Module 6 - Indirect Statement

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Indirect Statement | Time in Indirect Statement

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Indirect Statement

In English, there are two ways to report what someone says. We can report it directly by using quotations or we can report it indirectly by paraphrasing it. Consider the following examples:

• Direct Statement: The students said: “We like Latin.”

• Indirect Statement: The students said that they like Latin.

• Direct Statement: She said: “Pizza is the best food.”
• Indirect Statement: She said that pizza is the best food.

How we differentiate between what someone actually said and a paraphrase of what they said in Latin? The answer is that we change the form that we use for the subject and main verb of the statement. When we replicate what was actually said, we follow the nominative subject and finite verb pattern that we have already met this semester:

• Dixit: “pater amavit filias.”

• He said: “The father loved his daughters.”

To indicate that we are paraphrasing what the speaker said, we use the accusative to represent the subject of the thought and an infinitive as a main verb:

• Dixit patrem amāre filiās.

• He said that the father loved his daughters.

Thus, we can recognize indirect statement by the use of accusative subject and an infinitive (be sure to review infinitive formation) following the sentence’s main verb. While the main verb in these constructions is a verb of speaking (e.g. dicō, dicere, dixī, dictus), indirect statements in Latin can also be introduced by what is known as a verb of the head, a verb for any action you can do with your head (i.e speaking, thinking, learning, perceiving, believing, seeing, agreeing).

Here are some examples of indirect statements with different examples of verbs of the head (bolded):

• Credēbat patrem amāre filiās. (“He was believing that the father loved his daughters.”)
• Vīdit patrem amāre filiās. (“He saw that the father loved his daughters.”)
• Didicit patrem amāre filiās. (“He learned that the father loved his daughters.”)
• Cognovit patrem amāre filiās. (“He knew that the father loved his daughters.”)

In all of these sentences, notice that we still have the accusative direct object after the accusative subject and infinitive as the main verb. This highlights an important aspect of the structure of indirect statement, aside from the accusative subject - noun usage remains the same.

Practice Opportunities

Identify the verb of the head, the accusative subject, and the infinitive main verb in the indirect statement. Then translate the sentence.

1. Feminae vīdērunt puerum ambulāre ad urbem.
   Click here to toggle the answer: vīdērunt = verb of head; puerum = accusative subject; ambulāre = infinitive main verb; The women saw that the boy walked to the city.

2. Credidit mē in monte sedere.
   Click here to toggle the answer: credidit = verb of head; mē = accusative subject; sedere = infinitive main verb; He believed that I sat on the mountain.

3. Dicunt tē militēs vincere.
   Click here to toggle the answer: dixērunt = verb of head; tē = accusative subject; vincere = infinitive main verb; They say that you are defeating the enemy.

Time in Indirect statement

Time in indirect statement is relative to the main verb. What that means is that the tense of the infinitive tells us when the action of the indirect statement happened in relation to the main verb. For instance, the use of a present infinitive tells us that the action of the indirect statement happens at the same time as the action of the main verb (i.e. thinking/speaking/seeing):

• Credit patrem amāre filiās. (“He believes that the father loves his daughter.”)
• Credidit patrem amāre filiās. (“He believed that the father loved his daughters.”)
• Credit filiās amāri ab patre. (“He believes that the daughters are loved by their father.”)
• Credidit filiās amāri ab patre. (“He believed that the daughters were loved by their father.”)

The perfect infinitive (morphology) is used to indicate that the action of the indirect statement verb happened prior to the action of the main verb (i.e. thinking/speaking/seeing):

• Credit patrem amāvisse filiās. (“He believes that the father loved his daughter.”)
• Credidit patrem amāvisse filiās. (“He believed that the father had loved his daughters.”)
• Credit filiās amātās esse ab patre. (“He believes that the daughters were loved by their father.”)
• Credidit filiās amātās esse ab patre. (“He believed that the daughters had been loved by their father.”)

The future infinitive (no need to worry to much about this for now) is used to indicate that the action of the indirect statement verb happened after the action of the main verb (i.e. thinking/speaking/seeing):

• Credit patrem amāturum esse filiās. (“He believes that the father will love his daughters.”)