Ch 2 · Lesson 6Latin · Chapter 2 · Lesson 6 · Grammar primer
Declensions: why the dictionary gives two forms
, . , . The second form is the only reliable way to know what endings a noun takes - and often the only way to find its stem.
The short version
Learn the genitive with the noun. Always.
,
Why?Hide
Every dictionary prints two forms, and , and the second is not decoration. Its ending tells you which of the five declensions the noun belongs to and therefore what endings it takes. Its stem tells you what every other form is built on. A noun learned without its genitive is a noun you can recognise and cannot use, which is why this is the most repeated advice in Latin teaching.
Neuter nouns look the same doing and receiving
,
Why?Hide
Every neuter noun in Latin has a nominative identical to its accusative, and in the plural both end -a. is war whether it is the subject or the object, and is wars either way. That saves you a good deal of memorisation and costs you the ability to tell subject from object on a neuter noun, which context has to settle instead.
Every Latin noun belongs to one of five families, the declensions, and each family has its own set of case endings. You find the family from the dictionary's second form, the genitive singular, which also gives you the stem. That is why every noun is cited twice: , , king.
| Declension | Genitive | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | -ae | , | land |
| Second | -i | , | master |
| Third | - | , | king |
| Fourth | -us | , | hand |
| Fifth | - | , | day |
The tables below leave out the vocative, because it matches the nominative everywhere except second-declension -us nouns (, O master). What each case is FOR is on the Latin cases page.
The genitive gives you the stem
Strip the genitive ending and what is left is the stem, the base every other form is built on. In the third declension the nominative hides it completely:
| Nominative | Genitive | Stem | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| | reg- | king |
| | corpor- | body |
| | nomin- | name |
| | itiner- | journey |
| | homin- | person |
| | - | head |
You could not have guessed one of those stems from the nominative, and every other case is built on the stem:
.- I see the king. (not rexem).- They say the names.
A noun learned without its genitive is a noun you can recognise and cannot use.
The first two declensions
These are the friendly ones. The first has genitive -ae and is overwhelmingly feminine: . - The land is large.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom | | |
| Acc | | |
| Gen | | |
| | |
| Abl | | |
The second has genitive -i. Its nouns in -us are mostly masculine, as in . - The master is good. Those in -um are neuter, as in , word, and , war.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom | | |
| Acc | | |
| Gen | | |
| | |
| Abl | | |
The neuter rule
Every neuter noun in Latin, in every declension, uses one form for nominative and accusative, and in the plural that form ends in -:
.- War is bad..- I see war..- Wars are bad.
That saves memorising, and it costs you the ending as a clue to subject or object: on a neuter, the verb and the other nouns have to settle it.
Going further: The third declension and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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Lesson 6 of 39 in this chapter