Iudex dicit poenam nimiam esse.

to be

Breakdown of Iudex dicit poenam nimiam esse.

• dicere: to say
• iudex: the judge
• poena: the punishment

Questions & Answers about Iudex dicit poenam nimiam esse.

Why is there no Latin word for that in this sentence?

Because Latin usually handles this idea differently from English.

In English, we say:

• The judge says that the punishment is too severe.

In Classical Latin, after a verb of saying, thinking, knowing, hearing, and so on, the usual pattern is an indirect statement:

• accusative subject + infinitive

So instead of a separate word meaning that, Latin uses:

• poenam ... esse = that the punishment is ...

This construction is often called the accusative-and-infinitive or ACI.

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Why is poenam accusative instead of nominative?

Because poenam is the subject of the infinitive esse, not the subject of the main verb dicit.

In the main clause:

• Iudex = the judge
• dicit = says

So iudex is the subject of dicit.

Inside the indirect statement:

• poenam nimiam esse = that the punishment is excessive

In this kind of construction, the subject of the infinitive goes into the accusative. So:

• nominative: poena = the punishment
• accusative: poenam

That is why Latin uses poenam, not poena.

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