Log inSign up

Soror dicit matrem eos cras ad forum venire velle.

Soror dicit matrem eos cras ad forum venire velle.
The sister says that mother wants them to come to the forum tomorrow.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Latin grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Latin now

Questions & Answers about Soror dicit matrem eos cras ad forum venire velle.

Why does this sentence use dicit + infinitives instead of something like dicit quod...?

Latin commonly reports what someone says/thinks using an indirect statement (also called accusative + infinitive):

  • Soror dicit = The sister says
  • then the “content” of what she says is expressed with infinitives, not a finite verb with that.
    So instead of “says that …”, Latin often does “says X to do / to be doing / to have done …”.
Why is matrem in the accusative (matrem, not mater)?

In an indirect statement, the “subject” of the reported clause is typically put in the accusative.
Here, matrem is the subject of velle (to want):

  • matrem ... velle = that (their) mother wants …
    Even though English uses “mother” as a normal subject, Latin marks it accusative because it’s inside the indirect statement after dicit.
Why is eos accusative too—what is eos doing in the sentence?

eos is the subject of the infinitive venire (to come), and subjects of infinitives are also put in the accusative when they’re stated explicitly.
So the structure is:

  • matrem (acc.) eos (acc.) venire (inf.) velle (inf.)
    = that mother wants *them to come …*
There are two accusatives (matrem and eos). How can I tell who wants what?

You tell by which infinitive each accusative “belongs to”:

  • matrem ... velle → matrem is the wanter (subject of velle)
  • eos venire → eos are the comers (subject of venire)

A helpful way to “unpack” it is:

  • Soror dicit: Mater vult: Ei (illi) cras ad forum veniunt.
    (Direct-style English: The sister says: Mother wants: They will come to the forum tomorrow.)
Why are there two infinitives: venire velle?

Because velle (to want) usually takes a complementary infinitive explaining what is wanted.
Here, what the mother wants is expressed by another infinitive phrase:

  • velle
    • venire = to want to come / to want (someone) to come
      So velle is the “main” infinitive of the reported content, and venire depends on it.
Does venire mean “to come” or “to be coming”? How does Latin show the time?

By default, a present infinitive like venire expresses action at the same time as the verb of saying/thinking (dicit), in a relative-time sense.
But here cras (tomorrow) forces the real-world time to be future, so you understand it as “to come tomorrow.”

If Latin wanted to be more explicit about futurity in an indirect statement, it could use a future infinitive, but with cras, the meaning is already clear.

What exactly does cras modify—dicit, velle, or venire?

Semantically it goes with the coming: cras ad forum venire = to come to the forum tomorrow.
Latin word order is flexible, so cras appearing before ad forum doesn’t change that; it still naturally modifies the action of venire.

Why is it ad forum and not in forum or in foro?
  • ad forum = to(ward) the forum (motion toward a place)
  • in foro = in the forum (location)
  • in forum can occur with motion in some contexts, but the common, straightforward choice for “to the forum” is ad + accusative.

Here the verb is venire (motion), so ad forum fits.

Is forum nominative or accusative here? How can I tell?

It’s accusative singular after ad. For 2nd-declension neuters like forum, nominative and accusative are identical in form (forum), so the clue is the preposition: ad always takes the accusative.

Why is soror nominative, and could it be elsewhere in the sentence?

soror is the subject of the main verb dicit, so it’s nominative.
Latin could move soror around for emphasis (e.g., Dicit soror...), but the case marking still shows it’s the subject.

How would I negate this sentence in Latin?

It depends on what you want to negate:

  • “The sister doesn’t say ...”
    Soror non dicit matrem eos cras ad forum venire velle.

  • “... that mother doesn’t want ...”
    Soror dicit matrem non eos cras ad forum venire velle.
    (placing non near what it negates is common)

  • “... that mother wants them not to come ...”
    Soror dicit matrem eos cras ad forum non venire velle.

How would this look as direct speech instead of indirect statement?

One natural direct version would be:

  • Soror dicit: Mater eos cras ad forum venire vult.
    = The sister says: Mother wants them to come to the forum tomorrow.

Notice the key changes:

  • matrem → mater (back to nominative as a normal subject)
  • velle → vult (finite verb instead of infinitive)
  • the rest stays essentially the same, with eos as the object of vult (in direct speech, “wants them to come”).