Ch 2 · Lesson 18Latin · Chapter 2 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
Adjectives and agreement: bonus, bona, bonum
An adjective agrees with its noun in case, number and gender. The first family, , , , recycles endings you already know, -er adjectives like included.
The short version
Agreement is case, number and gender. Not declension.
,
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is correct even though the two words look nothing alike, because both are feminine nominative singular and that is all agreement asks for. is correct too, a third-declension adjective sitting on a second-declension noun, both ablative singular masculine. Stop expecting adjectives to rhyme with their nouns. The endings that match grammatically are the rule; the endings that also match in sound are a coincidence of the first two declensions.
A Latin adjective agrees with its noun in case, number and gender, and in nothing else. It does not have to share the noun's declension, so the two often look nothing alike: , a great part, is perfect Latin because both words are feminine.
The two families on one screen
| Family | Dictionary form | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| One | , , | | a good man |
| One | , , | | a good road |
| One | , , | | a good word |
| Two | , | | every person |
| Two | , | | every body |
| Two | , | | a huge city |
Family one has three nominatives, family two has two (or, in the one-ending type, a single one). Either way, the ending follows the noun's gender.
- feles
Domus looks like dominus but is feminine, so the white house is alba; the dog is masculine, albus. Niger drops its e in the feminine: the black cat is nigra.
Family one: bonus, bona, bonum
The masculine is , the feminine is , the neuter is : nothing new to learn. Singular:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | | | |
| Acc | | | |
| Gen | | | |
| | | |
| Abl | | | |
Plural:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | | | |
| Acc | | | |
| Gen | | | |
| | | |
| Abl | | | |
.- The master is good..- The land is large..- He says many words.
Most of the common adjectives run this way:
| Adjective | English | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| great, big | | a great city |
| much, many | | many people |
| bad | | a bad man |
| new | | a new temple |
| small | | a small son |
| long | | a long road |
The -er adjectives
A handful of family-one adjectives have a masculine in -er. The feminine tells you whether the e survives: keeps it, drops it.
| Masculine | Feminine | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | wretched people |
| | | the sacred road |
| | | our Father |
| | | a beautiful girl |
Going further: Family two: fortis, forte and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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Lesson 18 of 39 in this chapter