigm, not in active production.

Present participle nesciēns often functions adjectivally: “unknowing, unaware.” It is not the same construction as the adjective nescius, although their meanings overlap.

Statements and Indirect Questions

For an unknown statement, nesciō governs accusative-and-infinitive. For missing information framed as a question, it governs an interrogative clause with the subjunctive.

The first denies awareness of a proposition; the second says that the answer between alternatives is unknown. English can translate both with “I don’t know,” but the Latin complement reveals the logic. See indirect questions.

With an infinitive of skill, nesciō means “not know how.”

Nesciō Quis and Nesciō An

The parenthetic combination nesciō quis can weaken into “someone or other”; nesciō quid means “something or other,” and nesciō quō modō “somehow.” In this indefinite use, nesciō no longer governs the following verb as an indirect question: that verb has the mood demanded by its own clause. The interrogative word still takes the case required inside its phrase.

Compare the genuine indirect question, where the unknown identity is the point and the verb is subjunctive:

Nesciō an literally introduces “I do not know whether,” but context can make it a cautious affirmative, “perhaps” or “I rather think.” This is a pragmatic tendency, not a mechanical equivalence; inspect the surrounding alternatives and argument.

Register and Lexical Family

Nesciō is neutral Classical prose, not merely a poetic contraction of nōn sciō. It is itself the principal high-frequency compound of sciō and does not head a large productive compound family. The adjective nescius is common (literary/formal) and can govern a genitive, but it should not replace the finite verb mechanically.

Ignorance, Refusal, and Deliberation

Nesciō states lack of knowledge; by itself it does not mean “I refuse to say” or “I do not care.” Context can make an answer evasive, but that pragmatic effect should not be built into the dictionary meaning. In first-person deliberative questions, it can introduce uncertainty about one’s next action.

Here agam is not hypothetical “would do.” It is subjunctive because quid agam is an embedded deliberative question. This is especially important when translating English infinitival “what to do.”

Parsing Diagnostic

Identify nescī-, nescīv- (or the shorter perfect in nesciī), or nescīt-. Next decide whether a following accusative belongs to an infinitive, whether a question word opens a subjunctive clause, or whether nesciō quis/quid has become an indefinite expression. Finally check whether nescītur is impersonal.

Common Mistakes

Adding another negative

Inventing the perfect stem

Using an indicative in an indirect question

Treating nesciō quis as fully invariable

Key Takeaways

• Memorize nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī, nescītum; the negative is already inside the verb.
• Use accusative-and-infinitive for statements and subjunctive indirect questions for missing answers.
• Impersonal nescītur is much commoner than most personal passive forms.
• Recognize nesciō quis/quid as a productive indefinite expression.