Pater dicit iustum iudicem rumorem falsum non sequi.

the father

Breakdown of Pater dicit iustum iudicem rumorem falsum non sequi.

• non: not
• dicere: to say
• sequi: to follow

Questions & Answers about Pater dicit iustum iudicem rumorem falsum non sequi.

Why is iustum iudicem in the accusative instead of the nominative?

Because after dicit Latin uses an indirect statement construction, often called the accusative-and-infinitive.

Instead of saying something like Father says that the just judge does not follow a false rumor, Latin says, more literally:

Father says the just judge not to follow a false rumor.

In this construction:

• the subject of the embedded statement goes into the accusative
• the verb of the embedded statement goes into the infinitive

So:

• iustum iudicem = the just judge (accusative subject of the infinitive)
• sequi = to follow (infinitive)

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Why is sequi an infinitive?

For the same reason: it is part of the indirect statement after dicit.

Latin commonly uses:

• a verb of saying/thinking/perceiving
• followed by an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive verb

So dicit ... sequi means says ... follows / is following / does follow, depending on context.

Even though Latin uses the infinitive, English usually translates it with that plus a normal finite verb:

• Pater dicit iustum iudicem rumorem falsum non sequi
• The father says that the just judge does not follow a false rumor