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Latin declension

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Latin grammar. (Discuss)

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.

Contents

Grammatical cases

A complete declenation consists of seven grammatical cases:

  • The nominative case, which is used to express the subject of a statement. It is also used with copulative verbs.
  • The vocative case, which is used to address someone or something in direct speech. This case is indicated in English by punctuation, e.g. "Mary is going to the store" (Mary is nominative) compared to "Mary, are you going to the store?" (Mary is vocative) or "Mary!"
  • The genitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the gentive case is represented analytically by the preposition of; inflectively, by the suffix "-es" (or -se, when the stem ends in a vowel - e.g., who > whose, not "whoes"). This suffix, which is the same as the Latin suffix "-is," is typically abbreviated "-'s" (e.g., Paul > Paul's, not "Paules").
  • The dative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for most commonly denote this case analytically.
  • The accusative case, which expresses 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), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
  • The ablative case, which expresses separation, indirection, or the means by which an action is performed. In English, the prepositions by, with, and from are most commonly used to indicate this case.
  • The locative case, which is used to express the place in or on which, or the time at which, an action is performed. The locative case is extremely marginal in Latin, applying only to the names of cities and small islands and to a few other isolated words, and is identical to the genitive case (in the singular of the first and second declension) and the ablative case otherwise.

The sequence of the grammatical cases above is standard in North America, and in fact goes back to Byzantine grammarians originally writing about Greek. But the presentation NOM-VOC-ACC-GEN-DAT-ABL has been the usual order in Britain and many European and Commonwealth countries since the publication of Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). This order is argued to more closely reflect the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings.

In German language Latin learner texts, however, the order NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-VOC-ABL is used, to mirror the order used for the four grammatical cases of Modern German (NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC). Likewise, in Polish textbooks the most common order is NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-ABL-VOC, which is nearly the same as order of the grammatical cases of Modern Polish.

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 –īs accusative plural ending for i-stem nominals, different from nominative –ēs).
  • 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 Aeneās is Aenea, although Aeneās 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 quī 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).

Noun declensions

There are five declensions of nouns in Latin.

First declension (a)

Nouns of this declension usually end in –a and are typically feminine. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a.

Note that Latin does not have articles and as such there is no grammatical distinction between a girl and the girl; the same word, puella, represents both.

puella (feminine), girl
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –a puella (a, the) girl
Vocative –a Puella! Girl!
Genitive –ae puellae of (a, the) girl
Dative –ae puellae to, for (a, the) girl
Accusative –am puellam (a, the) girl
Ablative –ā puellā by, with, from (a, the) girl
Plural
Nominative –ae puellae (the) girls
Vocative –ae Puellæ! Girls!
Genitive –ārum puellārum of (the) girls
Dative –īs puellīs to, for (the) girls
Accusative –ās puellās (the) girls
Ablative –īs puellīs by, with, from (the) girls

Second declension (o)

Nouns of this declension usually end in –us, –um, or –r and are typically masculine or neuter. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is o.

hortus (masculine), garden
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –us hortus (a, the) garden
Vocative –e Horte! (The) Garden!
Genitive –ī hortī of (a, the) garden
Dative –ō hortō to, for (a, the) garden
Accusative –um hortum (a, the) garden
Ablative –ō hortō by, with, from (a, the) garden
Plural
Nominative –ī hortī (the) gardens
Vocative –ī Hortī! (The) Gardens!
Genitive –ōrum hortōrum of (the) gardens
Dative –īs hortīs to, for (the) gardens
Accusative –ōs hortōs (the) gardens
Ablative –īs hortīs by, with, from (the) gardens


verbum (neuter), word
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –um verbum (a, the) word
Vocative –um Verbum! (The) Word!
Genitive –ī verbī of (a, the) word
Dative –ō verbō to, for (a, the) word
Accusative –um verbum (a, the) word
Ablative –ō verbō by, with, from (a, the) word
Plural
Nominative –a verba (the) words
Vocative –a Verba! (The) Words!
Genitive –ōrum verbōrum of (the) words
Dative –īs verbīs to, for (the) words
Accusative –a verba (the) words
Ablative –īs verbīs by, with, from (the) words


ager (m.), field
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative – ager[1] (a, the) field
Vocative – Ager! (The) Field!
Genitive –ī agrī of (a, the) field
Dative –ō agrō to, for (a, the) field
Accusative –um agrum (a, the) field
Ablative –ō agrō by, with, for (a, the) field
Plural
Nominative –ī agrī (the) fields
Vocative –ī Agrī! (The) Fields!
Genitive –ōrum agrōrum of (the) fields
Dative –īs agrīs to, for (the) fields
Accusative –ōs agrōs (the) fields
Ablative –īs agrīs by, with, from (the) fields

[1]—Note that the e in the nominative singular form was inserted to ease pronunciation and is omitted in the other cases. There are some words for which the e is part of the stem proper; for these words, the letter cannot be omitted. These include gener (m.), son-in-law; socer (m), father-in-law; puer (m.), boy; vesper (m.), evening; and līberī (m. pl.), children.

Third declension (mixed)

Nouns of this declension end in a consonant; there are feminine, masculine, and neuter nouns.

rēx (m.), king
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative – rēx (a, the) king
Vocative – Rēx! (The) King!
Genitive –is rēgis of (a, the) king
Dative –ī rēgī to, for (a, the) king
Accusative –em rēgem (a, the) king
Ablative –e rēge by, with, from (a, the) king
Plural
Nominative –ēs rēgēs (the) kings
Vocative –ēs Rēgēs! (The) Kings!
Genitive –um rēgum of (the) kings
Dative –ibus rēgibus to, for (the) kings
Accusative –ēs regēs (the) kings
Ablative –ibus rēgibus by, with, from (the) kings


nōmen (neuter), name
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative – nōmen (a, the) name
Vocative – Nōmen! (The) Name!
Genitive –is nōminis of (a, the) name
Dative –ī nōminī to, for (a, the) name
Accusative – nōmen (a, the) name
Ablative –e nōmine by, with, from (a, the) name
Plural
Nominative –a nōmina (the) names
Vocative –a Nōmina! (The) Names!
Genitive –um nōminum of (the) names
Dative –ibus nōminibus to, for (the) names
Accusative –a nōmina (the) names
Ablative –ibus nōminibus by, with, from (the) names


hostis (m.), enemy
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –is hostis (an, the) enemy
Vocative –is Hostis! (The) Enemy!
Genitive –is hostis of (an, the) enemy
Dative –ī hostī to, for (an, the) enemy
Accusative –em[1] hostem (an, the) enemy
Ablative –e[2] hoste by, with, from (an, the) enemy
Plural
Nominative –ēs hostēs (the) enemies
Vocative –ēs Hostēs! (The) Enemies!
Genitive –ium hostium of (the) enemies
Dative –ibus hostibus to, for (the) enemies
Accusative –ēs[3] hostēs (the) enemies
Ablative –ibus hostibus by, with, from (the) enemies

The following alternate endings are also possible:

  1. Accusative singular, –im, declined hostim
  2. Ablative singular, –ī, declined hostī
  3. Accusative plural, –īs, declined hostīs

Fourth declension (u)

Nouns of this declension end in (nominative ending) –us, which are usually masculine, or –ū, which are always neuter. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is u.

lacus (m.), lake
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –us lacus (a, the) lake
Vocative –us Lacus! (The) Lake!
Genitive –ūs lacūs of (a, the) lake
Dative –uī lacuī to, for (a, the) lake
Accusative –um lacum (a, the) lake
Ablative –ū lacū by, with, from (a, the) lake
Plural
Nominative –ūs lacūs (the) lakes
Vocative –ūs Lacūs! (The) Lakes!
Genitive –uum lacuum of (the) lakes
Dative –ibus lacibus to, for (the) lakes
Accusative –ūs lacūs (the) lakes
Ablative –ibus lacibus by, with, from (the) lakes


cornū (n.), horn
Case Ending Declined Form English
Singular
Nominative –ū cornū (a, the) horn
Vocative –ū Cornū! (The) Horn!
Genitive –ūs cornūs of (a, the) horn
Dative –ū cornū to, for (a, the) horn
Accusative –ū cornū (a, the) horn
Ablative –ū cornū by, with, from (a, the) horn
Plural
Nominative –ua cornua (the) horns
Vocative –ua Cornua! (The) Horns!
Genitive –uum cornuum of (the) horns
Dative –ibus cornibus to, for (the) horns
Accusative –ua cornua (the) horns
Ablative –ibus cornibus by, with, from (the) horns

Fifth declension (e)

Nouns of this declension end in –ēs and are almost always feminine.

        Example I (paradigma rēs - thing)

Latin Noun Case: Fifth Declension Feminine
Singular
Case Suffix English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative ēs - rēs the thing
Vocative ēs - rēs! thing!
Genitive eī -of reī of the thing
Dative eī -to, -for reī to the thing
Accusative em - rem the thing
Ablative ē -with, -by rē with the thing
Plural
Case Suffix English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative ēs - rēs the things
Vocative ēs - rēs things!
Genitive ērum -of rērum of the things
Dative ēbus -to, -for rēbus to the things
Accusative ēs - rēs the things
Ablative ēbus -with, -by rēbus with the things

         Example II (paradigma diēs - day )

Latin Noun Case: Fifth Declension Masculine
Singular
Case Suffix English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative ēs - diēs the day
Vocative ēs - diēs! day!
Genitive ēī -of diēī of the day
Dative ēī -to, -for diēī to the day
Accusative em - diem the day
Ablative ē -with, -by diē with the day
Plural
Case Suffix English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative ēs - diēs the days
Vocative ēs - diēs days!
Genitive ērum -of diērum of the days
Dative ēbus -to, -for diēbus to the days
Accusative ēs - diēs the days
Ablative ēbus -with, -by diēbus with the days

Note that nouns ending in iēs have long ēī in the dative and genitive, while nouns ending in a consonant + ēs have short eī in these cases.

This declension class is the last to develop in Latin; the only nouns that have the full declension are diēs and fidēs.

From rēs we get rēs pūblica, or republic: thing of the people.

Adjective declensions

Adjectives are divided into two declension classes. The first (called the "first and second declension") combines the a and o declensions of nouns, with the a endings added when the adjective is feminine, and the o forms for masculines. Neuter adjectives of this class follow the pattern for o class neuter nouns.

The other class for adjectives (called the "third declension") is similar to the third class for nouns, with the important difference that nearly all these adjectives form the ablative singular in -ī, not in -e. The nominative singular of these adjectives is also often marked for gender in various ways.

A small class of adjectives follows the "pronominal declension", described below.

Pronoun declensions

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 -ī: rather than -ae or -ō.
  • the genitive singular ends in -īus rather than -ae or -ī.

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

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronoun: is/ea/id
Case Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative is ea id eī eae ea
Genitive eius eius eius eōrum eārum eōrum
Dative eī eī eī eīs eīs eīs
Accusative eum eam id eōs eās ea
Ablative eō eā eō eīs eīs eīs


Demonstrative Pronoun: ille/illa/illud
Case Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative ille illa illud illī illae illa
Genitive illīus illīus illīus illōrum illārum illōrum
Dative illī illī illī illīs illīs illīs
Accusative illum illam illud illōs illās illa
Ablative illō illā illō illīs illīs illīs


Demonstrative Pronoun: hic/haec/hoc
Case Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative hic haec hoc hī hae haec
Genitive huius huius huius hōrum hārum hōrum
Dative huic huic huic hīs hīs hīs
Accusative hunc hanc hoc hōs hās haec
Ablative hōc hāc hōc hīs hīs hīs


Relative Pronoun: qui/quae/quod
Case Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative quī quae quod quī quae quae
Genitive cuius cuius cuius quōrum quārum quōrum
Dative cui cui cui quibus quibus quibus
Accusative quem quam quod quōs quās quae
Ablative quō quā quō quibus quibus quibus


Personal Pronouns

1st Personal Pronoun Declension
Singular
Case English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative - ego I
Genitive -of meī my
Dative -to, -for mihi to me
Accusative - mē me
Ablative -with, -by mē with me
Plural
Case English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative - nōs we
Genitive -of nostrī/um our
Dative -to, -for nōbīs to us
Accusative - nōs us
Ablative -with, -by nōbīs with us


2nd Personal Pronoun Declension
Singular
Case English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative - tū you
Genitive -of tuī your
Dative -to, -for tibi to you
Accusative - tē you
Ablative -with, -by tē with you
Plural
Case English prep. Sample Translation
Nominative - vōs you
Genitive -of vestrī/um your
Dative -to, -for vōbīs to you
Accusative - vōs you
Ablative -with, -by vōbīs with you


See also

  • Latin conjugation

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