# Latin for beginners (1911)/Part III/Lesson LXXII

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LESSON LXXII
THE IRREGULAR VERB EŌ • INDIRECT STATEMENTS
412. Learn the principal parts and the conjugation of eō, go (§ 499).
a. Notice that ī-, the root of eō, is changed to e- before a vowel, excepting in iēns, the nominative of the present participle. In the perfect system -v- is regularly dropped.
413. Learn the meaning and principal parts of the following compounds of eō with prepositions:
414. Indirect Statements in English. Direct statements are those which the speaker or writer makes himself or which are quoted in his exact language. Indirect statements are those reported in a different form of words from that used by the speaker or writer. Compare the following direct and indirect statements:
| Indirect statements after a verb in the present tense | He says that the Gauls are brave He says that the Gauls were brave He says that the Gauls will be brave |
| Indirect statements after a verb in a past tense | He said that the Gauls were brave He said that the Gauls had been brave He said that the Gauls would be brave |
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. Rule. 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. ​417. Tenses of the Infinitive. When the sentences in § 4
form of statement, sunt became esse, erant became fuisse, and erunt became futūrōs esse.
418. Rule. Infinitive Tenses in Indirect Statements. A present indicative of a direct statement becomes present infinitive of the indirect, a past indicative becomes perfect infinitive, and a future indicative becomes future infinitive.
Note. When translating into Latin an English indirect statement, first decide what tense of the indicative would have been used in the direct form. That will show you what tense of the infinitive to use in the indirect.
419. Rule. Verbs followed by Indirect Statements. The accusative-with-infinitive construction in indirect statements is found after verbs of saying, telling, knowing, thinking, and perceiving.
420. Verbs regularly followed by indirect statements are:
Learn such of these verbs as are new to you.
​421. IDIOMS
422.
EXERCISES
I.
* It, īmus, īte, īre.
* Euntī, iisse or īsse, ībunt, eunt.
* Eundi, ut eant, ībitis, īs.
* Nē īrent, ī, ībant, ierat.
* Caesar per explorātores cognōvit Gallōs flūmen trānsīsse.
* Rōmānī audīvērunt Helvētiōs initā aestāte dē fīnibus suīs exitūrōs esse.
* Legātī respondērunt nēminem ante Caesarem illam īnsulam adīsse.
* Prīncipēs Gallōrum dīcunt sē nūllum cōnsilium contrā Caesaris imperium initūrōs esse.
* Arbitrāmur potentiam rēgīnae esse maiōrem quam cīvium.
* Rōmānī negant sē lībertātem Gallīs ēreptūrōs esse.
* Hīs rēbus cognitīs sēnsimus lēgātōs nōn vēnisse ad pācem petendam.
* Helvētii sciunt Rōmānōs priōrēs victōriās memoriā tenēre.
* Sociī cum intellegerent multōs vulnerārī, statuērunt in suōs fīnīs redīre.
* Aliquis nūntiāvit Mārcum cōnsulem creātum esse.
II.
* The boy is slow. He says that the boy is, was, (and) will be slow.
* The horse is, has been, (and) will be strong. He judged that the horse was, had been, (and) would be strong.
* We think that the army will go forth from the camp at the beginning of summer.
* The next day we learned through scouts that the enemy’s town was ten miles off.
* The king replied that the ornaments belonged to the queen.
TUBA
* ↑ These parenthetical renderings are not inserted as translations, but merely to show the literal meaning of the Latin.
* ↑ to be off, to be distant, abesse.
* ↑ Latin, were of (§ 409).
References