Mater dicit laborem in agro nimis gravem esse.

to be

Breakdown of Mater dicit laborem in agro nimis gravem esse.

• in: in
• mater: the mother
• ager: the field

Questions & Answers about Mater dicit laborem in agro nimis gravem esse.

Why is laborem in the accusative?

Because after verbs like dicit when Latin reports a statement indirectly, it often uses the accusative + infinitive construction.

So instead of saying something like Mother says that the work is very heavy, Latin says, more literally:

Mother says the work to be very heavy.

In that pattern:

• laborem = the subject of the indirect statement, so it goes into the accusative
• esse = the infinitive verb, to be

That is why it is laborem, not labor.

What is the grammar of laborem ... gravem esse?

This is the classic accusative-and-infinitive construction, often abbreviated as ACI.

The parts are:

• laborem = accusative subject of the indirect statement
• gravem = predicate adjective describing laborem
• esse = infinitive verb

So laborem ... gravem esse means that the work is heavy.

With nimis included, it becomes:

that the work is too heavy / excessively heavy

And with in agro:

that the work in the field is too heavy

Why is it gravem and not gravis?