Breakdown of Discipula aperte dicit se mendacio non credere et testem audire velle.
Questions & Answers about Discipula aperte dicit se mendacio non credere et testem audire velle.
Because discipula is the subject of the main verb dicit (the student says). In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally in the nominative case.
Aperte is an adverb (from the adjective apertus, -a, -um, meaning open/clear). It modifies dicit and tells you how she speaks: she says openly/clearly.
Because this is an indirect statement after dicit, and se is the reflexive pronoun used to refer back to the subject of the reporting verb (discipula).
So se = herself = the student (not some other female person).
It’s an indirect statement (often called accusative + infinitive). After verbs of saying/thinking/knowing, Latin commonly expresses that... with:
- an accusative subject: se