audiretis

Audiretis is the Latin imperfect subjunctive active form of the verb audire, meaning “to hear.” It is the second-person plural form, corresponding to “you all might hear” or “you all would hear” in English, and is found in subordinate clauses in classical Latin texts.

Morphology and formation: The imperfect subjunctive is formed from the present stem audi- with the endings of the subjunctive: -rem, -rēs, -ret, -rēmus, -rētis, -rent. For audire, this yields forms such as audīrem, audīrēs, audīret, audīrēmus, audīrētis, audīrent, with audiretis specifically representing the second-person plural. The form is typical of the fourth conjugation to which audire belongs, though the imperfect subjunctive pattern applies across conjugations.

Usage: In Latin, the imperfect subjunctive expresses non-real or potential action in past contexts. It is commonly used in dependent clauses after verbs of thinking, saying, or perceiving, and in certain conditional or hypothetical statements. It also appears in indirect speech to report speech or thought when the main verb is in a past tense or a past-tense frame. The form audiretis helps render the sense that “you all might hear” within such contexts.

Relation to the language: Audiretis illustrates the broader functions of the Latin subjunctive mood, including its role in counterfactual, purpose, and indirect discourse constructions. It is encountered in texts from the late Republic through the Imperial period, though its use declines in later Latin.

See also: audire, Latin grammar, subjunctive mood, conditional clauses.