Mater dicit pactum bonum inter vicinas servandum esse.

Mother says that a good agreement between neighbors must be kept.

Breakdown of Mater dicit pactum bonum inter vicinas servandum esse.

• esse: to be
• mater: the mother
• bonus: good
• dicere: to say

Questions & Answers about Mater dicit pactum bonum inter vicinas servandum esse.

Why is there no Latin word for that after dicit?

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and similar verbs, Latin often does not use a separate word for that. Instead, it uses the accusative-and-infinitive construction, also called indirect statement.

So in:

Mater dicit pactum bonum inter vicinas servandum esse

the part

pactum bonum inter vicinas servandum esse

means something like that a good agreement among the neighbors must be kept.

Instead of that + finite verb, Latin uses:

• a subject in the accusative
• plus an infinitive

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word for that.

Why is pactum in the accusative, not the nominative?

Because it is the subject of the infinitive inside an indirect statement.

In English, we say:

• Mother says that the agreement must be kept.

In Latin, after dicit, the clause becomes an infinitive construction, and the subject of that infinitive goes into the accusative:

• pactum ... servandum esse

So pactum is not the direct object of dicit in the ordinary sense. It is the accusative subject of servandum esse.

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• dicit puerum venire = he says that the boy is coming