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Latin declension
Latin noun declension features seven cases:
- nominative (subject; also used with copulative verbs)
- genitive (possessive - of which)
- dative (indirect object - to or for which)
- accusative (direct object)
- ablative (expresses the means or tools by which one accomplishes something)
- vocative (used for addressing another person in direct speech, usually identical to nominative)
- locative (archaic; used to show location in cities, towns, and small islands, and the nouns rus, domus, and humus; forms for the locative are the same as the genitive in the 1st and 2nd declension singular and the same as the ablative in the 3rd declension singular; towns with plural form (Athens) take their locative from the ablative plural in all declensions.)
Note: Neuter nouns of all declension classes share two properties:
- The forms for nominative and accusative singular are identical.
- The forms for nominative and accusative plural are identical, and they always end in -a.
Since this behavior tends to obscure the situation, neuter paradigm words were generally avoided (though this isn't always possible).
Neuter pronouns do not always follow the second of these rules, but they do follow the first.
Noun declensions
There are five declensions of nouns in Latin
1st. a declension
Nouns of this class usually end in -a and are usually of feminine grammatical gender.
Example, words ending in -a (paradigma puella - girl)
| Latin Noun Case: First Declension |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | a | - | puella | the girl |
| Genitive | ae | of, | puellae | of the girl |
| Dative | ae | -to, -for | puellae | to the girl |
| Accusative | am | - | puellam | the girl |
| Ablative | a | -with, -by | puella | with the girl |
| Vocative | a | - | puella! | girl! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | ae | - | puellae | the girls |
| Genitive | arum | of, | puellarum | of the girls |
| Dative | is | -to, -for | puellis | to the girls |
| Accusative | as | - | puellas | the girls |
| Ablative | is | -with, -by | puellis | with the girls |
| Vocative | ae | - | puellae! | girls! |
2nd. o declension
Nouns of this class end in -us, um, or -r and are usually of masculine or neuter grammatical gender.
Example I, words ending in -us (paradigma hortus - garden)
| Latin Noun Case: Second Declension Masculine |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | us | - | hortus | the garden |
| Genitive | i | -of | horti | of the garden |
| Dative | o | -to, -for | horto | to the garden |
| Accusative | um | - | hortum | the garden |
| Ablative | o | -with, -by | horto | with the garden |
| Vocative | e | - | horte! | garden! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | i | - | horti | the gardens |
| Genitive | orum | -of | hortorum | of the gardens |
| Dative | is | -to, -for | hortis | to the gardens |
| Accusative | os | - | hortos | the gardens |
| Ablative | is | -with, -by | hortis | with the gardens |
| Vocative | i | - | horti | gardens! |
Example II, words ending in -um(paradigma verbum - word)
| Latin Noun Case: Second Declension Neuter |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | um | - | verbum | the word |
| Genitive | i | -of | verbi | of the word |
| Dative | o | -to, -for | verbo | to the word |
| Accusative | um | - | verbum | the word |
| Ablative | o | -with, -by | verbo | with the word |
| Vocative | e | - | verbe | word! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | a | - | verba | the words |
| Genitive | orum | -of | verborum | of the words |
| Dative | is | -to, -for | verbis | to the words |
| Accusative | a | - | verba | the words |
| Ablative | is | -with, -by | verbis | with the words |
| Vocative | i | - | verbi | words! |
Example III, words ending in -r (paradigma ager -field)
| Latin Noun Case: Second Declension Masculine |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | - | - | ager | the field |
| Genitive | i | -of | agri | of the field |
| Dative | o | -to, -for | agro | to the field |
| Accusative | um | - | agrum | the field |
| Ablative | o | -with, -by | agro | with the field |
| Vocative | e | - | agre | field! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | i | - | agri | the fields |
| Genitive | orum | -of | agrorum | of the fields |
| Dative | is | -to, -for | agris | to the fields |
| Accusative | os | - | agros | the fields |
| Ablative | is | -with, -by | agris | with the fields |
| Vocative | i | - | agri | fields! |
Note that the e in the nominative singular form is just an
insertion to ease pronunciation and is omitted in all other forms. There
are however some words, where the e belongs to the stem proper
and can't be omitted. These are: gener (son-in-law),
socer (father-in-law), puer (boy),
vesper (evening) and liberi (children
- only occurs in plural forms).
3rd. mixed declension
Nouns of this class are can be masculine, feminine of neuter in grammatical gender. This class comprises nouns whose stem ends in a consonant.
Example I, words with no particular ending for nominative singular (paradigma masculine rex - king)
Example II, words with no particular ending for nominative singular (paradigma feminine vox - voice)
Example III, words with no particular ending for nominative singular (paradigma neuter nomen - name)
| Latin Noun Case: Third Declension |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | - | - | nomen | name |
| Genitive | is | -of | nominis | of the name |
| Dative | i | -to, -for | nomini | to the name |
| Accusative | - | - | nomen | the name |
| Ablative | e | -with, -by | nomine | with the name |
| Vocative | - | - | nomen | name! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | a | - | nomina | names |
| Genitive | um | -of | nominum | of the names |
| Dative | ibus | -to, -for | nominibus | to the names |
| [Accusative case|[Accusative]] | a | - | nomina | the names |
| Ablative | ibus | -with, -by | nominibus | with the names |
| Vocative | a | - | nomina | names! |
4th. u declension
Nouns of this class end in -us or -u. The former ones usually are of masculine gender,the latter ones are always neuter.
Example I, nouns ending in -us(paradigma lacus -lake)
| Latin Noun Case: Fourth Declension Masculine |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | us | - | lacus | the lake |
| Genitive | us | -of | lacus | of the lake |
| Dative | ui | -to, -for | lacui | to the lake |
| Accusative | um | - | lacum | the lake |
| Ablative | u | -with, -by | lacu | with the lake |
| Vocative | us | - | lacus! | lake! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | us | - | lacus | of the lakes |
| Genitive | uum | -of | lacuum | of the lakes |
| Dative | ibus | -to, -for | lacuibus | to the lakes |
| Accusative | us | - | lacus | the lakes |
| Ablative | ibus | -with, -by | lacuibus | with the lakes |
| Vocative | us | - | lacus | lakes! |
Example II, neuter nouns ending in -u (paradigma cornu - horn)
| Latin Noun Case: Fourth Declension Neuter |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | u | - | cornu | the horn |
| Genitive | us | -of | cornus | of the horn |
| Dative | u | -to, -for | cornu | to the horn |
| Accusative | u | - | cornu | the horn |
| Ablative | u | -with, -by | cornu | with the horn |
| Vocative | u | - | cornu! | horn! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | ua | - | cornua | of the horns |
| Genitive | uum | -of | cornuum | of the horns |
| Dative | ibus | -to, -for | cornibus | to the horns |
| Accusative | ua | - | cornua | the horns |
| Ablative | ibus | -with, -by | cornibus | with the horns |
| Vocative | ua | - | cornua | horns! |
5th. e declension
Nouns of this class end in -es. Nearly all of them are of feminine grammatical gender, with the notable exception of dies, which is masculine.
Example I (paradigma res - thing)
| Latin Noun Case: Fifth Declension Feminine |
| Singular
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation |
| Nominative | es | - | res | the thing |
| Genitive | ei | -of | reei | of the thing |
| Dative | ei | -to, -for | rei | to the thing |
| Accusative | em | - | rem | the thing |
| Ablative | e | -with, -by | re | with the thing |
| Vocative | es | - | res! | thing! |
| Plural
|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Sample | Translation
|
| Nominative | es | - | res | of the things |
| Genitive | erum | -of | rerum | of the things |
| Dative | ebus | -to, -for | rebus | to the things |
| Accusative | es | - | res | the things |
| Ablative | ebus | -with, -by | rebus | with the things |
| Vocative | es | - | res | things! |
Example II (paradigma dies -
day )
This declension class is the last to develop in Latin; the only nouns that have the full declension are dies and fides. From res, we get res publicae, or republic: thing of the people.
Adjective declensions
Adjectives are divided into two declension classes. The first (called the "first and second declension") combines the a and o declensions of nouns, with the a endings added when the adjective is feminine, and the o forms for masculines. Neuter adjectives of this class follow the pattern for o class neuter nouns.
The other class for adjectives (called the "third declension") is similar to the third class for nouns, with the important difference that nearly all these adjectives form the ablative singular in -i, not in -e. The nominative singular of these adjectives is also often marked for gender in various ways.
A small class of adjectives follows the "pronominal declension", described below.
Pronoun declensions
Personal Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns
Relative and demonstrative pronouns are generally declined like first and second declension adjectives, with the following differences:
- the nominatives are often irregular
- the dative singular ends in -i rather than -ae or -o
- the genitive singular ends in -ius rather than -ae or -i.
These differences identify the "pronominal" declension, and a few adjectives also follow this pattern.
See also
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