# A wise man never threatens to do what he cannot



## Lamb67

A wise man never threantens to do what he knows he cannot

Prudens vir nunquam minatur se facere quod sciat se non posse


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## jazyk

I don't think these se's are necessary.


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## J.F. de TROYES

I am afraid I disagree for  _minor , -ari_ which is followed in Classical Latin by an infinitive clause and not with an infinitive only, what is possible with _scio_ .


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## Fred_C

Necessary or not, the "se"s do not make a mistake.
But I am almost sure that "scire" is wrong in the subjunctive. You must use the indicative "scit".


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## Lamb67

Let me quote: Minabatur se inimicos civitate expulsurum, he threatened to banish his enemies.

The deduction might be: Prudens vir nunquam minatur se ad facendum ( or ut faciat) quod scit se non posse.

quote further : to express purpose when the supine is preceded by a verb of motion,so supine in factum is not chosen  

because it is not like expulsurum i.e. a verb of motion


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## Fred_C

Hi,
Expellere is not a verb of motion as the rule about supine intends it.
The rule about supine addresses verbs that express the motion of their subjects; like "to go", "to run", etc.
"expellere" does not express the motion of its subject.

Anyway, your example "minabatur se inimicos civitate expulsurum (esse)" uses the infinitive "expulsurus esse" (just in the future) there is no supine at all here.

Therefore, you can mimic your example and say "Prudens vir nunquam minatur se facere quod scit se non posse", or with the future infinitive "se facturum esse, ...".

Note that unlike in the indicative, the future tense is never really necessary in the infinitive mood.


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## Lamb67

Don't forget the Furture Tense after hope, promise, threaten.and Accusative i.e 'se' here.
Prudens vir nunquam minatur se facturum esse quod scit se non posse


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## Lamb67

Another things is that scat is chosen because it is in a subordinate clause,
quod scat se non posse


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## Fred_C

Lamb67 said:


> Another things is that scat is chosen because it is in a subordinate clause,
> quod scat se non posse


 
Not every subordinate clause needs the subjunctive mood, and I do not think this one does.


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