Indirect Statement

Indirect statement reports what someone said, thought, or believed. Latin uses the accusative + infinitive construction: the subject of the reported action goes into the accusative, and the verb becomes an infinitive.

How it works

Trigger verbs

Verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving, hearing, and seeing introduce indirect statement: dīcō (say), inquit (says/said), crēdō (believe), putō (think), sciō (know), sentiō (perceive), audiō (hear), videō (see).

Structure

The reported subject goes into the accusative. The reported verb becomes an infinitive. There is no "that" word in Latin.

English: I say that the boys are in the forum.
Latin: dīcō puerōs in forō esse. (accusative + infinitive, no "that")

Tense of the infinitive

Infinitive tense	Meaning	Formation
Present infinitive	Action at same time as main verb	Regular present infinitive (-āre, -ēre, -ere, -īre)
Perfect infinitive	Action before main verb	Perfect stem + -isse
Future infinitive	Action after main verb	Future active participle + esse

Worked examples

1. dīcō puerōs in forō esse.
I say that the boys are in the forum. (present infinitive — action at same time)

2. crēdō mīlitēs fortiter pugnāvisse.
I believe that the soldiers fought bravely. (perfect infinitive — action before main verb)

3. putābam rēgem redītūrum esse.
I thought that the king would return. (future infinitive — action after main verb)

4. sciō tē errāre.
I know that you are making a mistake. (present infinitive; tē is accusative subject)

The Three Indirect Constructions

Construction	Trigger verbs	Mood	Key signal
Indirect Statement	dīcō, crēdō, putō, sciō	Infinitive (no subjunctive)	acc + inf after saying/thinking
Indirect Command	rogō, imperō, persuādeō, moneō	Subjunctive (ut/nē)	ut/nē after ordering/asking
Indirect Question	rogō, quaerō, nesciō	Subjunctive (+ question word)	question word + subjunctive

Exam tip: After verbs of saying and thinking, Latin never uses a "that" clause with ut + subjunctive — that construction signals an indirect command or purpose clause. Indirect statement uses accusative + infinitive every time. The perfect infinitive (-isse ending) tells you the reported action happened before the main verb.