On Rivers
Latin Grammar: Review of the Indirect Statement
Hunc errorem ipse dixit et suggessit impiis Manichaeis, qui totam machinam visibilium a Deo malo esse conditam contendunt. Huius draconis maxillas Dominus infrenabit, quando ablata sibi potestate suggerendi falsa, ostendet, se esse huius fluvii conditorem; unde in eadem auctoritate sequitur: Scient omnes habitatores Aegypti, quoniam ego Dominus.
Indirect statements in Latin are easily identified by the subject accusative and verb in the infinitive. One can tell the time indicated in the indirect statement by looking at the tense of the main verb in relationship to the infinitive. If the infinitive is in the present tense, its action is occurring at the same time as that of the main verb; a perfect infinitive indicates time before that of the main verb, and a future infinitive shows time after that of the main verb.
For example, "Ostendit, se esse huius fluvii conditorem..." would be translated, "He points out that he is the founder of this river," because ostendit is in the present tense, as is esse.