Puer respondet se stilum sub mensa reliquisse.

the boy

Breakdown of Puer respondet se stilum sub mensa reliquisse.

• mensa: the table
• se: himself
• sub: under

Questions & Answers about Puer respondet se stilum sub mensa reliquisse.

What is the basic structure of Puer respondet se stilum sub mensa reliquisse?

The sentence has two main parts:

• Puer respondet = The boy answers / replies
• se stilum sub mensa reliquisse = what he answers, in the form of an indirect statement

So the pattern is:

• main verb of saying/reporting
  • accusative subject
    • infinitive

That is a very common Latin construction. Instead of using that + a finite verb, Latin often uses an accusative-and-infinitive construction.

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Why is se used here?

Se is the accusative form of the reflexive pronoun, meaning himself / herself / itself / themselves, depending on context.

Here it refers back to the subject of the main clause:

• Puer respondet = The boy replies
• se ... reliquisse = that he had left ...

So se means himself, but in natural English we usually translate it as just he in indirect statement:

• The boy replies that he left / had left the pen under the table.

Latin uses se because the subject of the reported statement is the same person as the subject of respondet.

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