Indirect Statement Introduction — Accusative + Infinitive
Construct and translate indirect statements using the accusative + infinitive pattern after verbs of saying, thinking, and knowing. Understand the reflexive se vs. eum distinction and adjective agreement within the construction.
A lesson of Latin B1 — Intermediate, in Indirect Statement, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will construct and translate Latin indirect statements using the accusative + infinitive construction, and identify the introducing verb that triggers them.
What Is Indirect Statement?
Whenever you report what someone said, thought, or believed — rather than quoting their words directly — you have indirect statement.
Direct statement: "Caesar is great." Indirect statement: "They say that Caesar is great."
In English we often use that + a subject + verb. Latin handles this very differently: it uses an accusative noun/pronoun as the subject and an infinitive as the verb.
The Construction
[Verb of saying/thinking/knowing] + [accusative subject] + [infinitive]
Dico Caesarem esse bonum. "I say that Caesar is good." (literally: "I say Caesar to be good")
- Dico — main verb of saying (1st sg. present)
- Caesarem — accusative: subject of the indirect statement
- esse — present infinitive of esse ("to be")
- bonum — accusative: predicate adjective agreeing with Caesarem
Credo milites venire. "I believe that the soldiers are coming."
- Credo — verb of believing
- milites — accusative plural (subject of indirect statement)
- venire — present infinitive of venire
Reflexive Pronoun in Indirect Statement
When the subject of the indirect statement is the same person as the subject of the main verb, Latin uses the reflexive se (accusative):
Caesar dixit se vincere. "Caesar said that he (= Caesar himself) was conquering."
Contrast:
Caesar dixit eum vincere. "Caesar said that he (= someone else) was conquering."