if Copy link Outline 1. sī2. to introduce a contrary alternative, sin (= si ne3. sometimes expr. by particip. clause4. sīve, seu (whether ... or if) • if: 1. sī: (i.) with indic. (mere assumption: L. G. § 424, 1): if you wish, I will produce witnesses, si vis, testes dabo, Cic.: if we follow nature as our guide, we shall never go wrong, naturam si sequemur ducem, nunquam aberrabimus, Cic. (ii.) with subj. (implying probability or possibility: L. G. § 424, 2, sqq.): if I wished, I could not possibly go away, si velim, abire hinc nullo facto possim, Pl.: if it had happened otherwise, si aliter accidisset, Cic. (N.B.--Si is often used elliptically with the subj. to express a wish: Oh! if Jupiter would but restore my past years, O mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos! Virg. Aen. 8, 560: Hor.: where, gaudeam, or some such verb, may be supplied: comp. Gr. εί γάρ.) (iii.) with the verb understood (esp. in a negative alternative, si minus): lead forth with you all your partisans; if not all, as many as may be, educ tecum omnes tuos; si minus, quam plurimos, Cic. Cat. 1, 5, 10 (in which connexion, oft. sin minus): either nobody, or if any one he ..., aut nemo, aut si quisquam, ille ..., Cic. Am. 2, 9. 2. to introduce a contrary alternative, sin (= si ne: if not, if on the contrary): if he had disapproved, why had he allowed the law to be passed? if, on the contrary, he had approved, why ...? si improbasset, cur ferri passus est? sin probasset, cur ...? Caes. B. C. 1, 32: Cic.: if otherwise, sin aliter (the verb being understood), Ter. Ph. 1, 2, 66; sin secus, Pl.: if not, sin minus (with or without a verb expr.), Cic. Inv. 2, 29, 88: Att. 9, 15 (the elliptical constr. is better fitted for colloquial lang.): for which, in the epist. style occurs also, sin (alone): cf. Cic. Att. 16, 13, med., si pares inter se, quiescendum; sin, latius manabit. Sin is often strengthened by autem, vero: Cic.: Col. (N.B.--It is not indispensable that sin should be preceded by si; but the preceding member of the sentence must in some way present an alternative: cf. Caes. B. C. 1, 32, orat ac postulat, remp. suscipiant [first alternative] ... sin timore defugiant, if however they are afraid to do that ...). 3. sometimes expr. by particip. clause: I praise her (Fortune) if she remains; if (on the contrary) she shakes her swift wings ..., laudo manentem; si celeres quatit pennas ..., Hor. Od. 3, 29, 55: if admitted to view, could ye refrain from laughter? spectatum admissi, risum teneatis? Hor. A. P. 4: simly. an adject. may be used hypothetically: if fortune be adverse, he hopes; if propitious, he fears a change of lot, sperat infestis, metuit secundis alteram sortem, Hor. Od. 2, 10, 12. 4. sīve, seu (whether ... or if): (i.) si ... sīve (seu): if trunks of trees, or if vessels were floated down by the barbarians, si arborum trunci, sive naves essent a barbaris missae, Caes. B. G. 4, 17, extr.: Pl.: v. or. (ii.) sive (seu) without a preceding si (rare): I demand, or if it be right (to say so), I entreat you ..., postulo, sive aequum est, te oro ..., Ter. Andr. 1, 2, 19: with seu, Virg. Aen. 11, 327. (iii.) sīve (seu) ... sīve (seu): cf. Hor. Od. 3, 4, init., seu (or if) voce nunc mavis acuta, seu fidibus, etc.: Cic. (who uses the form sive): Quint.: v. whether.