Magistra dicit hanc sententiam alio modo explicandam esse.

to be

Breakdown of Magistra dicit hanc sententiam alio modo explicandam esse.

• magistra: the female teacher
• dicere: to say
• hic: this

Questions & Answers about Magistra dicit hanc sententiam alio modo explicandam esse.

Why is hanc sententiam in the accusative?

Because this sentence uses an indirect statement after dicit.

In Latin, after verbs like dicit (says), the content of what is said is often expressed with:

• an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive

So hanc sententiam is not the direct object of dicit in the ordinary English sense. It is the subject of the infinitive phrase explicandam esse.

Grammatically:

• hanc = accusative feminine singular
• sententiam = accusative feminine singular

They match because hanc modifies sententiam.

What construction is dicit ... esse?

It is the Latin accusative-and-infinitive construction, often called an indirect statement.

So instead of saying something like:

• The teacher says that this sentence must be explained...

Latin says more literally:

• The teacher says this sentence to be needing to be explained...

That sounds awkward in English, but it is normal Latin structure.

Here:

• dicit = the main verb, says
• hanc sententiam = the accusative subject of the reported statement
• explicandam esse = the infinitive part of the reported statement