Pater dicit formam huius conchae pulchriorem esse quam illius.

to be

Breakdown of Pater dicit formam huius conchae pulchriorem esse quam illius.

• pater: the father
• quam: than
• dicere: to say

Questions & Answers about Pater dicit formam huius conchae pulchriorem esse quam illius.

What is the main grammatical pattern in Pater dicit formam huius conchae pulchriorem esse quam illius?

The key pattern is indirect statement, also called the accusative-and-infinitive construction.

After a verb like dicit (says), Latin often does not use a clause with that the way English does. Instead, it uses:

• an accusative noun as the subject of the reported statement
• an infinitive as the verb of that statement

So here:

• Pater dicit = Father says
• formam ... esse = the shape ... to be

A direct version would be:

• Forma huius conchae pulchrior est quam illius.
• The shape of this shell is more beautiful than that of that one.

When that statement is reported after dicit, forma becomes formam, and est becomes esse.

Why is formam accusative instead of nominative?

Because formam is the subject of the infinitive esse inside an indirect statement.

In English, we say:

• Father says that the shape is more beautiful.

In Latin, that becomes:

• Father says the shape to be more beautiful.

So formam is accusative because in this construction, the subject of the reported statement goes into the .