Servus dicit se opus novum hodie incipere.

The servant says that he is beginning a new task today.

Breakdown of Servus dicit se opus novum hodie incipere.

• novus: new
• dicere: to say
• hodie: today
• servus: the servant
• se: himself
• opus: the task
• incipere: to begin

Questions & Answers about Servus dicit se opus novum hodie incipere.

Why is Servus in the nominative case here?

Because servus is the subject of the main verb dicit. In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is typically in the nominative:
Servus dicit = The slave/servant says.

What form is dicit, and what does it tell me?

dicit is 3rd person singular, present indicative active of dīcō, dīcere. It tells you:

• the subject is he/she/it (here, servus)
• the action is presented as present (he says / is saying)

Why does Latin use se ... incipere instead of a word like quod or a clause with that?

Latin commonly reports speech/thought using an indirect statement construction: accusative + infinitive (often abbreviated AcI).
So instead of he says that he begins..., Latin does:

• dicit (he says)
• se ... incipere (himself ... to begin)

Why is se used instead of eum or is?

se is the reflexive pronoun used when the person in the indirect statement is the same as the subject of the main verb.
So Servus dicit se... means the servant says about himself.

If it were someone else, Latin would use a non-reflexive form, e.g. eum (him):
Servus dicit eum opus novum incipere = the servant says that he (someone else) is beginning a new work.

What case is se, and why is it that case?

se is accusative here because in an AcI construction, the “subject” of the infinitive is put in the accusative.
So se functions as the accusative subject of incipere.

Why is incipere an infinitive and not a normal verb form like incipit?

Because it’s part of the indirect statement after dicit. In an AcI, Latin uses an infinitive where English uses a finite verb after that:

• English: he says that he begins
• Latin: dicit se ... incipere (he says himself ... to begin)

How does the tense of incipere work—does it mean “is beginning” or “will begin”?

A present infinitive like incipere usually shows action contemporaneous with the main verb dicit. So it most naturally means: he says that he is beginning / begins (now).

If Latin wanted to show the beginning happens before the saying, it would tend to use a perfect infinitive (e.g. coepisse). For after, it would use a future infinitive (e.g. coeptūrum esse).

What case is opus novum, and why doesn’t opus look different?

opus novum is the direct object of incipere, so it’s accusative.
But opus is a neuter noun (3rd declension), and in neuters the nominative and accusative singular are the same form: opus.
The adjective novum is also neuter accusative singular to match it.

Why is novum in the neuter form?

Because it agrees with opus, which is neuter singular. Adjectives in Latin must match the noun they modify in gender, number, and case:

• opus = neuter singular accusative (same form as nominative)
• novum = neuter singular accusative

What is hodie, and where can it go in the sentence?

hodie is an adverb meaning today. Adverbs are fairly flexible in Latin word order.
Servus dicit se opus novum hodie incipere and Servus dicit se hodie opus novum incipere are both natural; the choice often depends on emphasis and style.