ct expresses, in the form of a wish, the _regret that
something is not so now_; the Pluperfect that something _was not so in the
past_. The Imperfect and Pluperfect are regularly accompanied by utinam;
as,--

utinam istud ex animo diceres, _would that you were saying that in
earnest_ (i.e. I regret that you are not saying it in earnest);

Pelides utinam vitasset Apollinis arcus, _would that Achilles had
escaped the bow of Apollo_;

utinam ne natus essem, _would that I had not been born_.

POTENTIAL SUBJUNCTIVE.

280. The Potential Subjunctive expresses _a possibility_. The negative is
non. The following uses are to be noted:--

1. The 'May' Potential.--The Potential Subjunctive may designate _a mere
possibility_ (English auxiliary _may_). Both Present and Perfect occur, and
without appreciable difference of meaning. Thus:--

dicat aliquis, _some one may say_;

dixerit aliquis, _some one may say_.

a. This construction is by no means frequent, and is confined mainly to a
few phrases like those given as examples.

2. 'Should'-'Would' Potential.--The Potential Subjunctive may represent
something as _depending upon a condition expressed or understood_ (English
auxiliary _should_, _would_). Both Present and Perfect occur, and without
appreciable difference of meaning. Thus:--

fortunam citius reperias quam retineas, _one would more quickly find
Fortune than keep it_ (i.e. if one should make the trial);

crediderim, _I should believe_.

a. Here belongs the use of velim, malim, nolim, as softened forms of
statement for volo, malo, nolo. Thus:--

velim mihi ignoscas, _I wish you would forgive me_;

nolim putes me jocari, _I don't want you to think I'm joking_.

b. When the condition is expressed, we get one of the regular types of
Conditional Sentences (see Sec. 303); as,--

dies deficiat, si coner enumerare causas, _time would fail if I should
attempt to enumerate the reasons._

3. 'Can'-'Could' Potential.--In the Present and Imperfect the Potential
occurs in the second person singular (with _indefinite_ force; Sec. 356, 3) of
a few verbs of _perceiving_, _seeing_, _thinking_, and the like; as,--

videas, cernas, _one can see_, _one can perceive_;

crederes, _one could believe_;

videres, cerneres, _one could see_, _perceive_;

putares, _one could imagine_.

4. The Imperfect and Pluperfect in the Apodosis of condition