Iudex dicit ream innocentem esse.

The judge states that the accused woman is innocent.

Breakdown of Iudex dicit ream innocentem esse.

• esse: to be
• iudex: the judge
• innocens: innocent
• rea: the accused woman

Questions & Answers about Iudex dicit ream innocentem esse.

Why is ream in the accusative case?

Because it is the subject of the infinitive esse inside an indirect statement.

After verbs like dicit (says), Latin often does not use a that-clause the way English does. Instead, it uses:

accusative + infinitive

So in Iudex dicit ream innocentem esse, the main verb is dicit, and the reported statement is ream innocentem esse.

Within that reported statement, ream is the person being described as innocent, so it becomes the accusative subject of esse.

Why is innocentem also accusative?

Because it agrees with ream.

In ream innocentem esse, innocentem is a predicate adjective describing ream, so it must match it in:

• case: accusative
• number: singular
• gender: feminine

So:

• ream = accusative singular feminine
• innocentem = accusative singular feminine

Latin is saying, literally, the judge says the defendant to be innocent, where innocentem describes ream.

How does dicit ... esse work?