Latin declension

fr:Déclinaisons latines la:declinatio 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

1 Grammatical cases 2 Syncretic trends 3 Noun declensions 3.1 First declension (a) 3.2 Second declension (o) 3.3 Third declension (mixed) 3.4 Fourth declension (u) 3.5 Fifth declension (e) 4 Adjective declensions 5 Pronoun declensions 5.1 Demonstrative Pronouns 5.2 Personal Pronouns 6 See also

Grammatical cases

A complete declension 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.
• The genitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the preposition of is used to denote this case.
• The dative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to and for most commonly denote this case.
• The accusative case, which expresses the direct object of a verb.
• The ablative case, which expresses separation, indirection, or the means by which an action is performed. In English, the prepositions by, with, and from most commonly denote 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. Its use is marginal and uncommon.

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 of the third declsion.
• 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- and second-declension nouns.
• 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 ends in a long vowel plus -s; so does the nominative plural of the third, fourth and fifth declensions.

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!	(The) 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	Puellae!	(The) 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	–e	Verbe!	(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	–ī	Verbī!	(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	–e	Agre!	(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.

        Example I, words with no particular ending for nominative singular (paradigma masculine rex - king)

Latin Noun Case: Third Declension
Singular
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	-	-	rex	king
Vocative	-	-	rex	king!
Genitive	is	-of	rēgis	of the king
Dative	ī	-to, -for	rēgī	to the king
Accusative	em	-	rēgem	the king
Ablative	e	-with, -by	rēge	with the king
Plural
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	ēs	-	rēgēs	kings
Vocative	ēs	-	rēgēs	kings!
Genitive	um	-of	regum	of the kings
Dative	ibus	-to, -for	rēgibus	to the kings
Accusative	ēs	-	regēs	the kings
Ablative	ibus	-with, -by	regibus	with the kings

        Example II, words with no particular ending for nominative singular (paradigma neuter nomen - name)

Latin Noun Case: Third Declension
Singular
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	-	-	nōmen	name
Vocative	-	-	nōmen	name!
Genitive	is	-of	nōminis	of the name
Dative	ī	-to, -for	nōminī	to the name
Accusative	-	-	nōmen	the name
Ablative	e	-with, -by	nōmine	with the name
Plural
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	a	-	nōmina	names
Vocative	a	-	nōmina	names!
Genitive	um	-of	nōminum	of the names
Dative	ibus	-to, -for	nōminibus	to the names
Accusative	a	-	nōmina	the names
Ablative	ibus	-with, -by	nōminibus	with the names

        Example III, i-stem nouns (paradigma masculine hostis - enemy)

Latin Noun Case: Third Declension
Singular
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	is	-	hostis	enemy
Vocative	-	-	hostis	enemy!
Genitive	is	-of	hostis	of the enemy
Dative	ī	-to, -for	hostī	to the enemy
Accusative	em/im	-	hostem/hostim	the enemy
Ablative	e/ī	-with, -by	hoste/hostī	with the enemy
Plural
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	ēs	-	hostēs	enemies
Vocative	ēs	-	hostēs	enemies!
Genitive	ium	-of	hostium	of the enemies
Dative	ibus	-to, -for	hostibus	to the enemies
Accusative	ēs/īs	-	hostēs/hostīs	the enemies
Ablative	ibus	-with, -by	hostibus	with the enemies

Fourth declension (u)

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

        Example I, nouns ending in -us(paradigma lacus -lake)

Latin Noun Case: Fourth Declension Masculine
Singular
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	us	-	lacus	the lake
Vocative	us	-	lacus!	lake!
Genitive	ūs	-of	lacūs	of the lake
Dative	uī	-to, -for	lacuī	to the lake
Accusative	um	-	lacum	the lake
Ablative	ū	-with, -by	lacū	with the lake
Plural
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	ūs	-	lacūs	of the lakes
Vocative	ūs	-	lacūs	lakes!
Genitive	uum	-of	lacuum	of the lakes
Dative	ibus	-to, -for	lacuibus	to the lakes
Accusative	ūs	-	lacūs	the lakes
Ablative	ibus	-with, -by	lacuibus	with the lakes

        Example II, neuter nouns ending in -u (paradigma cornu - horn)

Latin Noun Case: Fourth Declension Neuter
Singular
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	ū	-	cornū	the horn
Vocative	ū	-	cornū!	horn!
Genitive	ūs	-of	cornūs	of the horn
Dative	ū	-to, -for	cornū	to the horn
Accusative	ū	-	cornū	the horn
Ablative	ū	-with, -by	cornū	with the horn
Plural
Case	Suffix	English prep.	Sample	Translation
Nominative	ua	-	cornua	of the horns
Vocative	ua	-	cornua	horns!
Genitive	uum	-of	cornuum	of the horns
Dative	ibus	-to, -for	cornibus	to the horns
Accusative	ua	-	cornua	the horns
Ablative	ibus	-with, -by	cornibus	with the horns

Fifth declension (e)

Nouns of this declension end in –es and are almost always feminine. The most notable exception is dies, which is masculine.

        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	of 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	of 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

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

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	nōbis	to us
Accusative	-	nōs	us
Ablative	-with, -by	nōbis	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	vōbis	to you
Accusative	-	vōs	you
Ablative	-with, -by	vōbis	with you

See also

• Latin conjugation