Kilo Lingo
Latin grammar Part of Chapter 8

CEFR B1-B2

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Test yourself (16 questions)

Latin Infinitives and Indirect Statement: dicit regem venire

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

English reports speech with a small word: he says that the king is coming. Latin has no such word. It puts the reported subject into the accusative and its verb into the infinitive:

accusative: the reported subjectthe infinitive endingWhat do the colours mean?
Rex venit, the king is coming; dicit regem venire, he says that the king is coming
DirectReportedEnglish
. .He says that the king is coming.
. .He says that the king came.
. .He says that the king will come.

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Tap the infinitive the English needs. Earlier, same time, or later than the main verb?

  1. He says that the king is coming: Dicit regem .

  2. He says that the king came: Dicit regem .

  3. He said that the king would come: Dixit regem .

Three infinitives, one each for the same time, earlier and later. First the forms, then the construction.

The six infinitives

Latin has three tenses of infinitive, each active and passive:

TenseActivePassive
present
perfect
future

In English: to call, to be called; to have called, to have been called; to be about to call, to be about to be called. Each one comes from a principal part you already know.

InfinitiveBuilt fromExamples
present activethe dictionary's 2nd part, , ,
present passive-ri; 3rd conj. a bare -i, ,
perfect activeperfect stem + -, ,
perfect passiveparticiple + ,
future activestem + -urus ,

The third-conjugation passive is so short it looks like a misprint: , to be sent; , to be taken. And , to be about to be, has a one-word twin, , and both are common.

The future passive, , is rare even in Cicero. Recognise it and move on.

Deponents

A deponent's present infinitive looks passive and means active:

VerbInfinitiveEnglish
to speak
to follow
to be born
to use

Their perfect infinitive is participle plus , and still active: , to have spoken.

He says that: the accusative and infinitive

accusative: the reported subjectthe infinitive endingWhat do the colours mean?

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:

SubjectLatinEnglish
one .I think that the king is good.
several .We know that the soldiers are brave.

The verbs that trigger it

KindVerbs
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

same timeearlierlaterWhat do the colours mean?

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.

LatinAfter After
the king is comingthe king was coming
the king camethe king had come
the king will comethe 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.

se or eum: who is coming?

se: the main subjecteum: someone elseWhat do the colours mean?

When the reported subject is the same person as the main subject, Latin uses . Someone else is (or , ):

WhoLatinEnglish
the king .The king says that he (the king) is coming.
another .The king says that he (another man) is coming.

English he says he is coming leaves you guessing. Latin settles it.

has no gender and no separate plural, so it means she and they too. A participle beside it shows who:

  • . - The girl said that she would come.
  • . - The soldiers said that they had taken the city.

Catullus uses it for a promise he does not trust:

  • nubere . - My woman says she would rather marry nobody than me. (Catullus 70.1-2)

Infinitives that report nothing

Not every infinitive reports a statement. Two common uses take no accusative subject:

UseLatinEnglish
completing a verb .I can come.
completing a verb .The king wants to stay.
a noun (the subject)Errare .To err is human.

, and , like can, want and ought, take a plain infinitive with the same subject. In errare (a proverb) the infinitive is the subject itself, which is why is neuter.

sits in between: , he orders the soldiers to come. That is an order, not a statement, and English keeps its to.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. .the reported subject is accusative
its adjective is accusative too
= had come = had comethe present infinitive is the same time
duceri3rd conjugation passive: a bare -i
for the subjectthe main subject is

What to do next

  1. Learn the six infinitives on , and the bare -i of .
  2. When you meet a verb of saying or thinking, look for an accusative and an infinitive before you translate.
  3. Then read the participles, which build the future and perfect infinitives.

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/4

Build the infinitive from its pieces.

  1. to be called (voco)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. to have said (dixi)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. to be led (duco)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. to have been (fui)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Pick the right one

0/5

Tap the infinitive the English needs. Earlier, same time, or later than the main verb?

  1. He says that the king is coming: Dicit regem .

  2. He says that the king came: Dicit regem .

  3. He said that the king would come: Dixit regem .

  4. He said that the king was coming: Dixit regem .

  5. He said that the king had come: Dixit regem .

Spot the mistake

0/3

The reported subject goes into the accusative, and so does its adjective. Tap the word that has not.

Pick the right one

0/4

The same person as the main subject, or someone else?

  1. The king says that he himself is coming: Rex dicit venire.

  2. The king says that another man is coming: Rex dicit venire.

  3. The soldier said that he (the soldier) had taken the city: Miles dixit urbem cepisse.

  4. I think that he told the truth: Puto verum dixisse.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the accusative and infinitive in Latin?
It is how Latin reports what someone says, thinks or knows. The subject of the reported statement goes into the accusative and its verb becomes an infinitive: , literally I say the king to be coming, means I say that the king is coming. An adjective describing that subject goes accusative too: , I think that the king is good. Verbs of saying, thinking, knowing and perceiving all trigger it.
How do I know whether to use the present, perfect or future infinitive?
Ask when the reported event happens compared with the main verb, not compared with now. Present means at the same time, perfect means earlier, future means later. is he says the king came; is he said the king had come. The Latin infinitive stays the same when the main verb moves into the past; only the English tense moves.
What does mean in a Latin indirect statement?
It points back to the subject of the main verb. is the king says that he, the king, is coming. is the king says that someone else is coming. English he says he is coming is ambiguous; Latin is not. has no separate plural or gender, so it also means she, they or themselves.
What are the six Latin infinitives?
For they are (to call), (to be called), (to have called), (to have been called), (to be about to call) and (to be about to be called). The last, the future passive, is rare: recognise it rather than learn it. In the third conjugation the present passive is a bare -i: , to be led; , to be sent.
Does Latin ever use for that, like English?
Classical prose does not after verbs of saying and thinking: Caesar and Cicero use the accusative and infinitive. Church and medieval Latin often use , or with an ordinary verb instead, as in the Vulgate's amen propheta in (Luke 4:24). This construction is the ancestor of the French and Spanish clause. Recognise both; write the accusative and infinitive.