Indirect Statements
An indirect statement is a sentence that reports someone’s words or thoughts: it uses
words like ‘say’, ‘tell’, ‘declare’, ‘think’, ‘believe’, ‘know’, ‘claim’ (any verb that shows the
use of words or intellect).
The messenger said that the Romans had captured the city.
I believe that you are doing the right thing.
The judge declared that the black horse had won the race.
In English, an indirect statement is indicated by the word ‘that’: in Latin, it is slightly
different. The subject of the statement goes into the accusative case and the verb
becomes an infinitive. Unsurprisingly, this construction is known as ‘accusative and
infinitive’. This is one of the most common constructions in Latin, and failure to
understand it is a common way to lose marks!
nuntius dicit navem appropinquare -> the messenger says the ship to approach
the messenger says the ship is approaching
Because this construction is used to report statements which might have happened in the
past, you need to know a range of infinitives (at the minute we have focused on the
present active infinitive eg portare - to carry and present passive infinitive eg portari - to
be carried)
More Infinitives
The perfect active infinitive (‘to have carried’) is formed from the perfect stem of the
verb (eg ‘portav-‘) plus -isse.
portavisse - to have carried
monuisse - to have warned
traxisse - to have dragged
audivisse - to have heard
The perfect passive infinitive (‘to have been carried’) is formed from the perfect passive
participle (eg portatus) plus esse.
portatum esse - to have been carried
monitum esse - to have been warned
tractum esse - to have been dragged
auditum esse - to have been heard
NOTE - the perfect passive participle is in the accusative form, but can be any gender,
singular or plural, agreeing with the subject of the infinitive just like a normal participle
would.
For example, if it was ‘a ship’ (navem) in the accusative, the participle would be portatam
(feminine singular). If it was some slaves (servos) in the accusative, the participle would be
portatos (masculine plural).
An indirect statement is a sentence that reports someone’s words or thoughts: it uses
words like ‘say’, ‘tell’, ‘declare’, ‘think’, ‘believe’, ‘know’, ‘claim’ (any verb that shows the
use of words or intellect).
The messenger said that the Romans had captured the city.
I believe that you are doing the right thing.
The judge declared that the black horse had won the race.
In English, an indirect statement is indicated by the word ‘that’: in Latin, it is slightly
different. The subject of the statement goes into the accusative case and the verb
becomes an infinitive. Unsurprisingly, this construction is known as ‘accusative and
infinitive’. This is one of the most common constructions in Latin, and failure to
understand it is a common way to lose marks!
nuntius dicit navem appropinquare -> the messenger says the ship to approach
the messenger says the ship is approaching
Because this construction is used to report statements which might have happened in the
past, you need to know a range of infinitives (at the minute we have focused on the
present active infinitive eg portare - to carry and present passive infinitive eg portari - to
be carried)
More Infinitives
The perfect active infinitive (‘to have carried’) is formed from the perfect stem of the
verb (eg ‘portav-‘) plus -isse.
portavisse - to have carried
monuisse - to have warned
traxisse - to have dragged
audivisse - to have heard
The perfect passive infinitive (‘to have been carried’) is formed from the perfect passive
participle (eg portatus) plus esse.
portatum esse - to have been carried
monitum esse - to have been warned
tractum esse - to have been dragged
auditum esse - to have been heard
NOTE - the perfect passive participle is in the accusative form, but can be any gender,
singular or plural, agreeing with the subject of the infinitive just like a normal participle
would.
For example, if it was ‘a ship’ (navem) in the accusative, the participle would be portatam
(feminine singular). If it was some slaves (servos) in the accusative, the participle would be
portatos (masculine plural).
