Page:Latin for beginners (1911).djvu/202

178 INDIRECT STATEMENTS

We see that in English

a. The indirect statement forms a clause introduced by the conjunction that.

b. The verb is finite (cf. § 173) and its subject is in the nominative.

c. The tenses of the verbs originally used are changed after the past tense, He said.

415. Indirect Statements in Latin. In Latin the direct and indirect statements above would be as follows:

Comparing these Latin indirect statements with the English in the preceding section, we observe three marked differences:

a. There is no conjunction corresponding to that.

b. The verb is in the infinitive and its subject is in the accusative.

c. The tenses of the infinitive are not changed after a past tense of the principal verb.

416. Indirect Statements. When a direct statement becomes indirect, the principal verb is changed to the infinitive and its subject nominative becomes subject accusative of the infinitive.