Latin declension is the set of patterns according to which Latin words are declined—that is, have their endings altered to show grammatical case, number and gender. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are declined (verbs are conjugated), and a given pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and grammatical gender. Each noun follows one of the five declensions, but some irregular nouns have exceptions.
Adjectives are of two kinds: those like 'good' use first-declension endings for the feminine, and second-declension for masculine and neuter. Other adjectives such as belong to the third declension. There are no fourth- or fifth-declension adjectives.
Pronouns are also of two kinds, the personal pronouns such as 'I' and 'you ', which have their own irregular declension, and the third-person pronouns such as 'this' and 'that' which can generally be used either as pronouns or adjectivally. These latter decline in a similar way to the first and second noun declensions, but there are differences; for example the genitive singular ends in -īus or -ius instead of -ī or -ae.
The cardinal numbers 'one', 'two', and 'three' also have their own declensions (ūnus has genitive -īus like a pronoun). However, numeral adjectives such as 'a pair, two each' decline like ordinary adjectives.
A complete Latin noun declension consists of up to seven grammatical cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and locative. However, the locative is limited to a few nouns: generally names of cities, small islands and a few other words.
The case names are often abbreviated to the first three letters, for example, "nom." for "nominative".
The Roman grammarian Aelius Donatus (4th century AD), whose work was used as standard throughout the Middle Ages, placed the cases in this order:
Latin: casus sunt sex: nominativus, genetivus, dativus, accusativus, vocativus, ablativus.[1]
"There are six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative and ablative."
This order was based on the order used by earlier Greek grammarians, with the addition of the ablative, which does not exist in Greek. The names of the cases also were mostly translated from the Greek terms, such as Latin: [[wikt:accusativus#Latin|accusativus]] from the Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[wikt:αἰτιατικός|αἰτῐᾱτῐκή]].
This traditional order was formerly used in England, such as in The School and University Eton Latin Grammar (1861).[2] That order is still followed in most other European countries. Gildersleeve and Lodge's Latin Grammar (1895) also follow this order. More recent Latin grammars published in the United States, such as Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar (1903) and Wheelock's Latin (first published in 1956) follow this order except they list the vocative last.
However, in Britain and countries influenced by Britain other than the United States, the Latin cases are usually given in the following order: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative. This order was introduced in Benjamin Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866), with the aim of making tables of declensions easier to recite and memorise (the first three and the last two cases having identical forms in several declensions). It is also used in France[3] and Belgium. In Rosa (1962), a song in French by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel, Brel sings the declension of "Rosa" as Latin: rosa, rosa, rosam, following the modern British order of cases.
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:
Old Latin had essentially two patterns of endings. One pattern was shared by the first and second declensions, which derived from the Proto-Indo-European thematic declension. The other pattern was used by the third, fourth and fifth declensions, and derived from the athematic PIE declension.
There are two principal parts for Latin nouns: the nominative singular and the genitive singular. Each declension can be unequivocally identified by the ending of the genitive singular (-ae, -i, -is, -ūs, -ei). The stem of the noun can be identified by the form of the genitive singular as well.
There are five declensions for Latin nouns:
Nouns of this declension usually end in -a in the nominative singular and are mostly feminine, e.g. ('road') and ('water'). There is a small class of masculine exceptions generally referring to occupations, e.g. ('poet'), ('farmer'), ('auriga, charioteer'), ('pirate') and ('sailor').
The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a. The nominative singular form consists of the stem and the ending -a, and the genitive singular form is the stem plus -ae.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | -a | -ae |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | -am | -ās |
Genitive | -ae | -ārum |
Dative | -īs | |
Ablative | -ā | |
Locative | Gen. | Dat. |
table | poet | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | mensa | mensae | poēta | poētae |
Vocative | ||||
Accusative | mensam | mensās | poētam | poētās |
Genitive | mensae | mensārum | poētae | poētārum |
Dative | mensīs | poētīs | ||
Ablative | mensā | poētā | ||
See main article: Declension of Greek nouns in Latin.
The first declension also includes three types of Greek loanwords, derived from Ancient Greek's alpha declension. They are declined irregularly in the singular, but sometimes treated as native Latin nouns, e.g. nominative ('athlete') instead of the original athlētēs. Archaic (Homeric) first declension Greek nouns and adjectives had been formed in exactly the same way as in Latin: nephelēgeréta Zeus ('Zeus the cloud-gatherer') had in classical Greek become nephelēgerétēs.
For full paradigm tables and more detailed information, see the Wiktionary appendix First declension.
The second declension is a large group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine nouns like ('horse') and ('boy') and neuter nouns like ('fort'). There are several small groups of feminine exceptions, including names of gemstones, plants, trees, and some towns and cities.
In the nominative singular, most masculine nouns consist of the stem and the ending -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 ending -ī 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.
Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Neuter | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nominative | -us | -um | -ī | -a |
Vocative | -e | |||
Accusative | colspan="2" | -um | -ōs | |
Genitive | colspan="2" | -ī | -ōrum | |
Dative | -ō | -īs | ||
Ablative | ||||
Locative | Gen. | Dat. | ||
master | ||
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | dominus | dominī |
Vocative | domine | |
Accusative | dominum | dominōs |
Genitive | dominī | dominōrum |
Dative | dominō | dominīs |
Ablative | ||
war | ||
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | bellum | bella |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | ||
Genitive | bellī | bellōrum |
Locative | bellīs | |
Dative | bellō | |
Ablative | ||
The locative endings for the second declension are -ī (singular) and -īs (plural); "at Corinth", "at Milan", and "at Philippi".[5]
Nouns ending in -ius and -ium have a genitive singular in -ī in earlier Latin, which was regularized to -iī in the later language. Masculine nouns in -ius have a vocative singular in -ī at all stages. These forms in -ī are stressed on the same syllable as the nominative singular, sometimes in violation of the usual Latin stress rule. For example, the genitive and vocative singular Vergilī (from) is pronounced Vergílī, with stress on the penult, even though it is short.[6] In Old Latin, however, the vocative was declined regularly, using -ie instead, e.g. fīlie "[O] son", archaic vocative of .
There is no contraction of -iī(s) in plural forms and in the locative.
In the older language, nouns ending with -vus, -quus and -vum take o rather than u in the nominative and accusative singular. For example, ('slave') could be servos, accusative servom.
Some masculine nouns of the second declension end in -er or -ir in the nominative singular. The declension of these nouns is identical to that of the regular second declension, except for the lack of suffix in the nominative and vocative singular.
Some (but not all) nouns in -er drop the e genitive and other cases. For example, ('father-in-law') keeps its e. However, the noun ('(school)master') drops its e in the genitive singular.
For declension tables of second-declension nouns, see the corresponding Wiktionary appendix.
boy | field | man | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | puer | puerī | ager | agrī | vir | virī |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | puerum | puerōs | agrum | agrōs | virum | virōs |
Genitive | puerī | puerōrum | agrī | agrōrum | virī | virōrum (virum) |
Dative | puerō | puerīs | agrō | agrīs | virō | virīs |
Ablative |
The vocative puere is found but only in Plautus.[7] The genitive plural virum is found in poetry.[8]
See main article: Declension of Greek nouns in Latin.
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 the Omicron declension.
Some Greek nouns may also be declined as normal Latin nouns. For example, can appear as theātrum.
The inflection of ('god') is irregular. The vocative singular of deus is not attested in Classical Latin. In Ecclesiastical Latin the vocative of Deus ('God') is Deus.
In poetry, -um may substitute -ōrum as the genitive plural ending.
deus, deī god | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | deus | deī diī dī |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | deum | deōs |
Genitive | deī | deōrum deum |
Dative | deō | deīs diīs dīs |
Ablative | ||
The Latin word vīrus (the ī indicates a long i) means "1. slimy liquid, slime; 2. poison, venom", denoting the venom of a snake. This Latin word is probably related to the Greek (ios) meaning "venom" or "rust" and the Sanskrit word meaning "toxic, poison".[9]
Since vīrus in antiquity denoted something uncountable, it was a mass noun. Mass nouns pluralize only under special circumstances, hence the non-existence of plural forms in the texts.[10]
In Neo-Latin, a plural form is necessary in order to express the modern concept of 'viruses', which leads to the following declension:[11] [12] [13]
poison, venom, virus | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | vīrus | vīra |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | ||
Genitive | vīrī | vīrōrum |
Dative | vīrō | vīrīs |
Ablative | ||
The third declension is the largest group of nouns. The nominative singular of these nouns may end in -a, -e, -ī, -ō, -y, -c, -l, -n, -r, -s, -t, or -x. This group of nouns includes masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns.
The stem of a consonant-stem noun may be found from the genitive case by removing the ending -is. For example, the stem of 'peace' is pāc-, the stem of 'river' is flūmin-, and the stem of 'flower' is flōr-.
Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns often have their own special nominative singular endings. For instance, many masculine nouns end in -or ('love'). Many feminine nouns end in -īx ('phoenix'), and many neuter nouns end in -us with an r stem in the oblique cases ('burden'; 'time').
Masculine &<br />feminine | Neuter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | (-s) | -ēs | — | -a |
Vocative | ||||
Accusative | -em | |||
Genitive | -is | -um | -is | -um |
Dative | -ī | -ibus | -ī | -ibus |
Ablative | -e | -e | ||
Locative | Dat./Abl. | Dat. | Dat./Abl. | Dat. |
leader | virtue | name | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | dux | ducēs | virtūs | virtūtēs | nōmen | nōmina |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | ducem | virtūtem | ||||
Genitive | ducis | ducum | virtūtis | virtūtum | nōminis | nōminum |
Dative | ducī | ducibus | virtūtī | virtūtibus | nōminī | nōminibus |
Ablative | duce | virtūte | nōmine | |||
The locative endings for the third declension are -ī or -e (singular) and -ibus (plural), as in 'in the country' and 'at Tralles'.[14]
The third declension also has a set of nouns that are declined differently. They are called i-stems. i-stems are broken into two subcategories: pure and mixed. Pure i-stems are indicated by special neuter endings. Mixed i-stems are indicated by the double consonant rule. Stems indicated by the parisyllabic rule are usually mixed, occasionally pure.
The mixed declension is distinguished from the consonant type only by having -ium in the genitive plural (and occasionally -īs in the accusative plural). The pure declension is characterized by having -ī in the ablative singular, -ium in the genitive plural, -ia in the nominative and accusative plural neuter, and -im in the accusative singular masculine and feminine (however, adjectives have -em).
The accusative plural ending -īs is found in early Latin up to Virgil, but from the early empire onwards it was replaced by -ēs.[15]
The accusative singular ending -im is found only in a few words: always in Latin: tussis 'cough', Latin: sitis 'thirst', Latin: Tiberis 'River Tiber'; usually in Latin: secūris 'axe', Latin: turris 'tower', Latin: puppis 'poop', Latin: febris 'fever'; occasionally in Latin: nāvis 'ship'. Most nouns, however, have accusative singular -em.[16]
The ablative singular -ī is found in nouns which have -im, and also, optionally, in some other nouns, e.g. Latin: in ignī or Latin: in igne 'in the fire'.
There are two mixed-declension neuter nouns: ('heart') and ('bone'). Also, the mixed declension is used in the plural-only adjective ('most').
Masculine &<br />Feminine | Neuter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | — | rowspan="2" | -ēs | — | -ia |
Vocative | |||||
Accusative | -em -im | -ēs -īs | |||
Genitive | -is | -ium | -is | -ium | |
Dative | -ī | -ibus | -ī | -ibus | |
Ablative | -e -ī | ||||
Locative | Dat./Abl. | Dat. | Dat./Abl. | Dat. | |
Masculine &<br />Feminine | Neuter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | — | rowspan="2" | -ēs | — | -a |
Vocative | |||||
Accusative | -em | -ēs -īs | |||
Genitive | -is | -ium | -is | -ium | |
Dative | -ī | -ibus | -ī | -ibus | |
Ablative | -e | -e | |||
Locative | Dat./Abl. | Dat. | Dat./Abl. | Dat. | |
tower (pure) | part, piece (mixed) | animal, living being (pure) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parisyllabic rule | Double consonant rule | Special neuter ending | ||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | turris | turrēs | pars | partēs | animal | animālia |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | turrem turrim | turrēs turrīs | partem | partēs partīs | ||
Genitive | turris | turrium | partis | partium | animālis | animālium |
Dative | turrī | turribus | partī | partibus | animālī | animālibus |
Ablative | turre turrī | parte (partī) | ||||
The rules for determining i-stems from non-i-stems and mixed i-stems are guidelines rather than rules: many words that might be expected to be i-stems according to the parisyllabic rule actually are not, such as ('dog') or ('youth'), which have genitive plural Latin: canum 'of dogs' and Latin: iuvenum 'of young men'. Likewise, ('father'), ('mother'), ('brother'), and ('parent') violate the double-consonant rule. This fluidity even in Roman times resulted in much more uncertainty in Medieval Latin.
Some nouns in -tāt-, such as 'city, community' can have either consonant-stem or i-stem genitive plural: Latin: cīvitātum or Latin: cīvitātium 'of the cities'.[15]
In the third declension, there are four irregular nouns.
Case | force, power | swine, pig, hog | ox, bullock | Jupiter | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | |
Nominative | vīs | vīrēs | sūs | suēs | bōs | bovēs | Iuppiter Iūpiter |
Vocative | |||||||
Accusative | vim | vīrēs vīrīs | suem | bovem | Iovem | ||
Genitive | vīs | vīrium | suis | suum | bovis | boum bovum | Iovis |
Dative | vī | vīribus | suī | suibus sūbus | bovī | bōbus būbus | Iovī |
Ablative | sue | bove | Iove | ||||
The fourth declension is a group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine words such as ('wave') and ('port') with a few feminine exceptions, including ('hand') and ('house'). The fourth declension also includes several neuter nouns including ('knee'). Each noun has the ending -ūs 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, but the declension is otherwise very similar to the third-declension i stems.
-us ending nouns | -ū ending nouns | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
Nominative | rowspan="2" | -us | -ūs | -ū | -ua |
Vocative | |||||
Accusative | -um | ||||
Genitive | -ūs | -uum | -ūs | -uum | |
Dative | -uī | -ibus -ubus | -ū | -ibus | |
Ablative | -ū | ||||
Locative | -ī | Dat. | -ī | Dat. | |
port | knee | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | portus | portūs | genū | genua |
Vocative | ||||
Accusative | portum | |||
Genitive | portūs | portuum | genūs | genuum |
Dative | portuī | portibus | genū | genibus |
Ablative | portū | |||
('house, dwelling, building, home, native place, family, household, race') is an irregular noun, mixing fourth and second declension nouns at the same time (especially in literature). However, in practice, it is generally declined as a regular -us stem fourth declension noun (except by the ablative singular and accusative plural, using -ō and -ōs instead).[17]
All possible declensions | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | domus | domūs |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | domum | domūs domōs |
Genitive | domūs domī | domuum domōrum |
Dative | domuī domū domō | domibus |
Ablative | domū domō | |
Locative | domī | |
Most common paradigm | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | domus | domūs |
Vocative | ||
Accusative | domum | domōs |
Genitive | domūs | domuum |
Dative | domuī | domibus |
Ablative | domō | |
Locative | domī | |
The fifth declension is a small group of nouns consisting of mostly feminine nouns like ('affair, matter, thing') and diēs, diēī ('day'; but in names of days). Each noun has either the ending -ēī or -eī as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form.
-iēs ending nouns | -ēs ending nouns | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||
Nominative | rowspan="2" | -iēs | -iēs | rowspan="2" | -ēs | -ēs |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | -iem | -em | ||||
Genitive | -iēī | -iērum | -eī | -ērum | ||
Dative | -iēbus | -ēbus | ||||
Ablative | -iē | -ē | ||||
Locative | Abl. | Abl. | Abl. | Abl. | ||
day, | thing | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | diēs | diēs | rēs | rēs |
Vocative | ||||
Accusative | diem | rem | ||
Genitive | diēī | diērum | reī | rērum |
Dative | diēbus | rēbus | ||
Ablative | diē | rē |
The locative ending of the fifth declension was -ē (singular only), identical to the ablative singular, as in ('today').
The first and second persons are irregular, and both pronouns are indeclinable for gender; and the third person reflexive pronoun sē, suī always refers back to the subject, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.
First Person | Second Person | Third Person | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
, I, we | , you | himself, herself, itself, oneself, themselves | ||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | ego egō | nōs | tū | vōs | — | |
Accusative | mē | tē | sē sēsē | |||
Genitive complements | meī | nostrī | tuī | vestrī | suī | |
Genitive partitive | — | nostrum | — | vestrum | — | |
Dative | mihi mihī | nōbīs | tibi tibī | vōbīs | sibi sibī | |
Ablative | mē | tē | sē sēsē | |||
The genitive forms,,,, are used as complements in certain grammatical constructions, whereas, are used with a partitive meaning ('[one] of us', '[one] of you'). To express possession, the possessive pronouns (essentially adjectives),,, are used, declined in the first and second declensions to agree in number and case with the thing possessed, e.g. pater meus 'my father', māter mea 'my mother'. The vocative singular masculine of meus is mī: mī Attice 'my dear Atticus'.[18]
my, mine | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | meus | mea | meum | meī | meae | mea |
Vocative | mī (& meus) | |||||
Accusative | meum | meam | meōs | meās | ||
Genitive | meī | meae | meī | meōrum | meārum | meōrum |
Dative | meō | meō | meīs | |||
Ablative | meā | |||||
your, yours (for singular possessor) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | tuus | tua | tuum | tuī | tuae | tua |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | tuum | tuam | tuōs | tuās | ||
Genitive | tuī | tuae | tuī | tuōrum | tuārum | tuōrum |
Dative | tuō | tuō | tuīs | |||
Ablative | tuā | |||||
his, her, its, theirs (reflexive) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | suus | sua | suum | suī | suae | sua |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | suum | suam | suōs | suās | ||
Genitive | suī | suae | suī | suōrum | suārum | suōrum |
Dative | suō | suō | suīs | |||
Ablative | suā | |||||
our, ours | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | noster | nostra | nostrum | nostrī | nostrae | nostra |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | nostrum | nostram | nostrōs | nostrās | ||
Genitive | nostrī | nostrae | nostrī | nostrōrum | nostrārum | nostrōrum |
Dative | nostrō | nostrō | nostrīs | |||
Ablative | nostrā | |||||
The possessive adjective vester has an archaic variant, voster; similar to noster. Vocative of meus is usually mī, and rarely meus also, like the nominative.
your, yours (for plural possessor) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | vester voster | vestra vostra | vestrum vostrum | vestrī vostrī | vestrae vostrae | vestra vostra |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | vestrum vostrum | vestram vostram | vestrōs vostrōs | vestrās vostrās | ||
Genitive | vestrī vostrī | vestrae vostrae | vestrī vostrī | vestrōrum vostrōrum | vestrārum vostrārum | vestrōrum vostrōrum |
Dative | vestrō vostrō | vestrō vostrō | vestrīs vostrīs | |||
Ablative | vestrā vostrā | |||||
Usually, to show the ablative of accompaniment, would be added to the ablative form. However, with personal pronouns (first and second person), the reflexive and the interrogative, -cum is added onto the end of the ablative form. That is: 'with me', 'with us', 'with you',, and (sometimes).
Pronouns have also an emphatic form bi using the suffix -met (/,,), used in all cases, except by the genitive plural forms.
In accusative case, the forms mēmē and tētē exist as emphatic, but they are not widely used.
has a possessive adjective:, meaning 'his/her/its/their own':
Patrem suum numquam vīderat. (Cicero)[19]
"He had never seen his [own] father."
When 'his' or 'her' refers to someone else, not the subject, the genitive pronoun eius (as well as eōrum and eārum) 'of him' is used instead of suus:
Fit obviam Clodiō ante fundum eius. (Cicero)[20]
"He met Clodius in front of the latter's farm."
When one sentence is embedded inside another with a different subject, sē and suus can refer to either subject:
Patrēs conscrīptī ... lēgātōs in Bīthȳniam miserunt quī ab rēge peterent, nē inimīcissimum suum secum haberet sibique dēderet. (Nepos)[21]
"The senators ... sent ambassadors to Bithynia, who were to ask the king not to keep their greatest enemy with him but hand him over to them."
For the third-person pronoun 'he', see below.
Relative, demonstrative and indefinite pronouns are generally declined like first and second declension adjectives, with the following differences:
These differences characterize the pronominal declension, and a few special adjectives ('whole', 'alone', 'one', 'no', 'another', 'another [of two]', etc.) are also declined according to this pattern.
All demonstrative, relative, and indefinite pronouns in Latin can also be used adjectivally, with some small differences; for example in the interrogative pronoun, 'who?' and 'what?' are usually used for the pronominal form, and 'which?' for the adjectival form.
The weak demonstrative pronoun,, 'that' also serves as the third person pronoun 'he, she, it':
Third person | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
he, she, it | ||||||
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | is | ea | id | eī iī | eae | ea |
Accusative | eum | eam | eōs | eās | ||
Genitive | eius | eōrum | eārum | eōrum | ||
Dative | eī | eīs iīs | ||||
Ablative | eō | eā | eō | |||
This pronoun is also often used adjectivally, e.g. is homo 'that man', ea pecunia 'that money'. It has no possessive adjective; the genitive is used instead: pater eius 'his/her father'; pater eōrum 'their father'.
The pronoun or pronominal adjective means 'the same'. It is derived from is with the suffix -dem. However, some forms have been assimilated.
the same, same as | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | īdem | eadem | idem | eīdem īdem iīdem | eaedem | eadem |
Accusative | eundem | eandem | eōsdem | eāsdem | ||
Genitive | eiusdem | eōrundem | eārundem | eōrundem | ||
Dative | eīdem | eīsdem īsdem iīsdem | ||||
Ablative | eōdem | eādem | eōdem | |||
this, this one (proximal) | that, that one (distal) | that of yours (medial) | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | hic | haec | hoc | hī | hae | haec | ille | illa | illud | illī | illae | illa | iste | ista | istud | istī | istae | ista |
Accusative | hunc | hanc | hōs | hās | illum | illam | illōs | illās | istum | istam | istōs | istās | ||||||
Genitive | huius | hōrum | hārum | hōrum | illīus | illōrum | illārum | illōrum | istīus | istōrum | istārum | istōrum | ||||||
Dative | huic | hīs | illī | illīs | istī | istīs | ||||||||||||
Ablative | hōc | hāc | hōc | illō | illā | illō | istō | istā | istō | |||||||||
Similar in declension is 'another'.
himself, herself, itself | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ipse | ipsa | ipsum | ipsī | ipsae | ipsa |
Accusative | ipsum | ipsam | ipsōs | ipsās | ||
Genitive | ipsīus | ipsōrum | ipsārum | ipsōrum | ||
Dative | ipsī | ipsīs | ||||
Ablative | ipsō | ipsā | ipsō | |||
The interrogative pronouns are used strictly for asking questions. They are distinct from the relative pronoun and the interrogative adjective (which is declined like the relative pronoun). Interrogative pronouns rarely occur in the plural. The plural interrogative pronouns are the same as the plural relative pronouns.
who?, what? | ||
Masculine &<br />Feminine | Neuter | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | quis? | quid? |
Accusative | quem? | |
Genitive | cuius? | |
Dative | cui? | |
Ablative | quō? | |
who, which, that | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | quī | quae | quod | quī | quae | quae |
Accusative | quem | quam | quōs | quās | ||
Genitive | cuius | quōrum | quārum | quōrum | ||
Dative | cui | quibus | ||||
Ablative | quō | quā | quō | |||
First- and second-declension adjectives 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, some adjectives are given like .
Adjectives ending -ius use the vocative -ie (ēbrie, "[O] drunk man", vocative of ēbrius), just as in Old Latin all -ius nouns did (fīlie, "[O] son", archaic vocative of fīlius).
high, long, tall | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | altus | alta | altum | altī | altae | alta |
Vocative | alte | |||||
Accusative | altum | altam | altōs | altās | ||
Genitive | altī | altae | altī | altōrum | altārum | altōrum |
Dative | altō | altō | altīs | |||
Ablative | altā | |||||
Some first- and second-declension adjectives' masculine forms end in -er. As with second-declension -r nouns, some adjectives retain the e throughout inflection, and some omit it. omits its e while keeps it.
sad, poor, unhappy | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | miser | misera | miserum | miserī | miserae | misera |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | miserum | miseram | miserōs | miserās | ||
Genitive | miserī | miserae | miserī | miserōrum | miserārum | miserōrum |
Dative | miserō | miserō | miserīs | |||
Ablative | miserā | |||||
sacred, holy | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | sacer | sacra | sacrum | sacrī | sacrae | sacra |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | sacrum | sacram | sacrōs | sacrās | ||
Genitive | sacrī | sacrae | sacrī | sacrōrum | sacrārum | sacrōrum |
Dative | sacrō | sacrō | sacrīs | |||
Ablative | sacrā | |||||
Nine first and second declension pronominal adjectives are irregular in the genitive and the dative in all genders. They can be remembered by using the mnemonic acronym ūnus nauta. They are:
any | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ūllus | ūlla | ūllum | ūllī | ūllae | ūlla |
Accusative | ūllum | ūllam | ūllōs | ūllās | ||
Genitive | ūllīus | ūllōrum | ūllārum | ūllōrum | ||
Dative | ūllī | ūllīs | ||||
Ablative | ūllō | ūllā | ūllō | |||
Third-declension adjectives are normally declined like third-declension i-stem nouns, except for the fact they usually have -ī rather than -e in the ablative singular (unlike i-stem nouns, in which only pure i-stems have -ī). Some adjectives, however, like the one-ending ('old, aged'), have -e in the ablative singular, -um in the genitive plural, and -a in the nominative and accusative neuter plural.
These have a single nominative ending for all genders, although as usual the endings for the other cases vary. As with nouns, a genitive is given for the purpose of showing the inflection.
terrible, mean, cruel | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | atrōx | atrōx | atrōcēs | atrōcia | ||
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | atrōcem | atrōcēs atrōcīs | ||||
Genitive | atrōcis | atrōcium | ||||
Dative | atrōcī | atrōcibus | ||||
Ablative | ||||||
old, aged | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | vetus | vetus | veterēs | vetera | ||
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | veterem | |||||
Genitive | veteris | veterum | ||||
Dative | veterī | veteribus | ||||
Ablative | vetere | |||||
Third-declension adjectives that have two 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. It is not necessary to give the genitive, as it is the same as the nominative masculine singular.
nimble, swift | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | agilis | agile | agilēs | agilia | ||
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | agilem | agilēs agilīs | ||||
Genitive | agilis | agilium | ||||
Dative | agilī | agilibus | ||||
Ablative | ||||||
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 -er. The feminine ends in -ris, and the neuter ends in -re. The genitive is the same as the nominative feminine singular.
swift, rapid, brash | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | celer | celeris | celere | celerēs | celeria | |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | celerem | |||||
Genitive | celeris | celerium | ||||
Dative | celerī | celeribus | ||||
Ablative |
lively, jovial, animated | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | alacer | alacris | alacre | alacrēs | alacria | |
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | alacrem | alacrēs alacrīs | ||||
Genitive | alacris | alacrium | ||||
Dative | alacrī | alacribus | ||||
Ablative |
As in English, adjectives have superlative and comparative forms. For regular first and second declension and third declension adjectives with one or two endings, the comparative is formed by adding -ior for the masculine and feminine, and -ius for the neuter to the stem. The genitives for both are formed by adding -iōris. Therefore, they are declined in the third declension, but they are not declined as i-stems. Superlatives are formed by adding -issimus, -issima, -issimum to the stem and are thus declined like first and second declension adjectives.
higher, deeper (comparative of) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | altior | altius | altiōrēs | altiōra | ||
Vocative | ||||||
Accusative | altiōrem | |||||
Genitive | altiōris | altiōrum | ||||
Dative | altiōrī | altiōribus | ||||
Ablative | altiōre | |||||
highest, deepest (superlative of) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | altissimus | altissima | altissimum | altissimī | altissimae | altissima |
Vocative | altissime | |||||
Accusative | altissimum | altissimam | altissimōs | altissimās | ||
Genitive | altissimī | altissimae | altissimī | altissimōrum | altissimārum | altissimōrum |
Dative | altissimō | altissimō | altissimīs | |||
Ablative | altissimā | |||||
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('clear, bright, famous') | |||
('cold, chilly') | |||
('pugnacious') | |||
('kind, benevolent') | |||
('strong, robust') | |||
('equal, even') |
Adjectives (in the first and second as well as third declensions) that have masculine nominative singular forms ending in -er are slightly different. As with normal adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding -ior to the stem, but for the superlative, -rimus is added to the nominative masculine singular.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('pretty, beautiful') | |||
('sacred, holy') | |||
('delicate, tender') | |||
('valliant, fierce') | |||
('celebrated, famous') | |||
('quick, fast') |
Some third declension adjectives with two endings in -lis in the masculine–feminine nominative singular have irregular superlative forms. The following are the only adjectives that do.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('easy') | |||
('hard, difficult') | |||
('similar, like) | |||
('unlike, dissimilar') | |||
('slender, slim') | |||
('low, humble') |
First and second declension adjectives that end in -eus or -ius are unusual in that they do not form the comparative and superlative by taking endings at all. Instead, ('more') and ('most'), the comparative and superlative degrees of ('much, greatly'), respectively, are used.
Many adjectives in -uus, except those in -quus or -guus, also follow this rule.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('suitable, fitting, proper') | magis idōneus | maximē idōneus | |
('solitary, lonely') | magis sōlitārius | maximē sōlitārius | |
('drunk') | magis ebrius | maximē ebrius | |
('meritorious') | magis meritōrius | maximē meritōrius | |
('grassy') | magis grāmineus | maximē grāmineus | |
('warlike, bellicose') | magis bellātōrius | maximē bellātōrius | |
('lofty, steep') | magis arduus | maximē arduus |
As in most languages, Latin has adjectives that have irregular comparatives and superlatives.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('good') | ('better') | ('best') | |
('bad, evil') | ('worse') | ('worst') | |
('great, large') | ('greater') | ('greatest') | |
('small, slight') | ('lesser') | ('least') | |
('much, many') | ('more') | ('most') | |
('near, close') | ('nearer') | ('nearest, next') | |
('ripe, mature') | ('riper') | ('ripest') | |
('worthless') | ('more worthless') | ('most worthless') | |
('next, future') | ('later') | ('last, latest') | |
('above') | ('upper') | ('uppermost') | |
('outward') | ('outer') | ('outermost') | |
('below') | ('lower') | ('lowest') | |
('old, aged') | ('older, elder') | ('oldest, eldest') | |
('young, youthful') | ('younger') | ('youngest') |
See also: Roman numerals and Latin numerals (linguistics).
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, e.g., distributive numerals and adverbial numerals.
All cardinal numerals are indeclinable, except ('one'), ('two'), ('three'), plural hundreds ('two hundred'), ('three hundred') etc., and ('thousand'), which have cases and genders like adjectives. is declined like a first- and second-declension pronoun with -īus or -ius in the genitive, and -ī in the dative. is declined irregularly, is declined like a third-declension plural adjective, -centī ('hundred') numerals decline like first- and second-declension adjectives, and is invariable in the singular and declined like a third-declension i-stem neuter noun in the plural:
The plural endings for ūnus are used with plūrālia tantum nouns, e. g. ūna castra (one [military] camp), ūnae scālae (one ladder).
one | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ūnus | ūna | ūnum | ūnī | ūnae | ūna |
Vocative | ūne | |||||
Accusative | ūnum | ūnam | ūnōs | ūnās | ||
Genitive | ūnīus / ūnius | ūnōrum | ūnārum | ūnōrum | ||
Dative | ūnī | ūnīs | ||||
Ablative | ūnō | ūnā | ūnō | |||
The word ('both'), is declined like duo except that its o is long. Both declensions derive from the Indo-European dual number, otherwise defunct in Latin, rather than the plural.
two | |||
Plural | |||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | duo | duae | duo |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | duōs duo | duās | |
Genitive | duōrum | duārum | duōrum |
Dative | duōbus | duābus | duōbus |
Ablative | |||
both | |||
Plural | |||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ambō | ambae | ambō |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | ambōs ambō | ambās | |
Genitive | ambōrum | ambārum | ambōrum |
Dative | ambōbus | ambābus | ambōbus |
Ablative | |||
three | |||
Plural | |||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | trēs | tria | |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | trēs / trīs | ||
Genitive | trium | ||
Dative | tribus | ||
Ablative | |||
The numeral ('one hundred') is indeclinable, but all the other hundred numerals are declinable .
two hundred | |||
Plural | |||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ducentī | ducentae | ducenta |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | ducentōs | ducentās | |
Genitive | ducentōrum | ducentārum | ducentōrum |
Dative | ducentīs | ||
Ablative | |||
The word mīlle 'thousand' is a singular indeclinable adjective. However, its plural, mīlia, is a plural third-declension i-stem neuter noun. To write the phrase "four thousand horses" in Latin, the genitive is used: quattuor mīlia equōrum, literally, "four thousands of horses".
(one) thousand | x thousand, thousands | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | mīlle | mīlia mīllia | -ia |
Vocative | |||
Accusative | |||
Genitive | mīlium mīllium | -ium | |
Dative | mīlibus mīllibus | -ibus | |
Ablative | |||
The rest of the numbers are indeclinable whether used as adjectives or as nouns.
For further information on the different sets of Latin numerals, see Latin numerals (linguistics).
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 are formed by adding -ē onto their stems.
Adjective | Adverb | |
---|---|---|
('clear, famous') | ('clearly, famously') | |
('strong, robust') | ('strongly, robustly') | |
('weak') | ('weakly') | |
('complete, firm') | ('completely, firmly') | |
('whole, fresh') | ('wholly, freshly') | |
('free') | ('freely') |
Typically, third declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding -iter to the stem. However, most third declension adjectives with one ending simply add -er to the stem.
Adjective | Adverb |
---|---|
('prudent') | ('prudently') |
('bold') | ('boldly') |
('courageous, spirited') | ('courageously, spiritedly') |
('wholesome') | ('wholesomely') |
Adverbs' comparative forms are identical to the nominative neuter singular of the corresponding comparative adjective. Adverbs' superlative forms are simply formed by attaching the regular ending -ē to the corresponding superlative adjective. As with their corresponding adjectival forms, first and second declensions adjectives ending in -eus or -ius use and as opposed to distinct endings.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('clearly, famously') | |||
('completely, firmly') | |||
('suitably, properly') | magis idōneē | maximē idōneē | |
('prudently') | |||
('wholesomely') |
As with adjectives, there are irregular adverbs with peculiar comparative and superlative forms.
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
---|---|---|---|
('well') | ('better') | ('best') | |
('badly, ill') | ('worse') | ('worst') | |
('greatly') | ('more') | ('most') | |
('much, a lot') | ('more') | ('most') | |
('little') | ('less') | ('least') | |
('worthlessly') | ('more worthlessly') | ('most worthlessly') | |
('often') | ('more often') | ('most often') | |
('seasonably, betimes') | ('more seasonably') | ('most seasonably') | |
('near') | ('nearer') | ('nearest, next') | |
('recently') | — | ('most recently, previously') | |
('possible') | ('rather') | ('especially') | |
— | ('before, previously') | ('first') | |
('otherwise') | ('less') | — |
Some nouns are only used in the singular (singulare tantum) such as:
Some nouns are only used in the plural (plurale tantum), or when plural have a singular meaning such as:
Indeclinable nouns are nouns which only have one form in all cases (of the singular).
Heterogeneous nouns are nouns which vary in respect to gender.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
('bath') | balneae or balnea ('bathhouse') | |
('feast, banquet') | epulae ('feast, banquet') | |
('bridle, curb') | frēnī bridle, curb | |
('joke, jest') | ioca or ioci ('jokes, fun') | |
('place, location') | loca ('region'); locī ('places in books, arguments') | |
('hoe, rake') | rāstrī ('hoes, rakes') |
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
('building, temple') | ('rooms, house') | |
('help, aid') | ('auxiliary troops') | |
('prison, cell') | ('starting traps') | |
('fort, castle, fortress') | ('military camp, encampment') | |
('plenty, much, abundance') | ('troops') | |
('luck, chance') | ('wealth, fortune') | |
('charm, favor') | ('thanks') | |
('impediment, hindrance') | ('baggage, baggage train') | |
('letter [alphabet]') | ('letter [message], epistle, scholarship, literature') | |
('habit, inclination') | ('morals, character') | |
('trouble, pains') | ('workmen') | |
('help') | ('resources, wealth') | |
('part, piece') | ('office, function') |