Breakdown of Utinam hodie plus temporis haberemus; tum versus nostros diligentius corrigeremus.
Questions & Answers about Utinam hodie plus temporis haberemus; tum versus nostros diligentius corrigeremus.
Utinam is a particle used to introduce a wish. A learner can often think of it as if only or would that.
In this sentence, utinam tells you right away that the speaker is expressing something desired rather than stating a simple fact.
A very common pattern is:
- utinam + subjunctive
The exact tense of the subjunctive then helps show what kind of wish it is.
They are in the imperfect subjunctive because the sentence expresses a present wish contrary to fact.
So the idea is:
- If only we had more time today
- then we would correct our verses more carefully
The imperfect subjunctive is commonly used in Latin for:
- a present unreal wish
- a present unreal condition
So haberemus does not simply mean we were having here. It means something more like we had in the sense of if only we had.
Likewise, corrigeremus means we would correct under that unreal condition.