Questions & Answers about Mercator dicit mercem bonam esse.
Why is mercator in the nominative?
Because mercator is the subject of dicit.
- mercator = the merchant
- dicit = says
So mercator is the person doing the saying, and subjects normally go in the nominative case.
Why is mercem not merx?
Because mercem is in the accusative case, while merx is the nominative form.
In this sentence, Latin uses a very common construction after verbs like dicit: the accusative + infinitive construction for indirect statement.
So instead of saying:
- the merchant says that the merchandise is good
Latin literally structures it more like:
- the merchant says the merchandise to be good
That is why merx changes to mercem.
What is esse doing in the sentence?
Esse is the infinitive form of to be.
After a verb like dicit, Latin often expresses reported speech or indirect statement with:
- an accusative subject
- plus an infinitive verb
Here: