Medicus dicit puerum morbo gravi non laborare.

The doctor says that the boy is not suffering from a serious illness.

Breakdown of Medicus dicit puerum morbo gravi non laborare.

• puer: the boy
• non: not
• dicere: to say
• medicus: the doctor

Questions & Answers about Medicus dicit puerum morbo gravi non laborare.

Why is puerum in the accusative instead of the nominative?

Because after dicit (says), Latin often uses an indirect statement construction.

In English, we say:

• The doctor says that the boy is not suffering...

In Latin, instead of using that plus a normal finite verb, Latin commonly uses:

• accusative noun + infinitive

So:

• puerum = the boy as the subject of the infinitive
• laborare = to be suffering / to suffer

That is why puerum is accusative, not nominative.

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Why is laborare an infinitive instead of a normal verb like laborat?

For the same reason: this is an indirect statement.

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving, and similar verbs, Latin often uses:

• subject in the accusative
• verb in the infinitive

So instead of something like:

• Medicus dicit quod puer non laborat
  Latin much more naturally says:
• Medicus dicit puerum non laborare

So laborare is not the main verb of the sentence. The main verb is dicit.
The infinitive laborare is part of what the doctor says.

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