AcI Stage: the accusative that acts
About this app
A head verb opens the curtain of a second stage. There the accusative becomes the actor and the infinitive the predicate, while the that-clause forms in the surtitle. Ten real sentences by Seneca and Ovid: drag words on stage, switch the time relation, reflexive se and sibi, future infinitive without esse, NcI. With a test mode that gives reasons.
With explain mode: an AI tutor walks you through the app, points out what matters in the scene and answers your questions.
What the AcI is
The accusative with infinitive is a thought of its own inside a sentence. It hangs on a head verb that says, thinks, knows or feels something. Its subject stands in the accusative and its predicate is an infinitive. English usually turns it into a that-clause: the accusative becomes a nominative, the infinitive a finite verb. The tense of the infinitive gives the time relation to the head verb: the perfect means before, the present at the same time, the future after.
What the app shows
A glowing theatre has two stages. The sentence stands on the main stage and the curtain of the second stage is closed. The surtitle first shows what comes out if you read the accusative as an object. Once you tap the head verb, the curtain opens. On the marks of the second stage the accusative changes colour and becomes the subject, and the other words of the thought follow. An arc joins subject and infinitive, and with se and sibi a second arc leads back to the main stage.
What you can try
You drag words on stage, and wrong words come back with a reason drawn from the form. On the timeline you switch the infinitive and read in the surtitle how the translation changes. With the counter-test you replace se with eum and watch the reflexive link break. In Test mode you identify head verb, subject, predicate and time relation without help and choose the right translation. There are ten sentences from Seneca’s letters and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, including an NcI.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you recognise an AcI in Latin?
- Look for a verb of saying, thinking, knowing or feeling. If it comes with an infinitive and an accusative that performs the action of that infinitive, you have an AcI. Ask who does what the infinitive names. If the answer is an accusative, it is the subject of the thought.
- How do you translate the accusative with infinitive?
- Usually with a that-clause. The accusative becomes the subject in the nominative, the infinitive a finite verb. cognovi te vivere becomes: I have learned that you live. The tense follows the time relation to the head verb.
- What does se refer to in an AcI?
- The reflexive pronoun se in an AcI means the subject of the head verb. In qui intellegat se cotidie mori it means the person who understands. English uses he or she. With eum another person would be meant.
- What can I do in the AcI Stage app?
- You open the second stage for ten sentences by Seneca and Ovid, drag subject and infinitive onto their marks, switch the time relation and read the translation change. In Test mode every mistake comes with a reason.
Subject: Latin
More from Latin
- Hexameter Workshop: scanning Latin verse
- Participle Time Machine: time relation and sense
- Sentence X-ray: seeing through Latin sentences
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