Breakdown of Discipula aperte dicit se mendacio non credere et testem audire velle.
et
and
non
not
discipula
the female student
dicere
to say
Questions & Answers about Discipula aperte dicit se mendacio non credere et testem audire velle.
Why is discipula in the nominative, not discipulam?
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.
What part of speech is aperte, and what does it modify?
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.
Why does Latin use se here instead of eam?
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).
How does dicit se mendacio non credere work grammatically?
It’s an indirect statement (often called accusative + infinitive). After verbs of saying/thinking/knowing, Latin commonly expresses that... with:
- an accusative subject: se