Latin 1

GRAMMAR    Appendix     desktop
Nouns     Pronouns     Adjectives   Verbs     Adverbs   Conjunctions     Interjections     Prepositions       Types of sentences     Word order
Nouns   back to main grammar index nouns defined noun declensions summary of cases uses for nouns power point presentations nominative case genitive case the dative case and indirect objects accusative case ablative case vocative case
Nouns	A noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea.
Noun Declensions	Nouns in the Latin language are categorized based on the group of endings that they use. There are 5 types of nouns (called declensions) in all. The first 3 declensions are the most common, and you are expected to know these by heart.
First Declension Nouns	Most 1st declension nouns are feminine. e.g., puella, girl; femina, woman; via, road A small number are masculine. e.g., poeta, poet; agricola, farmer; nauta, sailor All 1st declension nouns use the same endings.
	First Declension Nouns   singular plural nominative case puella puellae genitive case puellae puellārum dative case puellae puellīs accusative case puellam puellās ablative case puellā puellīs vocative case puella puellae The cases that appear in this chart are introduced gradually during the first year of study. An explanation of their uses is available in this grammar appendix.
Second Declension Nouns	Most 2nd declension nouns are masculine. e.g., servus, slave; amicus, friend; faber, craftsman All 2nd declension masculine noun use the same endings (except for the nominative case).
	Second Declension Masculine Nouns   singular plural nominative case servus servī genitive case servī servōrum dative case servō servīs accusative case servum servōs ablative case servō servīs vocative case serve servī A few nouns like faber and puer do not have the -us ending in the nominative singular form. A significant number of 2nd declension nouns are neuter. (Neuter nouns first appear in Stage 13.) e.g., templum, temple; aedificium, building; donum, gift Second Declension Neuter Nouns   singular plural nominative case templum templa genitive case templī templōrum dative case templō templīs accusative case templum templa ablative case templō templīs vocative case templum templa Notice that neuter nouns differ from the masculine forms in only a few places. Notice also that the nominative and accusative case endings are the same (-um in the singular; -a in the plural).
Third Declension Nouns	3rd declension nouns can be masculine e.g., mercator, merchant; leo, lion feminine e.g., vox, voice; urbs, city or neuter e.g., nomen, name; mare, sea   Sometimes you can predict the gender: a merchant, for instance, is a male occupation. Other times, there seems to be no apparent reason for a particular gender. As in Spanish and French, learning the gender of a noun is a necessary part of learning vocabulary.   Masculine and feminine nouns in the 3rd declension have the same endings. Neuter nouns are different in only a few places (see the underlines below).
	Third Declension Masculine/Feminine Nouns   singular plural nominative case leo leonēs genitive case leonis leonum dative case leonī leonibus accusative case leonem leonēs ablative case leone leonibus vocative case leo leonēs Third Declension Neuter Nouns   singular plural nominative case nomen nomina genitive case nominis nominum dative case nominī nominibus accusative case nomen nomina ablative case nomine nominibus vocative case nomen nomina Neuter nouns have the same spelling in the nominative and accusative cases. Compare nomen (nominative/singular) and nomen (accusative/singular). Compare the plural forms (nomina in both instances). This is true for 2nd declension nouns also. Compare templum (nominative/singular) and templum (accusative/singular). Compare the plural forms (templa in both instances).
Case Uses for NOUNS and Pronouns	Latin has six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative. The case of a noun or pronoun determines how it may function in the sentence.
Nominative Case	The nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence. captivus clamabat.    The prisoner was shouting.   The nominative case is also used for an object complement. An object compliment is a noun, pronoun or adjective that follows a linking verb and renames or refers to the subject of the sentence. captivus erat Quintus.    The prisoner was Quintus. Quintus erat fortis.    Quintus was brave.
Genitive Case	The genitive case is used to show possession. in villa Barbilli erant multi servi.    In the house of Barbillus there were many slaves.   A noun is the genitive case can be used to describe or give information about  another noun. in multitudine Aegyptiorum erat senes.    In the crowd of Egyptians there was an old man. gladiator, vir maximae virtutis, hostes facile superavit. The gladiator, a man of the greatest courage, easily overpowered the enemy.   The genitive case can also be used to indicate quantity. fer mihi plus vini.    Bring me more wine. English has a similar construction: You can never get too much of a good thing. As you can see from the examples above, the preposition of is very often used when translating a noun in the genitive case.
Dative Case	The dative case is used to indicate the indirect object in a sentence. nos militibus cibum dedimus.    We gave food to the soldiers. Salvius uxori stolam emit.    Salvius bought a dress for his wife.   There are some verbs that take objects in the dative case rather than the accusative case. ego vestro candidato non faveo. I do not support your candidate. mihi placet. It is pleasing to me. (I like it.)   The dative case can also be used to show possession. This most often occurs in sentences with some form of the linking verb esse. nomen est mihi Marcus.    My name is Marcus.
Accusative Case	The accusative case is used for the direct object of a verb. nos pontem transiimus.    We crossed the bridge. mater mea me amat.    My mother loves me.   The accusative case is used for the objects of some prepositions. tu per agros ambulabas. You were walking through fields. vos voluistis redire ad villam. You all wanted to return to the house.    The accusative case can also be used to indicate extent or duration of time. tres horas laborabam.    I was working for three hours.
Ablative Case	The ablative case is used for the objects of some prepositions. ille ad forum cum amicis cucurrit. He ran to the forum with his friends. tabernarius furem e caupona expellit . The shopkeeper threw the thief out of the inn.    The ablative case can also be used to indicate time when or within which. quarto die revenit.    He returned on the fourth day.
Vocative Case	The vocative case is used for direct address. With two exceptions (both given in the examples below), it is spelled the same as the nominative. Marce, quid agis tu? Marcus, what are you doing? Salvi, quem verberas tu? Salvius, whom are you beating up?
Pronouns   top pronoun defined types of pronouns and their uses: personal, reflexive, relative, demonstrative
Pronoun	A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. In Latin, pronouns usually agree in gender, number and case with the nouns they replace.
Personal Pronouns	A personal pronoun is used to refer to a noun. The cases that appear in these charts are introduced gradually during the first year of study. An explanation of their use is available in this grammar appendix.
1st person	First person personal pronouns   singular plural nominative ego nōs genitive meī nostrum, nostrī dative mihi nōbīs accusative mē nōs ablative mē nōbīs There are no gender distinctions made.
Examples	canis mē amat.  (mē=accusative/singular, direct object) The dog loves me. magister nōbīs donum dedit.  (nōbīs=dative/plural, indirect object) The teacher gave a present to us. The teacher gave us a present. pater fabulam dē mē narrat.  (mē=ablative/singular, object of the preposition) Father is telling a story about me. magnus numerus nostrum in villa sedebat.  (nostrum=genitive/plural) A large number of us was sitting at home.
2nd person	Second person personal pronouns   singular plural nominative tū vōs genitive tuī vestrum, vestrī dative tibi vōbīs accusative tē vōs ablative tē vōbīs There are no gender distinctions made.
Examples	tū leonem vidisti.  (tū=nominative/singular, subject) You saw a lion. parvus puer vōbīs pecuniam tradidit.  (vōbīs=dative/plural, indirect object) The small boy handed some money to you (plural). The small boy hand you some money. fur ē vōbīs cucurrit.  (vōbīs=ablative/plural, object of a preposition) The thief ran from you. ego tē in via audivi.  (tē=accusative/singular, direct object) I heard you in the street.
3rd person	Third person personal pronouns singular masculine feminine neuter nominative is ea id genitive eius eius eius dative eī eī eī accusative eum eam id ablative eō eā eō
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative eī eae ea genitive eōrum eārum eōrum dative eīs eīs eīs accusative eōs eās ea ablative eīs eīs eīs Gender distinctions appear in some forms of the third person.
Examples	A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. In Latin, pronouns usually agree in gender, number and case with the nouns they replace.
Reflexive Pronouns	A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence. For this reason, the reflexive pronoun never appears as the subject and does not have a nominative case form. The singular and plural forms are the same. Masculine, feminine and neuter forms are also the same.
	Reflexive pronouns singular/plural masculine/feminine/neuter     nominative ~     genitive suī     dative sibi     accusative sē     ablative sē
Relative Pronouns	A relative pronoun is found as part of a relative clause. A relative clause behavies like an adjective, i.e., it describes or gives more information about the noun to which the relative pronoun refers. The technical word for the noun to which the relative pronoun refers is its antecedent, a Latin word that means "they come before." In fact, the antecedent of a relative pronoun is typically found immediately to the left of the pronoun. The gender and number of a relative pronoun are determined by the gender and number of the antecedent, i.e., the relative pronoun agrees in gender and number. The case of the relative pronoun is determined by its function in the relative clause.
	Relative pronouns singular masculine feminine neuter nominative quī quae quod genitive cuius cuius cuius dative cuī cuī cuī accusative quem quam quod ablative quō quā quō
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative quī quae quae genitive quōrum quārum quōrum dative quibus quibus quibus accusative quōs quās quae ablative quibus quibus quibus
Demonstrative Pronouns	A demonstrative pronoun is used to indicate more emphatically which noun is being referred to. The most commonly used demonstratives are equivalent to the English this, these, that, those. A demonstrative pronoun agrees in gender, number and case with the noun it replaces.
	The demonstrative pronoun hic (this, these) singular masculine feminine neuter nominative hic haec hoc genitive huius huius huius dative huic huic huic accusative hunc hanc hoc ablative hōc hāc hōc
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative hī hae haec genitive hōrum hārum hōrum dative hīs hīs hīs accusative hōs hās haec ablative hīs hīs hīs
	The demonstrative pronoun ille (that, those) singular masculine feminine neuter nominative ille illa illud genitive illīus illīus illīus dative illī illī illī accusative illum illam illud ablative illō illā illō
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative illī illae illa genitive illōrum illārum illōrum dative illīs illīs illīs accusative illōs illās illa ablative illīs illīs illīs
Adjectives   top adjectives defined types of adjectives summary of 1st/2nd and 3rd declensions adjective-noun agreement degrees of adjectives and making comparisons
Adjectives	An adjective is a word that describes a noun or a pronoun.
Types of Adjectives	Adjectives in the Latin language are categorized based on the endings that they use. There are 2 basic types of adjectives: those that use 1st and 2nd declension endings and those that use 3rd declension endings. There are also a small number of irregular adjectives.
1st and 2nd declension adjectives	The adjective bonus, bona, bonum (good) is a good example of an adjective that uses 1st and 2nd declension endings. You can see that the case endings are the same as those found on 1st and 2nd declension nouns.
	First and Second Declension Adjectives singular masculine feminine neuter nominative bonus bona bonum genitive bonī bonae bonī dative bonō bonae bonō accusative bonum bonam bonum ablative bonō bonā bonō
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative bonī bonae bona genitive bonōrum bonārum bonōrum dative bonīs bonīs bonīs accusative bonōs bonās bona ablative bonīs bonīs bonīs
3rd declension adjectives	The adjective fortis, forte (strong) is a good example of an adjective that uses 3rd declension endings. The masculine and feminine forms are the same (recall that this is also true for 3rd declension nouns). You can see that the case endings for 3rd declension adjectives are nearly the same as those found on 3rd declension nouns. The few differences have been underlined.
	First and Second Declension Adjectives singular masculine feminine neuter nominative fortis fortis forte genitive fortis fortis fortis dative fortī fortī fortī accusative fortem fortem forte ablative fortī fortī fortī
	plural masculine feminine neuter nominative fortēs fortēs fortia genitive fortium fortium fortium dative fortibus fortibus fortibus accusative fortēs fortēs fortia ablative fortibus fortibus fortibus
Agreement of adjectives and nouns	An adjective must agree with the noun is describes in gender, number and case. ego villam pulchram video. I see a beautiful house. villam is a feminine noun. It is singular and in the accusative case (direct object). The case ending of the adjective pulchram (-am) is in agreement with villam. In this example, an adjective that uses 1st/2nd declension endings is describing a 1st declension noun. For this reason, the endings are identical. ego urbem pulchram video. I see a beautiful city. urbem is a feminine noun. It is singular and in the accusative case (direct object). The case ending of the adjective pulchram (-am) is in agreement with urbem. In this example, an adjective that uses 1st/2nd declension endings is describing a 3rd declension noun. For this reason, the endings are not the same. When an adjective that uses 3rd declension endings is describing a 1st or 2nd declension noun, the endings will not be the same. ego virum fortem video. I see a brave man. virum is a 2nd declension noun. fortem is a 3rd declension adjective. The case endning of the adjective (-em) does agree with the noun, however. Both endings (-um, -em) indicated masculine, accusative, singular.
Degrees of Adjectives	An adjective may have one of three degrees: positive, comparative, superlative.   The positive degree is used when no comparison is being made. ego urbem pulchram video. I see a beautiful city.   The comparative degree is used when two things are being compared. Roma est pulchrior quam Alexandria. Rome is more beautiful than Alexandria.   The superlative degree is used when more than two things are being compared. Roma est pulcherrima omnium. Rome is the most beautiful of all.
Making comparisons	The comparative degree of an adjective is formed by adding -ior to the adjective stem. Marcus est laetus.  Marcus is happy. Quartus est laetior quam Marcus. Quartus is happier than Marcus.   The superlative degree of an adjective is formed by adding -issim to the stem. Roma est pulcherrima omnium. Rome is the most beautiful of all.Roma est pulchrior quam Alexandria. Rome is more beautiful than Alexandria.
Forming the superlative degree
Verbs   top the principle parts of a verb verb conjugations (verb families) how to identify and translate verb tenses basics of the imperative mood (commands) power point lessons present tense imperfect tense perfect tense pluperfect tense
The principle parts of a verb	Most regular verbs have 4 principle parts. These are considered the building block of the verb. portō, portāre, portāvī, portātus (the 4th principle part is usually not introduced until Latin 2)
first principle part	portō is the first principle part. This verb is in the present tense and may be translated several ways depending on the context: I carry, I am carrying, I do carry The present stem is in blue. The present stem is also used to form the future and imperfect tenses.
second principle part	portāre is the second principle part. This is the infinitive, recognized by the -re ending. The most common way to translate the infinitive is "to carry". The second principle part (the infinitive) is used to classify verbs into different conjugations (verb families).
third principle part	portāvī is the third principle part. This verb is in the perfect tense and may be translated several ways depending on the context: I carried, I have carried, I did carry The perfect stem is in blue. The perfect stem is also used to form the pluperfect and future perfect tenses.
fourth principle part	portātus is the fourth principle part. This is known as the perfect passive participle and is typically translated as "having been carried" or just "carried". A participle is a verbal adjective. In fact, it would be more precise to write the perfect passive participle in this way: portātus, portāta, portātum As you can see, the perfect passive participle is a 1st/2nd declension adjective. The stem is in blue.
Verb conjugations	There are four regular verb conjugations (verb families). Each is distinguished by the vowel found in the infinitive just before the -re ending. First conjugation verbs have an infinitive ending in -āre. e.g., portāre, clamāre, festināre Second conjugation verbs have an infinitive ending in -ēre. e.g., docēre, manēre, habēre Third conjugation verbs have an infinitive ending in -ere. e.g., ducere, capere, facere Fourth conjugation verbs have an infinitive ending in -īre. e.g., audīre, punīre, sentīre
The imperative mood	Most regular verbs have 4 principle parts. These are considered the building block of the verb.
Adverbs   top adverbs defined formation of adverbs degrees of adverbs
Adverbs defined	An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
Formation of regular adverbs	Regular adverbs are formed in two ways. An -ē  is added to the stem of 1st/2nd declension adjectives. e.g., laetus=happy, laetē=happily The ending -iter (sometimes shortened) is added to the stem of 3rd declension adjectives. e.g., fortis=brave, fortiter=bravely; sapiens, sapientis=wise, sapienter=wisely
Irregular adverbs	Irregular adverbs are not formed following this parttern. They must be memorized. e.g., saepe, bene, semper, numquam
Degrees of adverbs	Like adjectives, adverbs can express three degrees: positive, comparative, superlative.
Conjunctions   top conjunctions defined types of conjunctions and examples
Conjunctions defined	A conjunction is a word that joins two or more words, phrases, clauses. There are two basic types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.
Types of conjunctions and examples
Interjections   top interjections defined examples in sentences
Interjections defined	An interjections is a word that shows special emotion.
Examples	An
Prepositions   top prepositional phrases defined prepositions and their cases examples of prepositional phrases
Prepositional phrases defined	A prepositional phrase is made up of at least two words: a preposition and its object (which may be either a noun or a pronoun)   A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between its object and some other word in the sentence.   The object of a preposition (either a noun or a pronoun) will be in the accusative or ablative case.
Prepositions and their cases	Some prepositions always take the accusative case   Some prepositions always take the ablative case   A few prepositions may take either case--the preposition in is the most common example of this.
	Prepositions taking the accusative case a/ab by, from cum with de down, down from; concerning, about e/ex out of, from in into; at pro in front of; in favor of; on behalf of sine without sub under, at the foot of Prepositions taking the ablative case ad to, toward apud among, at the house of in in, on per through, along prope near
Examples of prepositional phrases	Salvius e villa contendit. (e + ablative) Salvius hurried out of the house.   in tablino est armarium elegantissimum. (in + ablative) In the study is a very elegant cupboard.   Quintus ad villam advenit. (ad + accusative) Quintus arrived at the house.   ego prope urbem habitare volebam. (prope + accusative) I wanted to live near the city.   Salvius Quintum in tablinum duxit. (in + accusative) Salvius led Quintus into the study.   Salvius Quintum in tablino vidit. (in + ablative) Salvius saw Quintus in the study.
Sentence Types   top simple sentences complex sentences
Word Order   top conventional word order flexibility in word order