Magistra dicit codicem in scrinio diligenter servandum esse.

The teacher says that the book must be kept carefully in the bookcase.

Breakdown of Magistra dicit codicem in scrinio diligenter servandum esse.

• esse: to be
• in: in
• magistra: the female teacher
• dicere: to say

Questions & Answers about Magistra dicit codicem in scrinio diligenter servandum esse.

Why is codicem in the accusative?

Because after dicit in this sentence, Latin uses an indirect statement construction, often called the accusative-and-infinitive.

So instead of saying something like The teacher says that the book must be kept, Latin says, more literally:

• Magistra dicit
• codicem ... servandum esse

In this pattern:

• the subject of the reported statement goes into the accusative
• the verb of the reported statement goes into the infinitive

So codicem is accusative because it is the logical subject of servandum esse inside the indirect statement.

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What exactly is servandum esse?

Servandum esse is a combination of:

• servandum = the gerundive of servare
• esse = to be

Together they form a passive periphrastic infinitive, which expresses necessity or obligation.

So servandum esse means:

• to have to be kept
• must be kept
• is to be kept

This is stronger than a plain passive infinitive such as servari (to be kept). The gerundive adds the idea of must or should.