Noun Declensions 1st: mostly feminine, with a few masculine. –ancilla, poēta, aqua 2 nd : masculine with a few feminine(-us, or -er) or neuter (- um) –dominus,

Noun Declensions• 1st: mostly feminine, with a few masculine.

– ancilla, poēta, aqua

• 2nd: masculine with a few feminine(-us, or -er) or neuter (-um)– dominus, servus, templum, ātrium

• 3rd: all genders; usually with one stem in the nominative (with neuters, nominative and accusative) and another for the other cases– leō, leōnis; mīles, mīlitis; custōs, custōdis

• 4th: masculine (-us) and neuter (-ū)– gradus, portus, cornu

• 5th: feminine, except for diēs, which can be masculine or feminine

Dictionary Entries• The dictionary will give you the nominative singul

ar, genitive singular and gender of a noun. To save space, the genitive singular can be abbreviated:– ancilla, ancillae f. OR ancilla, -ae f.– dominus, dominī m. OR dominus, dominī m.– mīles, mīlitis m. OR mīles, -itis m.

• The genitive singular lets you know how the stem changes in a 3rd declension noun and also tells you if a noun in –us is 2nd or 4th declension– servus, -ī m. v. portus, -ūs m.

• The vocabulary at the back of Cambridge Book 1 gives you the accusative singular instead because the genitive is not introduced until Book 2.

General Tips• The accusative singular in masculine and feminine nouns always ends in –m

– dominum, ancillam, mercātōrem

• The accusative plural of masculine and feminine nouns always ends in -s

– dominōs, ancillās, montēs

• The genitive plural always ends in -um– dominōrum, ancillārum, montium

• Except in the 3rd declension, the ablative singular always ends with the declension’s `signature vowel’ in its long form– dominō, ancillā, gradū, diē

• The dative and ablative plural are always the same and end in –īs or –bus – cum ancillīs, cum dominīs, sine mīlitibus, omnibus crēdite

• The neuter nominative and accusative are always the same – forum est pulchrum, forum spectāmus

• The neuter nominative/accusative plural always ends in –a– computātra nōn sunt animālia (so a word ending in –a isn’t always a si

ngular, 1st declension noun)

DERIVATION

LATIN ITALIAN SPANISH FRENCH ENGLISH

oculus occhio ojo œilperīculum

pericolo peligro péril

vēritās,vēritātem

verità verdad vérité

nātiōnātiōnem

nazione nación nation

actor, actōrem

attore actor acteur

DERIVATION

LATIN ITALIAN SPANISH FRENCH ENGLISH

oculus occhio ojo œil eye

perīculum

pericolo peligro péril peril

vēritās,vēritātem

verità verdad vérité truth

nātiōnātiōnem

nazione nación nation nation

actor, actōrem

attore actor acteur actor

1st declension: ancilla, -ae (f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative ancilla ancillae

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative ancillam ancillās

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive ancillae ancillārum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative ancillae ancillīs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative ancillae ancillīs

Ablative ancillā ancillīs

1st DECLENSION IRREGULARITIES

• The Dat/Abl plural of fīlia (daughter) and dea (goddess) are fīliābus and deābus to avoid confusions with fīliīs (< fīlius, son) and deīs (< deus, god)

• With names of cities and small islands, the Locative endings –ae (sing.) and –īs (plr) are used instead of prepositions to give the meaning ìn’ or àt’:– Rōmae, in Rome (but in urbe Rōmā, in the city

of Rome)– Athēnīs, in Athens (but in urbe Athēnīs

2nd declension: dominus, -ī (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative dominus dominī

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative dominum dominōs

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive dominī dominōrum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative dominō dominīs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative dominō dominīs

Ablative dominō dominīs

2nd declension: templum, -ī (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative templum templa

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative templum templa

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive templī templōrum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative templō templīs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative templō templīs

Ablative templō templīs

2nd DECLENSION - IRREGULARITIES

• With names of cities and small islands, the LOCATIVE endings –ī (sing.) and –īs (plr) are used instead of prepositions to give the meaning ìn’ or àt’:

– Marcus Londiniī et Pompeiīs habitābat

• Nouns in –us change to –e when the person is being addressed but the –us is simply dropped if ì’ precedes it (VOCATIVE case)

Ad urbem, Marce et Iūlī, venīte!

• A preceding ì’ may be dropped before the –ī of the GENITIVE and LOCATIVE Pater Iulī Londinī habitat Julius’s father lives in London.

• The address (VOCATIVE) form of deus is the same as the nominative, while dī is often used instead of deī in the NOM plural, deum instead of deōrum in the GEN plural and dīs for deīs in the DAT and ABL plural.

– Dī nōbīs favent

• vir (man) uses vir- as the stem for all cases after the NOM/VOC singular

• A few nouns in-er (eg. puer, magister, liber) similarly use that form for the NOM/VOC singular, then use this as the base for all the other endings, often dropping the è’ also– Puer est in viā. Puerum videō (è’ retained)– Magister est in viā. Magistrum videō (è’ dropped)

3rd declension: leō, leōnis (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative leō leōnēs

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative leōnem leōnēs

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive leōnis leōnum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative leōnī leōnibus

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative leōnī leōnibus

Ablative leōne leōnibus

3rd declension: nōmen, nōminis (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative nōmen nōmina

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative nōmen nōmina

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive nōminis nōminum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative nōminī nōminibus

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative nōminī nōminibus

Ablative nōmine nōminibus

3rd declension: SeXy nouns

• 3rd declension nouns ending in –s or–x with the same number of syllables in nominative and genitive singular (e.g cīvis, cīvis, citizen; ignis, ignis, fire) or with a one-syllable nominative singular and a stem for the genitive ending in two consonants (urbs, urbis or nox, noctis) have the genitive plural in –ium: e,g, civium, urbium

• These nouns also have an alternative accusative plural ending in –īs (e.g. cīvīs videō or cīvēs videō, I see the citizens). This ending, rarely used in beginners’ books, is quite common in Latin literature.

• If the nominative and genitive singular are exactly the same, the ablative singular can end in –ī as well as in –e (e.g. cum cīvī or cum cīve (with a citizen), sine ignī or sine igne (without fire))

3rd declension: civis, civis (m., f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative cīvis cīvēs

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative cīvem cīvēs or cīvīs

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive cīvis cīvium

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative cīvī cīvibusAblative


Singular Plural




Dative cīvī cīvibusAblative cīve or cīvī cīvibus

3rd declension: neuter nouns with –ia plural

• Neuter nouns ending in –e, -al or –ar (e.g. mare, maris, sea; animal, animālis, animal) also have genitive plural nominative in –ium

• They have nominative and accusative plural in –ia

• Their ablative singular ALWAYS ends in -ī

3rd declension: mare, maris (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative mare maria

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative mare maria

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive maris marium

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative marī maribusAblative


Singular Plural




Dative marī maribusAblative marī maribus

3rd DECLENSION IRREGULARITIES

• With names of cities and small islands, the Locative endings –e or -ī (sing.) and –ibus (plr) are used instead of prepositions to give the meaning ìn’ or àt’:– Carthāgine habitābāmus– Novemdracōnibus habitābam

• bōs, bovis m/f, ox/cow: GEN plr. bovum or boum,

DAT/ABL plr. bovibus, bubus or bobus

• vīs f, force: only has ACCUS vim and ABL vī in singular; regular plr vīrēs, vīrium must be carefully distinguished from 2nd declension vir, virī (man).

4th declension: gradus, gradūs (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative gradus gradūs

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative gradum gradūs

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive gradūs graduum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative graduī gradibus

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative graduī gradibus

Ablative gradū gradibus

4th/2nd declension: domus, domūs (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative domus domūsAccusative domum domōs/domūsGenitive domūs domuum/domōru

mDative domuī/dom

ōdomibus

Ablative domō/domū domibus

NOTES ON DOMUS

• The table of endings gives the commoner form first. Note that the genitive plural ending in –ōrum is found only in poetry and late prose writers

• The table in Latin via Ovid (p.127) gives domī as an alternative for the genitive singular. However, this only occurs in the 2nd. Century B.C. dramatist Plautus, so the slide in this presentation (like many textbooks) omits it.

• domī is, however, used as locative singular, following the standard 2nd. declension pattern (there is no locative case in the 4th. declension). domus is one of three common nouns (ie. not place names) which have a locative, the others being humus (locative: humī), ground, and rūs (locative: rūrī), countryside.

4th declension: cornū, cornūs (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative cornū cornua

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative cornū cornua

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Genitive cornūs cornuum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative cornu(ī) cornibus

Ablative


Singular Plural




Dative cornuī? cornū? cornibus

Ablative cornū cornibus

5th declension: rēs, reī (f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative rēs rēs

Accusative

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative rem rēs

Genitive

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative rem rēs

Genitive reī rērum

Dative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative rem rēs


Dative reī rēbus

Ablative


Singular Plural


Accusative rem rēs


Dative reī rēbus

Ablative rē rēbus

Documents

Noun Declensions 1st: mostly feminine, with a few masculine. –ancilla, poēta, aqua 2 nd : masculine with a few feminine(-us, or -er) or neuter (- um) –dominus,