Breakdown of Nemo dubitat quin argentarius pactum signare debeat, antequam pecuniam det.
Questions & Answers about Nemo dubitat quin argentarius pactum signare debeat, antequam pecuniam det.
After a negative expression of doubt such as nemo dubitat (no one doubts) or non dubito (I do not doubt), Latin commonly uses quin to introduce the content clause.
So:
- Nemo dubitat quin ... = No one doubts that ...
A very literal sense of quin here is something like that not / but that, but in normal English you should usually just understand it as that after a negative main clause.
This is a standard Latin pattern:
- non dubito quin veniat = I do not doubt that he is coming / will come
Debeat is subjunctive because it is inside a quin clause after a negative expression of doubt.
That is one of the regular constructions in Latin:
- negative main idea of doubting
- followed by quin
- followed by a verb in the subjunctive
So in this sentence:
- Nemo dubitat quin argentarius pactum signare debeat
the clause beginning with quin is grammatically dependent on nemo dubitat, and that is why debeat is subjunctive rather than indicative.