Grammar charts

LATIN I CONTENTS

NOUNS — FIRST DECLENSION

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Noun Man:
The first words you learned in English and in Latin were nouns. Nouns are names of persons, places, or things.

Approximately 30 of the nouns in the Latin One course belong to the first declension. They have the letters-ae in the genitive singular. Casa, casae (feminine, “house”); porta, portae (feminine “gate”); and puella, puellae (feminine “girl”) are some of my favorite first declension nouns.

Nearly all first declension nouns are feminine and have the same set of endings.

Case Latin English Use(s)
Singular Nominative puella girl subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive puellae girl’s possession; partitive
Dative puellae girl indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative puellam girl object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative puellā girl place where; place-from-which
Plural Nominative puellae girls subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive puellārum girls’ possession; partitive
Dative puellīs girls indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative puellās girls object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative puellīs girls place where; place-from-which

NOUNS — SECOND DECLENSION MASCULINE

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Noun Man:
Approximately 40 of the nouns in the Latin One course are second declension nouns. They have the letter -ī in the genitive singular. Amīcus, amīcī (masculine, “friend”) and populus, populī (masculine, “people”) are both second declension nouns.

Most second declension nouns are masculine, and almost always have the same set of endings.

Case Latin English Use(s)
Singular Nominative amīcus friend subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive amīcī friend’s possession; partitive
Dative amīcō friend indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative amīcum friend object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative amīcō friend place where; place-from-which
Plural Nominative amīcī friends subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive amīcōrum friends’ possession; partitive
Dative amīcīs friends indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative amīcōs friends object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative amīcīs friends place where; place-from-which
Noun Man:
Sometimes the ending -r or -er will appear in the nominative singular in words such as vir, virī (masculine, “man”), or puer, puerī (masculine, “boy”). Don’t let this tiny exception confuse you. All the other endings are the same.

NOUNS — SECOND DECLENSION NEUTER

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Noun Man:
The second declension, however, also contains some neuter nouns. These second declension neuter nouns always en in -um in the nominative singular. Words such as bellum, bellī (neuter, “war”), and verbum, verbī (neuter, “word”) come to mind.

The endings of neuter nouns of the second declension are similar to masculine nouns of the second declension, but one must remember their special nominative and accusative case forms.

Case Latin English Use(s)
Singular * Nominative verbum word subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive verbī word’s possession; partitive
Dative verbō word indirect object of verb; reference
* Accusative verbum word object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative verbō word place where; place-from-which
Plural * Nominative verba words subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive verbōrum words’ possession; partitive
Dative verbīs words indirect object of verb; reference
* Accusative verba words object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative verbīs words place where; place-from-which

NOUNS — THIRD DECLENSION MASCULINE & FEMININE

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Noun Man:
Approximately 50 of the nouns in the Latin One course belong to the third declension. They have the letters -is in the genitive singular. Words such as pater, patris (masculine, “father”), māter, mātris(feminine, “mother”), and nōmen, nōminis (neuter, “name”) come to mind.

The third declension is the most important noun group in the Latin language, and contains masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns.

Third declension masculine and feminine nouns have their own set of endings.

Case Latin English Use(s)
Singular Nominative pater father subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive patris father’s possession; partitive
Dative patrī father indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative patrem father object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative patre father place where; place-from-which
Plural Nominative patrēs fathers subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive patrum fathers’ possession; partitive
Dative patribus fathers indirect object of verb; reference
Accusative patrēs fathers object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative patribus fathers place where; place-from-which
Noun Man:
The nominative singular is a bit of a wild card. Just about any letter can appear in the nominative singular of a third declension noun.

NOUNS — THIRD DECLENSION NEUTER

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Noun Man:
The endings of neuter nouns of the third declension are similar to masculine and feminine nouns of the third declension, but one must remember their special nominative and accusative case forms.

Case Latin English Use(s)
Singular * Nominative nōmen name subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive nōminis name’s possession; partitive
Dative nōminī name indirect object of verb; reference
* Accusative nōmen name object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative nōmine name place where; place-from-which
Plural * Nominative nōmina names subject of verb; subj. complement
Genitive nōminum names’ possession; partitive
Dative nōminibus names indirect object of verb; reference
* Accusative nōmina fathers object of verb; place-to-which
Ablative nōminibus names place where; place-from-which

NOUNS — CASES

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Noun Man:
Although nouns are used in each of the five cases — nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, andablative — some cases are more important than others.

 

  • The nominative case is important because it is often used for the subject of a verb.
  • The accusative case is important because it is often used as the direct object of a verb.
  • The ablative case is important because it is often used as the object of a preposition.

 

If you know your nouns thoroughly, you are well on your way to mastering Latin One. Your next step is to be able to use nouns — naming words — with verbs — action words.

VERBS — PRESENT INDICATIVE TENSE

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Verb Man:
Over 100 verbs (action words) are featured in the Latin One course. Verbs are listed according to theirprincipal parts.

The second principal part is very important: it is the present infinitive. If you remove the -re from the second principal part, you obtain the present stem. This present stem is used to form the present indicative, the imperfect indicative, and the future indicative.

The present indicative is used to indicate an action which occurs in the present. The present indicative is formed by adding -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, and -nt to the present stem.

Person Latin English
Singular First amō “I love”
Second amās “you love”
Third amat “he/she/it loves”
Plural First amāmus “we love”
Second amātis “you[plural] love”
Third amant “they love”

VERBS — IMPERFECT INDICATIVE TENSE

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Verb Man:
The imperfect indicative is used to indicate a repeated or incomplete action in the past. The imperfect indicative is formed by adding -bam, -bās, -bat, -bāmus, -bātis, and -bant to the present stem.

Person Latin English
Singular First amābam “I was loving”
Second amābās “you were loving”
Third amābat “he/she/it was loving”
Plural First amābāmus “we were loving”
Second amābātis “you[plural] were loving”
Third amābant “they were loving”

VERBS — FUTURE INDICATIVE TENSE

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Verb Man:
The future indicative is used to indicate an action in the future. The future tense is often formed by adding-bō, -bis, -bit, -bimus, -bitis, and -bunt to the present stem.

Person Latin English
Singular First amābo “I will love”
Second amābis “you will love”
Third amābit “he/she/it will love”
Plural First amābimus “we will love”
Second amābitis “you[plural] will love”
Third amābunt “they will love”

ADJECTIVES — CASE AGREEMENT

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Adjective Man:
Nouns (which are often called naming words) and verbs (which are often called action words) are essential parts of the Latin One course, but you can’t get far without adjectives. Adjectives are often calleddescription words. Approximately 50 of the words in the Latin One course are adjectives.

Let’s consider a sample sentence without adjectives.

All:
Puer puellam iuvat.

Adjective Man:
Can anyone translate this sentence?

Student 1:
The boy helps the girl.

Adjective Man:
Very good. Now let’s add adjectives to the sentence.

Puer laetus puellam pulchram iuvat.

Now the sentence is more interesting. Let’s repeat it.

All:
Puer laetus puellam pulchram iuvat.

Adjective Man:
Laetus is describing…

Student 1:
Puer

Adjective Man
Pulchram is describing…

Student 2:
Puellam

Ajective Man:
Can you translate it?

Student 2:
“The happy boy helps the pretty girl.”

Ajective Man:
Notice too the law of harmony. An adjective must agree with the noun in describes in case, number, and gender. Let’s review the Latin sentence.

All:
Puer laetus puellam pulchram iuvat.

Adjective Man:
Puer, the subject of the verb, is nominative, singular, and masculine, so therefore the adjective laetus is…

Student 3:
Nominative, singular, and masculine.

Adjective Man:
Puellam, the direct object of the verb, is accusative, singular, and feminine, so therefore the adjectivepulchram is…

Student 3:
Accusative, singular, and feminine.

Adjective Man:
Let’s repeat the Law of Harmony.

All:
An adjective must agree with the noun it describes in Case, Number, and Gender.

Latin Students:
CNG, CNG!
They must agree
In CNG.
The case, the number, and gender as well,
It’s by the endings you’ll tell
The CNG, the CNG,
The CNG!

ADJECTIVES — DECLENSIONS

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Adjective Man:
Most of the Latin adjectives in the Latin One course are second and first declension adjectives, such asprīmus, prīma, prīmum, or malus, mala, malum. The thirty endings of a second and first declension adjective are the same as the endings of second and first declension nouns.

The masculine forms follow the pattern of the noun amīcus. The feminine forms follow the pattern of the noun puella. The neuter forms follow the pattern of the noun oppidum.

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Nominative malus mala malum
Genitive malī malae malī
Dative malō malae malō
Accusative malum malam malum
Ablative malō malā malō
Plural Nominative malī malae mala
Genitive malōrum malārum malōrum
Dative malīs malīs malī
Accusative malōs malās mala
Ablative malīs malās malīs
Student 2:
What about third declension adjectives?

Adjective Man:
Yes, we do have third declension adjectives, such as fortis, forte or fēlīx, fēlīcis, but there are only nine of them in the Latin One course and they are similar in form to the third declension noun. If you look at the chart for the third declension adjective fortis, forte, you will see that the only exception you really have to beware of is the ablative singular.

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Nominative fortis fortis forte
Genitive fortis fortis fortis
Dative fortī fortī fortī
Accusative fortem fortem forte
Ablative fortī fortī fortī
Plural Nominative fortēs fortēs fortia
Genitive fortium fortium fortium
Dative fortibus fortibus fortibus
Accusative fortēs fortēs fortia
Ablative fortibus fortibus fortibus
Adjective Man:
Most third declension adjectives have the letter -i in the ablative singular. Let’s try a sample sentence

All:
Contendēbāmus cum mīlite fortī.
“We are marching with the brave soldier.”

Adjective Man:
What third declension adjective is describing mīlite?

Student 2:
Fortī.

Adjective Man:
Fortī… rhymes with Marī. So when you see the letter ī in the ablative singular of a third declension adjective, it’s not a misprint, it’s an exception.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

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Preposition Man:
Our last major focal point is prepositions. Prepositions are combined with nouns to form prepositional phrases. The noun which comes after the preposition is called the object of the preposition. Let’s try a sample sentence.

All:
Over the river and through the wood to grandma’s house we go.

Preposition Man:
Beautiful. Where is the first prepositional phrase?

Student 1:
“Over the river.” ‘Over’ is the preposition, and ‘river’ is the noun object of the preposition.

Preposition Man:
Very good. Can you find another prep phrase in the sentence, “Over the river and through the wood to grandma’s house we go”?

Student 1:
“Through the wood.” ‘Through’ is the preposition, and ‘wood’ is the noun object of the preposition.

Preposition Man:
Excellent. How about a third prepositional phrase in the sentence, “Over the river and through the wood to grandma’s house we go”?

Student 2:
“To grandma’s house.”. ‘To’ is the preposition, and ‘house’ is the noun object of the preposition.

Preposition Man:
Perfect. You’ll find the same constructions in Latin. Some prepositions, such as:

ad “toward”
ante “before”
circum “around”
extrā “outside”
in “into”
inter “between”
per “through”
post “behind”
prope “near”
trāns “across”

require accusative noun objects. 

Some prepositions, such as:

sub “under”
in “in, on”
dē “down from, about”
sine “without”
prō “on behalf of”
ā / ab “away from”
cum “with”
ē / ex “out of”

require ablative noun objects. 

Let’s try a sample sentence which contains a prepositional phrase with an accusative noun object.

All:
Ad lūdum īmus.

Preposition Man:
Where is the prepositional phrase?

Student 2:
Ad lūdum. ‘Ad’ is the preposition, and ‘lūdum’ is the noun object.

Preposition Man:
Can you translate it?

Student 2:
“To the game.”

Preposition Man:
Very good. Ad or in with an accusative noun object is often used to express place to which.

Student 1:
How about a sample sentence which contains a prepositional phrase with an ablative noun object?

Preposition Man:
OK. Let’s try a sample sentence which contains a prepositional phrase with ablative noun object.

All:
Magister in casā sedēbat.

Preposition Man:
Can you find the prep phrase?

Student 1:
In casā.

Preposition Man:
Can you translate it?

Student 1:
“In the house.”

Preposition Man:
Well done. In with an ablative noun object is often used to express place where. Let’s try one more.

All:
Mīlitēs ex aquā currunt.

Preposition Man:
Can anyone find the prep phrase?

Student 2:
Ex aquā.

Preposition Man:
Can you translate it?

Student 2:
“Out of the water.”

Preposition Man:
Well done. Ē or ex, or ā or ab, with an ablative noun, are all often used to express place from which.

LATIN I CLOSING

I hope you’ve been encouraged and enlightened by our multimedia excursion. If there are parts you’re not sure of, play them again. If there are words or endings that you still don’t know, keep plugging at it. It’s been a pleasure to be with you on the Latin One Review.

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