An indirect statement is a statement that is being told, known, thought, or otherwise stated by a source other than the author/speaker talking to the reader/listener. It's easier to understand this when you look at examples of direct statements compared to indirect statements.
Direct Statement Indirect Statement
Trogdor is a dragon. Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Maximus killed the gladiator. Commodus knows that Maximus killed the gladiator.
You ran faster than the lion. I think that you ran faster than the lion.
Take the first example. In the direct statement, Trogdor is a dragon, and that's all there is to know about that. In the indirect statement, Trogdor's still a dragon - no change there at all - but you're hearing about it secondhand (indirectly), from Strong Bad, instead of being told directly.
In English, you frequently see the word "that" signaling an indirect statement: "Strong Bad saidthat Trogdor was a dragon." However, that's not always the case. In contemporary conversational English, you might say "Strong Bad said Trogdor was a dragon." Notice the word "that" is missing from this version, even though the sentence still means the same thing. It's still an indirect statement - we just removed "that" because conversational English sometimes works that way.
In Latin, the indirect statement has two main parts: an accusative noun and an infinitive verb. Let's translate our example statements into Latin. I have put the accusative noun in the indirect statements into underlined bold letters, and the infinitive verb in underlined italics.
Direct Statement Indirect Statement
Trogdor est draco. Fortis Malus dicit Trogdorem draconem esse.
Maximus gladiatorem necavit. Commodus scit Maximum gladiatorem necavisse.
tu celerior quam leo cucurristi. puto te celerior quam leo cucurrisse.
Notice that in the first direct statement example, Trogdor is the subject of the sentence, and the verb "is" is simply "est," the normal indicative version of the word. But in the indirect version, Trogdor is now in the accusative and "est" has become "esse," the infinitive version of "to be." In the other examples, "Maximus" and "tu" have become "Maximum" and "te" - their accusative versions - and "necavit" and "cucurristi" have become "necavisse" and "cucurrisse" - their infinitive versions.
For some people, understanding that indirect statements use an accusative noun and an infinitive verb is enough, and they can move on without asking further questions. But for me (and probably many of you), the question is, "why is it like that?" It looks kind of weird. We have to change our understanding of the English to make the indirect statement make sense, but thankfully, this kind of grammar construction actually already exists in English - it's just an archaic, older way to say things that we don't use anymore.
One of the best and most famous examples of this is in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader (spoiler alert) tells Luke that he is his father. Luke says, "No! That's not true! That's impossible," to which Vader replies, "Search your feelings. You know it to be true." PAUSE RIGHT THERE. "You know it to be true" - couldn't you also say "You know that it is true?" Yes! That's an indirect statement, but it's phrased in an older way that we don't use often in conversation anymore. But it's useful in learning Latin indirect statements because it helps us understand how the accusative noun-infinitive verb pair work.
"You know it to be true."
In this sentence, "it" is the thing being known - it's the direct object of the verb "know" - so in Latin, we'd put it in the accusative. "To be" is the infinitive version of the verb "be," just like the infinitives we see in Latin indirect statements.
So one thing we can do with the Latin and English indirect statements is parse them through what I like to call "Darth Vader English" to help with translation. Let's do this with our examples.
Normal English: Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Darth Vader English: Strong Bad says Trogdor to be a dragon.
Latin: Fortis Malus dicit Trogdorem draconem esse.
Normal English: Commodus knows that Maximus killed the gladiator.
Darth Vader English: Commodus knows Maximus to have killed the gladiator.
Latin: Commodus scit Maximum gladiatorem necavisse.
Normal English: I think that you ran faster than the lion.
Darth Vader English: I think you to have run faster than the lion.
Latin: puto te celerior quam leo cucurrisse.
You don't NEED to use Darth Vader English to make sense of indirect statements, but for some students, it's helpful. Hopefully this helps you make the connection as to how the accusative and infinitive combination works grammatically in Latin. It also hopefully helps you see when it's appropriate to use a present infinitive versus a perfect infinitive in the Latin. For a more formal rule regarding that: The infinitive's tense is based on when it takes place relative to the main verb of the sentence. If the indirect statement's action is happening at the same time as the main verb, it's the present infinitive; before the main verb, it's the perfect infinitive; will happen after the main verb, it's the future infinitive. Examples:
Present Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Trogdor is being a dragon at the same time that Strong Bad is saying he is.
Perfect Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor was a dragon.
Trogdor was a dragon before Strong Bad ever said he was.
Future Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor will be a dragon.
Trogdor is not yet a dragon at the moment that Strong Bad is speaking, but he will be.
Direct Statement Indirect Statement
Trogdor is a dragon. Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Maximus killed the gladiator. Commodus knows that Maximus killed the gladiator.
You ran faster than the lion. I think that you ran faster than the lion.
Take the first example. In the direct statement, Trogdor is a dragon, and that's all there is to know about that. In the indirect statement, Trogdor's still a dragon - no change there at all - but you're hearing about it secondhand (indirectly), from Strong Bad, instead of being told directly.
In English, you frequently see the word "that" signaling an indirect statement: "Strong Bad saidthat Trogdor was a dragon." However, that's not always the case. In contemporary conversational English, you might say "Strong Bad said Trogdor was a dragon." Notice the word "that" is missing from this version, even though the sentence still means the same thing. It's still an indirect statement - we just removed "that" because conversational English sometimes works that way.
In Latin, the indirect statement has two main parts: an accusative noun and an infinitive verb. Let's translate our example statements into Latin. I have put the accusative noun in the indirect statements into underlined bold letters, and the infinitive verb in underlined italics.
Direct Statement Indirect Statement
Trogdor est draco. Fortis Malus dicit Trogdorem draconem esse.
Maximus gladiatorem necavit. Commodus scit Maximum gladiatorem necavisse.
tu celerior quam leo cucurristi. puto te celerior quam leo cucurrisse.
Notice that in the first direct statement example, Trogdor is the subject of the sentence, and the verb "is" is simply "est," the normal indicative version of the word. But in the indirect version, Trogdor is now in the accusative and "est" has become "esse," the infinitive version of "to be." In the other examples, "Maximus" and "tu" have become "Maximum" and "te" - their accusative versions - and "necavit" and "cucurristi" have become "necavisse" and "cucurrisse" - their infinitive versions.
For some people, understanding that indirect statements use an accusative noun and an infinitive verb is enough, and they can move on without asking further questions. But for me (and probably many of you), the question is, "why is it like that?" It looks kind of weird. We have to change our understanding of the English to make the indirect statement make sense, but thankfully, this kind of grammar construction actually already exists in English - it's just an archaic, older way to say things that we don't use anymore.
One of the best and most famous examples of this is in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader (spoiler alert) tells Luke that he is his father. Luke says, "No! That's not true! That's impossible," to which Vader replies, "Search your feelings. You know it to be true." PAUSE RIGHT THERE. "You know it to be true" - couldn't you also say "You know that it is true?" Yes! That's an indirect statement, but it's phrased in an older way that we don't use often in conversation anymore. But it's useful in learning Latin indirect statements because it helps us understand how the accusative noun-infinitive verb pair work.
"You know it to be true."
In this sentence, "it" is the thing being known - it's the direct object of the verb "know" - so in Latin, we'd put it in the accusative. "To be" is the infinitive version of the verb "be," just like the infinitives we see in Latin indirect statements.
So one thing we can do with the Latin and English indirect statements is parse them through what I like to call "Darth Vader English" to help with translation. Let's do this with our examples.
Normal English: Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Darth Vader English: Strong Bad says Trogdor to be a dragon.
Latin: Fortis Malus dicit Trogdorem draconem esse.
Normal English: Commodus knows that Maximus killed the gladiator.
Darth Vader English: Commodus knows Maximus to have killed the gladiator.
Latin: Commodus scit Maximum gladiatorem necavisse.
Normal English: I think that you ran faster than the lion.
Darth Vader English: I think you to have run faster than the lion.
Latin: puto te celerior quam leo cucurrisse.
You don't NEED to use Darth Vader English to make sense of indirect statements, but for some students, it's helpful. Hopefully this helps you make the connection as to how the accusative and infinitive combination works grammatically in Latin. It also hopefully helps you see when it's appropriate to use a present infinitive versus a perfect infinitive in the Latin. For a more formal rule regarding that: The infinitive's tense is based on when it takes place relative to the main verb of the sentence. If the indirect statement's action is happening at the same time as the main verb, it's the present infinitive; before the main verb, it's the perfect infinitive; will happen after the main verb, it's the future infinitive. Examples:
Present Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor is a dragon.
Trogdor is being a dragon at the same time that Strong Bad is saying he is.
Perfect Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor was a dragon.
Trogdor was a dragon before Strong Bad ever said he was.
Future Infinitive
Strong Bad says that Trogdor will be a dragon.
Trogdor is not yet a dragon at the moment that Strong Bad is speaking, but he will be.
