Candidata prudens esse dicitur, et multi cives ei favent.

to be

Breakdown of Candidata prudens esse dicitur, et multi cives ei favent.

• et: and
• multus: many
• dicere: to say

Questions & Answers about Candidata prudens esse dicitur, et multi cives ei favent.

Why is candidata in the nominative case?

Because candidata is the subject of dicitur.

In Latin, dicitur means is said. So the sentence is structured as:

• Candidata = the candidate
• dicitur = is said
• prudens esse = to be prudent

So literally: The candidate is said to be prudent.

A very helpful comparison is:

• Active: Aliqui candidātam prudentem esse dīcunt = Some people say that the candidate is prudent
• Passive: Candidāta prudēns esse dīcitur = The candidate is said to be prudent

In the active version, candidātam is accusative.
In the passive version, that same idea becomes the subject, so it changes to nominative: candidāta.

Why is prudens nominative too, instead of accusative?

Because prudens agrees with candidata.

It is describing the candidate, and in this passive construction the candidate is nominative, so the adjective is nominative as well:

• candidata = nominative singular
• prudens = nominative singular

In the active version, you would get:

• candidātam prudentem esse dīcunt

There, both words are accusative because they belong to the accusative-and-infinitive construction after dīcunt.

So: