Avus saepe dicit animos hominum non semper eosdem manere, sed vitam sine spe tristem esse.

Grandfather often says that people’s spirits do not always remain the same, but that life without hope is sad.

Breakdown of Avus saepe dicit animos hominum non semper eosdem manere, sed vitam sine spe tristem esse.

• esse: to be
• non: not
• sed: but
• saepe: often

Questions & Answers about Avus saepe dicit animos hominum non semper eosdem manere, sed vitam sine spe tristem esse.

Why do animos hominum non semper eosdem manere and vitam sine spe tristem esse both depend on dicit?

Because after a verb of saying like dicit (he says), Latin very often uses an indirect statement construction.

That construction is:

• a subject in the accusative
• plus an infinitive

So here we get:

• animos ... manere = that people’s minds/spirits do not always remain the same
• vitam ... tristem esse = that life without hope is sad

Both of these are things the grandfather says, so both are governed by dicit.

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Why are animos and vitam in the accusative?

In an indirect statement, the subject of the statement is put in the accusative.

So:

• animi manent = the minds remain
  but after dicit it becomes
  dicit animos manere = he says that the minds remain

And:

• vita tristis est = life is sad
  but after dicit it becomes
  dicit vitam tristem esse = he says that life is sad

So animos and vitam are accusative because they are the subjects of two indirect statements.