tē esse arbitror puerum probum, Pl. Most. 949, I think you are a good boy. nēminem vīvum capī patiuntur, 8, 35, 5, they do not allow anybody to be made prisoner alive ([2198]).
[Verbs of Perceiving, Knowing, Thinking, and Saying.]
[2175.] The accusative with the infinitive is used with active verbs or verbal expressions of perceiving, knowing, thinking, and saying: as,
patēre tua cōnsilia nōn sentīs? C. 1, 1, you don’t feel that your plots are all out? huic fīlium scīs esse? T. Hau. 181, you are aware that this man has a son? Pompēiōs cōnsēdisse terrae mōtū audīvimus, Sen. NQ. 6, 1, 1, we have heard that Pompei has been swallowed up by an earthquake, 63 A.D., 17 years before its utter destruction. saepe audīvī inter ōs atque offam multa intervenīre posse, Cato in Gell. 13, 18 ([17]), 1, I have often heard ‘’twixt cup and lip there’s many a slip.’ dīcit montem ab hostibus tenērī, 1, 22, 2, he says the hill is held by the enemy. dīxtin dūdum illam dīxisse, sē expectāre fīlium? T. Hec. 451, didn’t you say a while ago the woman said that she was looking for her son?
Some of the commonest of these verbs are: (a.) audiō, animadvertō, sentiō, videō. (b.) accipiō, intellegō, sciō, nesciō. (c.) arbitror, cēnseō, cōgitō, crēdō, exīstimō, meminī, opīnor, putō, recordor, suspicor. (d.) adfirmō, āiō, dēmōnstrō, dīcō, disputō, doceō, fateor, nārrō, negō, nūntiō, ostendō, prōmittō, scrībō, sīgnificō, spērō, trādō. (e.) rūmor est, nōn mē fugit, certus sum, nōn nescius sum, &c., &c. Also occasionally verbs used in the sense of think or say, as mittō, send word, and substantives or pronouns expressing a thought or judgement.
[2176.] The accusative with the infinitive is sometimes introduced by a neuter pronoun, or by sīc or ita: as, illud negābis, tē dē rē iūdicātā iūdicāvisse? V. 2, 81, will you deny this, that you sate in judgement on a matter that was already decided? sīc accēpimus, nūllum bellum fuisse, V. 5, 5, we have been told this, that there was not any war. Sometimes by an ablative with dē: as, dē hōc Verrī dīcitur, habēre eum perbona toreumata, V. 4, 38, about this man report is made to Verres that he had some choice bits of embossed work.
[2177.] (1.) Passive verbs of this class are commonly used personally in the third person of the present system, with the subject, and the predicate noun, if used, in the nominative: as,
hī centum pāgōs habēre dīcuntur, 4, 1, 4, these people are said to have a hundred cantons. nūlla iam exīstimantur esse iūdicia, V. a. pr. 43, there are thought to be no courts of law any longer. pōns prope effectus nūntiābātur, Caes. C. 1, 62, 3, the bridge was reported to be well-nigh done.
[2178.] Such personal passives are much more common in the writers of Cicero’s day than in old Latin. Particularly so arguō, audiō, cōgnōscō, comperiō, concēdō, dēfendō, dēmōnstrō, dīcō, doceō, excūsō, exīstimō, inveniō, iūdicō, līberō, memorō, negō, nūntiō, ostendō, postulō, putō, reperiō, trādō.