# Be not afraid to speak the truth to the judge



## Lamb67

Be not afraid to speak the truth to the judge
Non time dicere vera judici.

Now 3 mothes later :

Noli(sing.) or Nolite ( plural) timere dicere vera judici

Is dative judici correctly used ? Are there any other problems with it ?

Thanks.


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## rs2740

Looks good grammatically to me. dico takes the dative for the person addressed. Ne + subjunctive will work, too, esp. here, since two infinitives linked together sounds sort of weird.


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## Kevin Beach

Can *dicere* be used with a direct object in Latin, except when quoting direct speech?

Would *vere* ("truly") not be better?

*Judici vere dicere non time* would be my choice.


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## rs2740

AFAIK, there's no negative imperative in Latin; either noli/-te + inf. or ne + subj. is used.

dicere can be transitive - and it takes indirect speech most of the time, not direct - salutem dicit!

As to which is better - verum's substantive is often used to mean "truth", so I'd say either is fine. If you want a literal translation, then it's vera. My (admittedly non-scientific) research suggests that the neuter substantive is more common (by counting the lines of examples in OLD).


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## Lamb67

Ne+subj. would be like : Ne timeas (or timeastis) vera dicere judici.
Right ?


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## rs2740

In second person, the perf. subj. is much more common - ne timueris (or timueritis). The pres. subj. is used for maxims. In third person, it's the pres. subj. - ne timeat, etc.


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## Lamb67

Can I make a conclusion here ? Be not afraid to speak the truth to the judge.
Noli or nolite timere judici vera dicere;( said to anyone)
Or Ne timueris or timueritis judici vera dicere.( only to you)


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## rs2740

Well, since the imperative is also directed to the person addressed, it's still directed to "you". Use ne + pres. subj. for 3rd persons (Let him not ..., etc.)


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## Lamb67

Additional information : Use ne+ pres.subj. for the 1st and 3rd persons ( Let him not, let us not, let me not).
Another example :Ne te pudeat vera loqui, do not be ashamed to speak the truth. Can I literally translate it into the following : It would not shame you to speak the truth ?


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