Vidistisne

Vidistisne is a Latin interrogative phrase formed from vidistis, the second-person plural perfect of video, videre “to see,” combined with the enclitic particle -ne, which marks a question. The phrase translates roughly as “Did you see?” or “Have you seen?” in English, depending on context. The enclitic does not alter the underlying meaning of vidistis; it merely signals that the sentence is a question.

In form, -ne attaches to the verb, and vidistisne is the standard spelling for addressing more than one person; singular forms exist for other verb forms in the same pattern. In Classical Latin, such enclitic questions are common in dialogue, narrative, and dramatic confrontation, and they can appear with different verb tenses to suit context.

Usage of vidistisne typically introduces a matter the speaker expects the listeners to have witnessed, serving to confirm shared knowledge or prompt a response. The phrase appears in both prose and poetry, often in direct speech or in reported speech that advances a scene or argument.

Historical and linguistic note: The form exemplifies Latin clitic usage, where a short particle appended to a verb signals a question without requiring word-order rearrangement. Latin pedagogy often uses vidistisne to illustrate how the enclitic -ne interacts with the perfect tense and verb agreement across person and number.

See also: Latin grammar, enclitic -ne, Latin verb tenses, Latin dialogue conventions.