Marcus quaerit utrum “quis” pronomen interrogativum sit.

to be

Breakdown of Marcus quaerit utrum “quis” pronomen interrogativum sit.

• Marcus: Marcus
• quaerere: to ask
• utrum: whether

Questions & Answers about Marcus quaerit utrum “quis” pronomen interrogativum sit.

Why is utrum used here?

Utrum introduces an indirect yes/no question, so here it means whether.

After a verb like quaerit, Latin often marks the thing being asked with utrum:

• Marcus quaerit utrum ... sit = Marcus asks whether ... is

If there were two alternatives, Latin would often use utrum ... an ... = whether ... or .... But when there is only one clause, utrum by itself is enough.

Why is sit subjunctive instead of est?

Because utrum quis pronomen interrogativum sit is an indirect question, and indirect questions in Latin normally take the subjunctive.

So Latin distinguishes:

• direct question: utrum ... est? or estne ... ?
• indirect question: utrum ... sit

The present subjunctive sit is also the expected tense here because the asking and the being are happening at the same time.

Is this an indirect question rather than an indirect statement?

Yes.

That matters because Latin uses different constructions for the two:

• Indirect question: interrogative word or particle + subjunctive
  
  • quaerit utrum ... sit
• Indirect statement: accusative + infinitive