Ch 8 · Lesson 9Latin · Chapter 8 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
He says that: the accusative and infinitive
, he says that the king is coming: an accusative subject, an infinitive verb, no word for that. The infinitive's tense counts from the main verb, not from now.
The short version
Latin has no word for that in reported speech
.
Why?Hide
Where English says he says that the king is coming, Latin puts the subject of the reported clause into the accusative and its verb into the infinitive: . There is no conjunction at all, and nothing marks the join except those two shapes. The construction covers everything after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing and perceiving, which is a large share of any historical text, so it is not an ornament you can read past.
The infinitive's tense is relative, not absolute
.
Why?Hide
Present means at the same time as the main verb, perfect means before it, future means after it. So is he said that the king would come, a future infinitive sitting after a past main verb. Watch the subject too: points back at the main subject, so is he says that he himself is coming, while is he says that somebody else is.
He says that: the accusative and infinitive
After a verb of saying, thinking or knowing, the reported subject goes into the accusative and its verb into the infinitive. There is no word for that.
.- I say that the king is coming. (Literally: I say the king to be coming.).- I believe that God is good.
Mark's Gospel asks the most famous question in indirect statement:
?- Who do men say that I am? (Mark 8:27, in the Vulgate)
The adjective goes accusative too
Anything that describes the reported subject agrees with it, so it is accusative as well:
| Subject | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| one | . | I think that the king is good. |
| several | . | We know that the soldiers are brave. |
The verbs that trigger it
| Kind | Verbs |
|---|---|
| saying | |
| thinking | |
| knowing | |
| perceiving | |
means deny, and Latin prefers it to ... :
.- He says that the king is not coming. (Literally: he denies that the king is coming.)
, he says, is not on the list: it slips into a direct quotation, after its first word or two, and takes no infinitive.
When: the infinitive's tense is relative
A Latin infinitive does not say when something happened. It says when it happened compared with the main verb:
venisse: earlier than the saying
dicit or dixit: the moment of saying
venire: at the same time
venturum esse: later than the saying
Timeline from earlier to later, with the main verb marked.
| Latin | After | After |
|---|---|---|
| the king is coming | the king was coming |
| the king came | the king had come |
| the king will come | the king would come |
Read across a row: the Latin stays the same, and only the English changes tense. English drags the reported verb back a tense after a past main verb. Latin never does, because its infinitive was never marking time from now.
So translate in two steps: earlier, same or later from the infinitive; then the English tense from the main verb.
Esse often drops out
In the perfect passive and the future, is often left out. The participle still carries the tense:
.- He said that the city had been captured..- I believe that he will come.
Do not read as a stray adjective looking for a noun.
Going further: The six infinitives and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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