INFINITIVES, THEIR USES, AND INDIRECT STATEMENT

Infinitives

An infinitive, simply put, is a verbal form that is composed of to +

___________. There are four conjugations in Latin, which usually fall into patterns,
as follows:
1st PP 2nd PP 3rd PP 4th
PP
Pres. Act. Indic. Pres. Act. Inf. Perf. Act. Indic. Supine
“I __________” “to ________” “I __________”
“____ed”

1st: -o, -āre, -āvi, -atum

amo, amāre, amāvi, amatum
onero, onerāre, onerāvi, oneratum

2nd: -eo, -ēre, -ui, -(i)tum

moneo, monēre, monui, monitum
teneo, tenerē, tenui, tentum

3rd: -o, -ere, -i, -tum

dico, dicere, dixi, dictum
duco, ducere, duxi, ductum

4th: -io, -ire, -(iv)i, -itum

eo, īre ivi itum
venio, venīre, vēni ventum

In Latin, infinitives, like Participles, have Tense and Voice, but they do not
decline like participles. There are six infinitive forms in Latin, which are as follows:

Active Passive

Pres. -āre, -ēre, -ere, -īre -āri, -ēri, -i, -īri

“to ________” “to be _____ed”

Perf. 3rd PP Stem + isse 4th PP + esse

“to have _____ed” “to have been ___ed”

Fut. Fut. Act. Part. + esse 4th PP + iri

 The infinitive may be used in any of the following ways:

1) complementary infinitive (such as with possum or debeo)

The students want to learn Latin.
Discipuli desiderant discere linguam Latinam.

2) a noun (usually only as the subject of a sentence)

To teach you all is a joy.
Docēre vos est gaudium.

3) in Indirect Statement
Laocoon said that the horse was a trick.
Laocoon dixit equum esse dolum.

Indirect Statement

The infinitive is used with the Accusative case in indirect statement, which does
not use quotation marks (or inquit). You can usually tell an indirect statement in
English, since it often has “that” (which is not found in the Latin). In Latin, you can
usually spot an indirect statement with the following types of verbs:

Speaking: dico, ait, nuntio, narro, scribo

Knowing: scio, nescio, intellego, disco
Thinking: cogito, credo, puto, spero
Feeling: audio, video, sentio

In indirect statements, you don’t translate the infinitive simply according to its
tense. Rather, how you translate the infinitive is relative to the original tense of the
main verb.
- if the main verb is perfect, and the infinitive is present then the infinitive
is translated as happening at the same time as the main verb.
o ex: Lacoon dixit equum esse dolum. “Lacoon said that the horse was a
trick.)
- if the main verb is perfect, and the infinitive is perfect, then the infinitive
is translated as happening before the main verb.
o ex: Lacoon dixit equum fuisse dolum. “Lacoon said that the horse had
been a trick.