Quid and Quod

[Dacicus]

I'm having some trouble with the pronouns quid and quod. It seems to me that Wheelock's uses the former in places where it should use the latter. For example, I translate SA4 in chapter 30 (Nunc scio quid sit amor) as "Now I know what may be love." Shouldn't the Latin word for "what" be a relative pronoun instead of an interrogative?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

[benissimus]

Salve Dacice,

You may want to go back and reread the explanations on indirect questions. The indirect question uses the interrogative rather than the relative pronoun because the part of the sentence in the subjunctive is actually a question.

In the sentence Nunc scio quid sit amor, the statement is Nunc scio "Now I know" and the question is Quid est amor? "What is love?". When you wish to combine them into one sentence, the question portion of the sentence must be put into the subjunctive (i.e. change est to sit).

Also, take note that Wheelock specifically says in the second paragraph on page 204:

The subjunctive in an indirect question is usually translated as though it were an indicative in the same tense (i.e. without any auxiliary [verbs] such as "may" or "might").

Pay attention to how these sentences are translated in the examples. According to this rule, the indirect question Nunc scio quid sit amor should be translated "Now I know what is love" or, more properly, "Now I know what love is", without any words such as "may" or "might".

Be well