republic was in a very different state than he had hoped' Verbs of thinking and feeling Another reason to use the accusative and infinitive is to express someone's thoughts, such as the reasons for undertaking a certain course of action: (Caesar) 'he thought it would be very useful for him, if he could just go to the island' It can similarly be used with verbs such as 'I am sure', 'I remember', and 'I forget': (Cicero) 'I am sure that you are going to do it' (Cicero) 'I cannot forget that this country is mine' Occasionally verbs of emotion such as 'I am glad' or 'I am sorry' can take an accusative and infinitive; although the more usual construction is a -clause: (Terence) 'I'm glad you've arrived safely' Negative statements When the reported sentence is negative, it is common to use the verb rather than : (Nepos) 'Phocion denied that there was any danger / said there was no danger' Similarly is used in preference to : (Caesar) 'they do not think it is right to do violence to a guest' In the same way 'I forbid' is used in place of . Passive main verb When the verb of speaking is passive, it can be used either personally ('he is said to have done it') or impersonally ('it is said that he did it'). A present tense such as 'he is said' or 'he seems' is usually used personally: (Cicero) 'he is said to have opened a school at Corinth' When the verb of speaking is used personally, the subject of the reported statement, and hence any participles or nouns agreeing with it, are nominative: (Cicero) 'he is said to be planning to come' (Cicero) 'it seems that he's about to sail' (Cicero) 'he is said to have been a great mathematician' However, when the verb uses a compound tense such as the perfect passive , it is usually used impersonally, hence with an accusative and infinitive: (Cicero) 'it has been reported to us that Caesar is going to stay at Beneventum' Nominative and infinitive Sometimes an active verb of speaking can be used with a nominative and infinitive construction, but only in poetry. The word 'claim' is used in the same way in English: (Catullus) 'he claims to have been the fastest of boats' Other indirect statement constructions Although 'I am sure that' takes the accusative and infinitive,