Latin is an inflected language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and grammatical gender. For simple declension paradigms, visit the Wiktionary appendices: First declension, Second declension, Third declension, Fourth declension, Fifth declension.

Grammatical cases

A complete Latin noun declension consists of seven grammatical cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and locative.

This sequence (NOM-VOC-ACC-GEN-DAT-ABL-LOC) has been the usual order taught in Britain and many Commonwealth countries since the publication of Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). It reflects the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings (see Syncretic trends below). For a discussion of other sequences taught elsewhere, see Instruction in Latin.

Comparisons to English usage

• The nominative case marks the subject of a statement and is also used with a copula: "Mary is going to the store" or "Mary is my sister".
• The genitive case expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the genitive case is represented analytically by the preposition of or by the enclitic "?'s", which itself developed from the genitive case. This "?'s" closely resembles the Latin third declension's genitive suffix "?is".
• The dative case marks the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for tend to denote this case analytically.
• The accusative case marks the direct object of a verb. In English, except for a small number of words which display a distinct accusative case (e.g., who/whom, I/me, he/him), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
• The ablative case expresses separation, indirection, or the means by which an action is performed. In English, the prepositions by, with, from, in and on are most commonly used to indicate this case.
• The vocative case is used to address someone or something in direct speech. In English, this function is expressed by intonation or punctuation: "Mary, are you going to the store?" or "Mary!" ("Mary" is vocative). Historically, English-language noun paradigms translated this case with a prefaced interjection such as "O Mary!"
• The locative case expresses the place where or time when an action is performed. The Latin locative case is extremely marginal, applying only to the names of cities and small islands and to a few other isolated words. The Romans considered all islands to be "small" except for Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, and Cyprus. Much of the case's function had been absorbed into the ablative. For singular first and second declension, the locative is identical to the genitive singular form, and for the singular third declension the locative is identical to the ablative singular form. For plural nouns of all declensions, the locative is also identical to the ablative form. The few fourth and fifth declension place-name words would also use the ablative form for locative case. However, there are a few rare nouns that use the locative instead of a preposition: Domus-->Dom? (at home), R?s-->R?r? (in the country), Humus-->Hum? (on the ground), Militia-->Militiae (in military service, in the field), Focus--> Foc? (at the hearth; at the center of the community). In archaic times, the locative singular of third declension nouns was actually interchangeable between ablative and dative forms, but in the Augustan Period the use of the ablative form became fixed.

Syncretic trends

Syncretism, where one form in a paradigm shares the ending of another form in the paradigm, is common in Latin. The following are the most notable patterns of syncretism:

• The accusative is always identical to the nominative in the neuter (both singular and plural, across all declensions). In addition, the accusative is the same as the nominative in the plural of the third, fourth and fifth declensions (but note the alternative –?s accusative plural ending for i-stem nominals, different from nominative –?s).
• The vocative is always identical to the nominative in the plural, and also in the singular except in the second declension and a few Greek nouns. For example, the vocative of Aene?s is Aenea, although Aene?s is first declension.
• The dative is always the same as the ablative in the plural, and in the singular in the second declension, the third-declension full i-stems i.e. neuter i-stems, adjectives), and fourth-declension neuters.
• The genitive singular is the same as the nominative plural in first-, second-declension, and fourth declension nouns that are not neuter.
• The dative singular is the same as the genitive singular in first- and fifth-declension nouns.
• Plural neuter nominative/accusative always ends in -a (with a few exceptions: demonstrative hic and related istic and illic, relative/interrogative qu? and friends; in all of them, the neuter plural takes the same form as feminine singular nominative).
• The accusative singular ends in short vowel plus -m, except for a few neuters with unusual base forms.
• The accusative plural (assuming not neuter) ends in a long vowel plus -s; so does the nominative plural of the third, fourth and fifth declensions (again assuming not neuter).
• The locative is identical to the ablative in the fourth and fifth declension.
• The locative, ablative, and dative are identical in the plural.

History of cases

Old Latin had only two patterns of endings. One pattern was shared by the first and second declensions, with a clear similarity to the first and second declensions of Ancient Greek. The other pattern was used by the third declension and was very different from Greek, even for direct cognates. When new words were absorbed into Latin, they were generally placed in the third declension.

Nouns

First declension (a)

Nouns of this declension usually end in –a and are typically feminine, e.g. 'road' (via, viae fem.) and 'water' (aqua, aquae fem.). There is a small class of masculine exceptions generally referring to occupations, e.g. 'farmer' (agricola, agricolae masc.) and 'sailor' (nauta, nautae masc.).

The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a. The nominative singular form consists of the stem and the affix -a, and the genitive singular form is the stem plus -ae.

First declension Greek nouns

The first declension also holds three types of Greek nouns, derived from Ancient Greek's Alpha Declension. They are declined irregularly in the singular, but are sometimes treated as if they were native Latin nouns, e.g. nominative athl?ta instead of the original athl?t?s.

For full paradigm tables and more detailed information, see the Wiktionary appendix First declension.

• (First Declension Latin Nouns)

Second declension (o)

The second declension is a large group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine nouns like equus, equ? ("horse") and puer, puer? ("boy') and neuter nouns like castellum, castell? ("fort"). There are several small groups of feminine exceptions, including names of gemstones, trees, and some cities.

In the nominative singular, most masculine nouns consist of the stem and the affix -us, although some end in -er, which is not necessarily attached to the complete stem. Neuter nouns generally have a nominative singular consisting of the stem and the ending -um. However, every second-declension noun has the affix -? attached as a suffix to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is o.

Second declension R nouns

Some masculine nouns of the second declension end in an ?er or an ?ir in the nominative singular. For such nouns, the genitive singular must be learned to see if the E is dropped. For example, socer, ?er? keeps its E. However, the noun magister, ?tr? ("teacher") drops its E in the genitive singular. Nouns with ?ir in the nominative singular never drop the I.

The declension of second declension R nouns is identical to that of the regular second declension, with the exception of the vocative singular, which is identical to the nominative rather than ending in an -e.

For declension tables of second declension nouns, see the corresponding Wiktionary appendix.

Second declension Greek nouns

The second declension contains two types of masculine Greek nouns and one form of neuter Greek noun. These nouns are irregular only in the singular, as are their first declension counterparts. Greek nouns in the second declension are derived from Omicron Declension.

Some Greek nouns may be declined as normal, Latin nouns. For example, the?tron can appear as the?trum.

Peculiarities

• Nouns ending with ?vus, ?quus and ?vum may be declined in two ways. Their alternate inflections resemble Old Latin.

• This is an example of a noun of the second declension in Classical Latin. Note the differences in both the Nominative and Accusative cases.

• The plural of deus (god, deity) is also irregular.

| Nom. || d? / di |- | Gen. || de?rum / deum |- | Dat. || d?s / diis / deis |- | Acc. || de?s |- | Voc. || d? |- | Abl. || d?s |}

• The Vocative Singular of Deus is also "Deus", instead of substituting an -e for the -us (i.e. "dee") as would normally be expected for a 2nd declension -us noun.

Third declension (i)

The third declension is the largest group of nouns. These nouns may end in ?a,?e, ??, ??, ?y, ?c, ?l, ?n, ?r, ?s, ?t, or ?x . It consists of masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns of variable nominative cases and roots. The third declension includes flumen, fluminis neut. ("river"), flos, floris masc. ("flower"), and pax, pacis fem. ("peace"). Each noun has the affix -is as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns each have their own special nominative singular endings. For instance, only masculine nouns end in an ?or (amor). Only feminine nouns end in an ??x (phoen?x), and only neuter nouns end in an ?us (onus). As in all declensions, some nouns defy these rules.

¹ The nominative singular isn't regularly the root with a suffix appended. It may be the root; it may be identical to the genitive singular; or it may take a distinct form. The same is true of other forms that are the same as the nominative singular: the vocative singular and the neuter accusative singular.

² The nominative and accusative of neuter nouns are always identical. It should not be assumed that ?en is always the appropriate ending, as it might appear above.

Third declension i-stem nouns

The third declension also has a set of nouns which are declined differently. They are called i-stems. I-stems are broken into two subcategories: pure and mixed. Pure I-stems are indicated by the parisyllabic rule or special neuter endings. Mixed I-stems are indicated by the double consonant rule.

• Masculine & Feminine
  • Parisyllabic Rule: Some masculine and feminine third declension i-stem nouns have the same number of syllables in the genitive as they do in the nominative. For example: amnis, ?is. The nominative ends in -is.
  • Double-Consonant Rule: The rest of the masculine and feminine third declension i-stem nouns have two consonants before the ?is in the genitive singular. For example: pars, partis
• Neuter
  • Special Neuter Ending: Neuter third declension i-stems have no rule. However, all of them end in ?al, ?ar or ?e. For example: animal, ??lis

Pure I-stems may exhibit peculiar endings in both singular and plural. Mixed I-stems employ normal (consonant) 3rd declension endings in the singular but I-Stem endings in the plural. Note the alternative I-stem endings indicated in parentheses.

¹ The nominative singular isn't regularly the root with a suffix appended. It may be the root; it may be identical to the genitive singular; or it may take a distinct form. The same is true of other forms that are the same as the nominative singular: the vocative singular and the neuter accusative singular.

The rules for determining I-stems from non-I-stems and "mixed" I-stems should be thought of more as "guidelines" than "rules": even among the Romans themselves, the categorization of a 3rd declension word as an I-stem or non-I-stem was quite fluid. The result is that many words that should be I-stems according to the parasyllabic and consonant stem rules, actually aren't, such as canis or iuvenis. By the parasyllabic rule, "canis" should be a masculine I-stem and thus differ from the non-I-stems by having an extra -i- in the plural Genitive form: "canium". In reality, the plural Genitive of "canis" is "canum", the form of a non-I-stem. This fluidity even in Roman times results in much more uncertainty in medieval Latin, as scholars were trying to imitate what was fluid to begin with. The result is that some medieval Latin scribes may go so far as to "overcompensate"; taking obviously non-I-stem 3rd declension words like "ars, artis" and adding extra i's i.e. "artim, arti".

Peculiarities

In the third declension, there are four irregular nouns.

Fourth declension (u)

The fourth declension is a group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine words like 'wave' (fluctus, fluct?s masc.) and 'port' (portus, port?s masc.) with a few feminine exceptions, including 'hand' (manus, man?s fem.). The fourth declension also includes several neuter nouns like 'knee' (genu, gen?s neut.). Each noun has the affix -?s as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is u.

In the dative and ablative plural, ?ibus is sometimes replaced with ?ubus. This is so for only a few nouns, such as artus, "the limbs".

The declension of domus is irregular:

Fifth declension (e)

The fifth declension is a small group of nouns consisting of mostly feminine words like 'affair, matter, thing' (r?s, re? fem.) and 'day' (di?s, di?? usually feminine, except on notable days when it is masculine). Each noun has either the affix -?? or ?e? as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form.

Note that nouns ending in i?s have long ?? in the dative and genitive, while nouns ending in a consonant + ?s have short e? in these cases.

This declension class is the last to develop in Latin.

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 -?: rather than -ae or -?.
• the genitive singular ends in -?us rather than -ae or -?.

These differences identify the "pronominal" declension, and a few adjectives also follow this pattern.

Personal pronouns

The first and second persons are irregular. They may be only masculine or feminine.

¹?may be nostr? or vestr?

Usually, to show the ablative of accompaniment, cum would be added to the ablative form. Though, with personal pronouns and the interrogative (not with 3rd person), cum is added on to the end of the ablative form. For example: m?cum, n?b?scum, t?cum, v?b?scum and qu?cum (sometimes qu?cum).

The third person reflexive pronouns always refer back to the subject whether it be singular or plural.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns are used strictly for asking questions. It is best not to confuse them with the relative pronoun and the interrogative adjective (which is declined like the relative pronoun). Interrogative pronouns rarely occur in the plural, though they may. The plural interrogative pronouns are the same as the plural relative pronouns.

Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives

• Another demonstrative pronoun iste, ista, istud, which means 'that of yours', and the intensive pronoun ipse, ipsa, ipsum follow the declension of ille, illa, illud.

Relative pronouns

Adjectives

First and second declension adjectives

First and second declension are inflected in the masculine, the feminine and the neuter; the masculine form typically ends in ?us (although some end in -er, see below), the feminine form ends in ?a, and the neuter form ends in ?um. Therefore, adjectives are given like altus, alta, altum.

First and second declension ?r adjectives

Some first and second declension adjectives' masculine form end in an ?er. As with second declension nouns ?r nouns, some adjectives retain the e throughout inflection, and some omit it. Sacer, sacra, sacrum omits its e while miser, misera, miserum keeps it.

First and second ??us genitive adjectives

There are nine first and second declension adjectives that are irregular in the genitive and the dative in all genders. They are easily remembered by using the acronym UNUS NAUTA. They are:

alius, ?a, ?ud; (gen. sing. alter?us to avoid ali?us); another
?llus, ?a, ?um; any
uter, ?tra, ?trum; which (of two)
s?lus, ?a, ?um; sole, alone
alter, ?era, ?erum; the other (of two)
n?llus, ?a, ?um; no, none (of any)
neuter, ?tra, ?trum; neither (of two)
t?tus, ?a, ?um; whole
?nus, ?a, ?um; one

Third declension adjectives

Third declension adjectives are normally declined like third declension i-stem nouns, except for the fact they always have a ?? rather than a -e in the ablative singular (unlike i-stem nouns, in which only neuters have ??). Some adjectives, however, like the one-ending vetus, veteris (old, aged), have an -e in the ablative singular (all genders), a -um in the genitive plural (all genders), and a -a in the nominative and accusative plural (neuter only).

Third declension adjectives with one ending

Third declension adjectives with one ending have single nominative ending for all genders. Like nouns, a genitive is given for the purpose of inflection.

¹?may end in ??s
˛?may end in ?e

Third declension adjectives with 2 endings

Third declension adjectives that have 2 endings have one form for the masculine and feminine, and a separate form for the neuter. The ending for the masculine and feminine is ?is, and the ending for the neuter is ?e. Because the sexed form ends in an ?is, we find the adjective genitive singular.

¹?may end in ??s

Third declension adjectives with three endings

Third declension adjectives with three endings have three separate nominative forms for all three genders. Like third and second declension ?r nouns, the masculine ends in an ?er. The feminine ends in an ?ris, and the neuter ends in an ?re. With that information, we come upon the genitive singular needed for inflection, the feminine form.

¹?may end in ??s

Comparison and superlative forms of adjectives

As in English, adjectives have superlative and comparative forms. For regular first and second declension and third declension nouns with one or two endings, the comparison is formed by adding an ?ior for the masculine and feminine, and an ?ius for the neuter to the base. The genitive for both are formed by adding an ?i?ris. Therefore, they are declined like the third declension. However, they are not declined as i-stems are. Superlatives formed by adding an ?issimus, ?a, ?um to the base. Now, we find that superlatives are declined like first and second declension adjectives.

Comparisons and superlatives of ?er adjectives

Adjectives (in the third and first and second declensions) that have masculine nominative singular forms ending in ?er have different forms. If the feminine and neuter forms drop the E, use that for the comparative form. The superlative is formed by adding an ?rimus onto the masculine form.

Comparisons and superlatives of ?lis adjectives

Some third declension adjectives with two endings in ?lis in the sexed nominative singular have irregular superlative forms. It should be noted that the following are the only adjectives that have this unique form.

Irregular comparisons and superlatives

As in most languages, Latin has adjectives that have irregular comparisons and superlatives.

• 1: noun used with genitive to express more of something
• 2: often replaced by the regular form 'maturissimus, ?a, ?um'
• 3: indeclinable

Declension of ?dem

The adjective ?dem, eadem, idem means 'same.' It is a variant of the third person pronouns which were declined earlier. Generally, they are formed by adding ?dem to a declined third person pronouns. However, some forms have been changed to ease pronunciation.

Declension of numerals

See also: Roman numerals for symbology.

There are several different kinds of numeral words in Latin: the two most common are Cardinal numerals, and Ordinal numerals. There are also several more rare numerals such as Distributive numerals and Adverbial numerals

Cardinal numerals

All numerals, except ?num (one), duo (two), tria (three), m?lia (thousand, sing. m?lle) and ducent? (two-hundred) are indeclinable adjectives. ?nus, ?na, ?num is declined like a first and second declension adjective with an ??us in the genitive, and ?? in the dative. Duo is declined irregularly and tria is declined like a third declension adjective.

It should be noted that amb?, "both", is declined as duo is, though its o is long.

The word m?lle, is singular, an adjective and indeclinable. However, its irregular plural, m?lia, is a plural noun and is used in the same way pl?s is.

• Note that to write the phrase "four thousand horses" in Latin, the genitive is used: "quattuor milia equ?rum", literally, "four thousands of horses".

As stated before, the rest of the numbers are indeclinable adjectives. They are also indeclinable as substantives.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals all decline like normal 1st and 2nd declension adjectives.

• Primus = first
• Secundus = second
• Tertius = third
• Vicensimus = twentieth

Note: "Secundus" only means "second" in the sense of "following". The adjective Alter, -ra, -rum meaning "the other (of two)" was more frequently used in many instances that English would use "second".

Ordinal numbers, not Cardinal numbers, are commonly used to represent dates, because they are in the format of "in the tenth year of Caesar", etc. which also carried over into the Anno Domini system and Christian dating, i.e. "anno post Christum nato centensimo" = AD 100.

Distributive numerals

A rare numeral construction denoting an equal number distributed among several objects, i.e. "how many each?" "two by two". They decline like normal 1st and 2nd declension adjectives, and are logically always plural. Bis, Bina = "twice two". A classical example would be "Uxores habent deni duo deniqui inter se communes" = "groups of ten or twelve men had wives in common" --Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar

Adverbial numerals

Adverbial numerals are (as the name states) indeclinable adverbs, but because all of the other numeral constructions are adjectives they are listed here with them. Adverbial numerals give how many times a thing happened. Semel = once, Bis = twice, Ter = thrice (three times), Quater = four times, etc

Adverbs and their comparisons and superlatives

Adverbs are not declined. However, adverbs must be formed if one wants to make an adjective into an adverb.

First and second declension adjectives' adverbs

First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an ?? onto their bases.

Third declension adjectives' adverbs

Typically, third declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an ?iter onto their bases. However, most third declension adjectives with one ending simply add an ?er to their bases.

Adverbs' comparative and superlative forms

Adverbs' comparative forms are their neuter adjectives' comparative forms. Adverbs' superlative forms are made in the same way in which first and second declension adjectives' adverbs are made.

First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an ?? onto their bases.

Irregular adverbs and their comparative and superlative forms

As so with adjectives, there are irregular adverbs with peculiar comparative and superlative forms.

Peculiarities within declension

Irregularity in number

Some nouns are declined in the singular only. This is the case with:

• Materials such as aurum (gold) and aes (copper)
• Abstract nouns such as celerit?s (speed) and scientia (knowledge)
• Proper names such as Iulius (Julius) and Cl?ra (Clara)

There are nouns that are declined only in the plural as well (plurale tantum):

• Many festivals, such as Saturnalia
• Words like castra (camp) and arma (arms)
• A few geological places are plural such as Th?bae (Thebes).

Indeclinable nouns

Indeclinable nouns are neuter nouns which occur only in the nominative and the accusative singular. There are only six such nouns:

• f?s ? fate, divine law
• ?nstar ? likeness
• m?ne ? morning
• nef?s ? sin, abomination
• nihil / nil ? nothing, none
• secus ? sex, coitus

Heterogeneous nouns

Heterogeneous nouns are nouns which vary in respect to gender.

• A few nouns in the second declension occur in both the neuter and masculine. However, their meanings remain the same.
• Some nouns are one gender in the singular, but become another gender in the plural. They may also change in meaning.

| Singular || Plural |- | balneum n. bath || balneae f. or balnea n. bath-house |- | epulum n. feast, banquet || epulae f. feasts, banquets |- | fr?num n. bridle, curb || fr?n? m. bridle, curb |- | iocus m. joke, jest || ioca n. or ioci m. jokes, jests |- | locus m. place, location || loca n. places, locations; loc? region |- | r?strum n. hoe, rake || r?str? m. hoes, rakes |}

Plurals with alternative meanings

The nouns below have a specific singular meaning, yet have a different plural meaning.

| Singular || Plural |- | aed?s, ?is f. building, temple || aed?s, ?ium rooms, house |- | auxilium, ?? n. help, aid || auxilia, ??rum auxiliary troops |- | carcer, ?eris m. prison, cell || carcer?s, ?um starting-place of a chariot race |- | castrum, ?? n. fort, castle, fortress || castra, ??rum milit. camp, encampment |- | c?pia, ?ae f. plenty, much, abundance || c?piae, ??rum troops |- | f?nis, ?is m. end, boundary || f?n?s, ?ium territory |- | fort?na, ?ae f. luck, chance || fort?nae ??rum wealth |- | gr?tia, ?ae f. charm, favor || gr?tiae, ??rum thanks |- | imped?mentum, ?? m. impediment, hindrance || imped?menta, ??rum baggage |- | littera, ?ae f. letter (as in A, B, C, etc.) || litterae, ??rum epistle, scholarship, literature |- | m?s, m?ris m. habit, inclination || m?r?s, ?um m. morals, character |- | opera, ?ae f. trouble, pains || operae, ??rum workmen |- | opis (gen.; nom. and dat. do not occur) f. the goddess Ops (pers.), help || op?s, ?ium resources, wealth |- | pars, partis f. part, piece || part?s, ?ium office, function |- | s?l, salis m. salt, sea water || sal?s, ?um wit, smarts |}

Notes

1. The archaism aquai occurs frequently in Virgil, Cicero, Lucretius and others, to evoke the style of older writers.
2. Being a Greek word, the accusative form is phoenica (Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.393http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.met15.shtml).

References

• New Latin Grammar, an eBook, originally written by Charles Edwin Bennett at the Project Gutenberg

• Latin grammar - interactive

See also

• Latin conjugation
• William Whitaker's Words
• Latin mnemonics

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