Indirect Statements

Latin Learning Latin
1

I’m having all kinds of trouble understanding this concept and how to form them.

My latin teacher described it as reporting something rather than saying it.

puto hunc ludum esse optimum

I like to split it into two parts, the verb, then the rest of the sentence


puto - I think

hunc ludum esse optimum - lit. This game to be very good [best]

After the verb, you usually can add that to make it work for our purposes


I think THAT –

Of course, literally ludum esse optiumum makes little sense

esse- is as an indirect statement

I think that this game is very good.

another example

Videmus davum in agris laborare
We see Davus in the fields to work

we see THAT davus is working in the fields.

Scio vos esse molestissimos
I know you to be very annoying

I know that you are very annoying

I get really confused on these, and I’m not sure why, I get caught up on understanding the tense of the infinitive,as to how to translate it.

If I had a perfect active infinitive, how would I translate it, especially with different verb tenses


Davus cogitavit Syrum cenam parare potuisse

Davus cogitat Syrum cenam parare potuisse.

I just dont understand =[

2

That is unnecessarily complicated. Unless I miss something “We see Davus work in the fields” would mirror the Latin syntax exactly.

The infinite expresses relative time, i.e.,
the present infinitive expresses contemporarity
the perfect infinitive expresses preceding time
the futurue infinitive expresses following time
relative to the main clause.

So, we would have:

Davus cogitat Syrum cenam parare posse. : Davus thinks Syrus to be able to make dinner. : “Syrus is able to make dinner”, Davus thinks. : Davus thinks that Syrus is able to make dinner.

Davus cogitavit Syrum cenam parare posse. : Davus thought Syrus to be able to make dinner. : “Syrus is able to make dinner”, Davus though. : Davus thought that Syrus was able to make dinner.

Davus cogitat Syrum cenam parare potuisse. : Davus thinks Syrus to have been able to make dinner. : “Syrus was/has been able to make dinner”, Davus thinks. : Davus thinks that Syrus was/has been able to make dinner.

Davus cogitavit Syrum cenam parare potuisse. : Davus thought Syrus to have been able to make dinner. : “Syrus was/has been able to make dinner”, Davus though. : Davus thought that Syrus had been able to make dinner.

Hope that clears it up, at least somewhat. :wink:

As an exercise, translate the following:

Puto me recte facere.
Putavi me recte facere.
Puto me recte fecisse.
Putavi me recte fecisse.
Puto me recte facturum esse.
Putavi me recte facturum esse.