Pater dicit primam stationem prope flumen esse.

to be

Breakdown of Pater dicit primam stationem prope flumen esse.

• pater: the father
• prope: near
• dicere: to say

Questions & Answers about Pater dicit primam stationem prope flumen esse.

Why is esse used instead of est?

Because after a verb like dicit (says), Latin often uses an indirect statement.

Instead of saying:

• Pater dicit quod prima statio prope flumen est = Father says that the first stop is near the river

classical Latin much more often says:

• Pater dicit primam stationem prope flumen esse

In this construction:

• the verb of the reported statement goes into the infinitive: esse = to be
• the subject of that reported statement goes into the accusative: primam stationem

So esse is exactly what we expect here.

Why is stationem accusative, even though it seems to be the subject of esse?

This is one of the most important Latin patterns: the accusative-and-infinitive construction.

In English we say:

• Father says that the first station is near the river.

In Latin, the reported clause becomes:

• primam stationem ... esse

Here:

• stationem is grammatically the subject of esse
• but in indirect statement, that subject appears in the accusative case

So even though stationem is logically the thing that is near the river, Latin puts it in the accusative because it is inside reported speech after dicit.