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Lesson 4: Nouns (Part 4)

Updated: Jan 28, 2021

Learn how to determine what declension a noun is and the endings for each declension and case

Determining a Noun's Declension:


As mentioned before, all nouns are inherently in a declension (it doesn't change depending on its case). A noun's declension determines the endings it has for each case. Therefore, to determine a noun's declension, you must compare the noun's case ending to that case's ending in each declension (i.e. if you know a noun is in the nominative, compare the noun's ending to the nominative endings for each declension to determine which declension it is in). Note that multiple declensions may have the same endings for a case. In this scenario, you must then compare other endings for the cases of that noun to the endings of each declension (i.e. if the noun's nominative ending matches with multiple declension's nominative endings, then compare the genitive ending of the noun to the other declension's genitive endings).Therefore, you must know all the Latin noun endings to be able to determine what declension the noun is in.


Latin Noun Endings:


The Latin noun endings are given below:


1st Declension (M/F):

Nominative Singular: -a

Genitive Singular: -ae

Dative Singular: -ae

Accusative Singular: -am

Ablative Singular: -ā

Nominative Plural: -ae

Genitive Plural: -arum

Dative Plural: -is

Accusative Plural: -as

Ablative Plural: -is


2nd Declension (M/F):

Nominative Singular: -us

Genitive Singular: -i

Dative Singular: -o

Accusative Singular: -um

Ablative Singular: -o

Nominative Plural: -i

Genitive Plural: -orum

Dative Plural: -is

Accusative Plural: -os

Ablative Plural: -is


2nd Declension (N):

Nominative Singular: -um

Genitive Singular: -i

Dative Singular: -o

Accusative Singular: -um

Ablative Singular: -o

Nominative Plural: -a

Genitive Plural: -orum

Dative Plural: -is

Accusative Plural: -a

Ablative Plural: -is


3rd Declension (M/F):

Nominative Singular: -(-)

Genitive Singular: -is

Dative Singular: -i

Accusative Singular: -em

Ablative Singular: -e

Nominative Plural: -es

Genitive Plural: -um

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -es

Ablative Plural: -ibus


3rd Declension (M/F I-stem):

Nominative Singular: -(-)

Genitive Singular: -is

Dative Singular: -i

Accusative Singular: -em

Ablative Singular: -e

Nominative Plural: -es

Genitive Plural: -ium

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -es

Ablative Plural: -ibus


3rd Declension (N):

Nominative Singular: -(-)

Genitive Singular: -is

Dative Singular: -i

Accusative Singular: -(-)

Ablative Singular: -e

Nominative Plural: -a

Genitive Plural: -um

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -a

Ablative Plural: -ibus


3rd Declension (N I-stem):

Nominative Singular: -(-)

Genitive Singular: -is

Dative Singular: -i

Accusative Singular: -(-)

Ablative Singular: -i

Nominative Plural: -ia

Genitive Plural: -ium

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -ia

Ablative Plural: -ibus


4th Declension (M/F):

Nominative Singular: -us

Genitive Singular: -ūs

Dative Singular: -ui

Accusative Singular: -um

Ablative Singular: -ū

Nominative Plural: -ūs

Genitive Plural: -uum

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -ūs

Ablative Plural: -ibus


4th Declension (N):

Nominative Singular: -ū

Genitive Singular: -us

Dative Singular: -ū

Accusative Singular: -ū

Ablative Singular: -ū

Nominative Plural: -ua

Genitive Plural: -uum

Dative Plural: -ibus

Accusative Plural: -ua

Ablative Plural: -ibus


5th Declension (M/F):

Nominative Singular: -es

Genitive Singular: -ei

Dative Singular: -ei

Accusative Singular: -em

Ablative Singular: -e

Nominative Plural: -es

Genitive Plural: -erum

Dative Plural: -ebus

Accusative Plural: -es

Ablative Plural: -ebus


Understanding the List Above:


The list above probably looks pretty intimidating, though if you put the time in you can memorize the endings listed above. To help clarify the list above, each part of the list will be discussed. First, for most of the endings you see a dash "-" plus the ending (e.g. "a"). This means that after the stem of the noun, you add the ending. For the endings where you see a dash "-" plus "(-)" it means that the form of the noun in that case changes depending on the noun (which should be memorized when learning the noun). For the third declension neuter and neuter I-stem, there are two endings where you see a dash "-" plus "(-)" (in the nominative and accusative). This means that for those two cases, they will have the same ending (though, remember that you will have the memorize that ending since it doesn't always follow a pattern).


You can get the stem of a noun by removing the ending of the genitive form of the noun (you use the genitive because sometimes the ending of the nominative and the other cases is different).Also, endings also depends on the nouns number (i.e. whether the noun is singular or plural). Another aspect of the list above is the noun's gender. There are different endings for a declension depending on if a noun is masculine or feminine (M/F) or Neuter (N). Note that all nouns have a gender, which must be memorized when learning the noun.


Also, in the list above is the term "I-stem." Some Latin 3rd declension nouns are I-stems which means that some of their endings for certain cases are different. This must be memorized when learning the noun. The are long marks above some letters in the endings above. It is important to include these long marks because they help distinguish between cases. However, you may notice that some cases have the same endings as others and you may wonder how you distinguish the cases then. At that point, you must used the context of the sentence to do so.


You may be wondering where the vocative case is. The vocative has the same endings as the nominative, except if the nominative of the noun ends with a "us" or a "ius." Then, the nouns ending would be "e" (for nouns that end with "us") and "i" (for nouns that end with "ius").


Note: There are exceptions in Latin. So, there are a few nouns where the endings don't exactly match up to the endings given above (an example of this will be given in the vocabulary section below)


How You Will Learn Latin Nouns:


When you are given a Latin noun, they will be provided to you in the form of the noun in the nominative plus the genitive ending (though sometimes it is the entire genitive form of the noun, not just the ending. This will happen if the stem of the noun changes from the nominative to the other cases. This will be explained in greater detail below) plus its gender plus the English meaning.


Finding the Stem of a Noun:


To help you learn how to find the stem of a noun, an example will be given here. The word "puella" means "girl". "Puella" is the nominative form of the noun. The genitive form would be "puellae". So, if you take the genitive ending off the noun ("ae") you will get the stem, "puell". It is to the stem of the noun that you add all the endings. In general, you will learn nouns in the form of its nominative plus a dash (which represents the stem of the noun) plus the ending of the genitive (though if the stem if different between the nominative and genitive, then you will be given the entire genitive form rather than a dash and the ending). For example, you would learn "puella" as "puella, -ae". In this case, because the stem of the noun is the same in the nominative and genitive, a dash is put for the genitive form.


However, there are many cases where the nominative singular and genitive have different stems. In those cases, the entire genitive form will be given and you should get the stem of the genitive form (by removing the genitive ending) because it is the genitive stem which will be used for adding the endings of the remaining cases (as well as for nominative plural. This case usually applies to third declension nouns). For example, "pater" means "father". When learning this noun, you will learn it as "pater, patris". The reason for this is because the stem of the nominative is different than the stem of the genitive (note that for third declension neuter and I-stem, the nominative and accusative singular endings are the same). To get the stem, remove the genitive ending ("is") from the genitive form. The stem is "patr".


Conclusion:

It may seem like there is way too much to memorize when learning about nouns. However, by spending some time learning the endings above and time practicing Latin, you will get used to memorizing certain aspects of nouns and it will become second nature to you. At this point, just focus and getting the endings down and being able to quickly determine the case and declension of a noun from its ending.


Vocabulary:


This is the first Latin vocabulary you will learn! Since you are currently learning about nouns, all the vocabulary here will be nouns. The nouns given below are first/second/third declension nouns.


puella, -ae (F) : girl

femina, -ae (F): woman

puer, pueri (M): boy (This is an exception because the nominative ending does not match the pattern. It is a 2nd declension noun though it doesn't begin with "us")

vir, viri (M): man (This is also an exception. It is a 2nd declension noun)

familia, -ae (F): family

pater, patris (M): father (This is a third declension noun, so the nominative ending will change depending on the noun. Remember to use the genitive to get the stem.)

mater, matris (F): mother (This is also a third declension noun)

servus, -i (M): slave (Slaves were very present in Roman history, thus the word is commonly used and important to know)

ancilla, -ae (F): slave woman

filius, -i (M): son

filia, -ae (F): daughter

dominus, -i (M): master

domina, -ae (F): female master




Exercises:


Decline (put the noun in every case) the following nouns (this means add the necessary endings for each case and number):


Puella

Servus

Pater


Name the case (if it is more than one case, name all of them), number, and declension following underlined nouns (some of these nouns you may not know...that is the challenge!):


Dominorum

Nautae (Note: for this example, treat it as if it were plural. Also note that it is not 3rd declension)

Ancillā

Matris

Canes (Note: the dative singular would be cani)

Dona (Note: for this example, treat it as if it were plural. Also note that it is not 3rd declension)


Solutions:


Singular

Nominative: Puella

Genitive: Puellae

Dative: Puellae

Accusative: Puellam

Ablative: Puellā

Vocative: Puella

Plural

Nominative: Puellae

Genitive: Puellarum

Dative: Puellis

Accusative: Puellas

Ablative: Puellis

Vocative: Puellae


Singular

Nominative: Servus

Genitive: Servi

Dative: Servo

Accusative: Servum

Ablative: Servo

Vocative: Serve

Plural

Nominative: Servi

Genitive: Servorum

Dative: Servis

Accusative: Servos

Ablative: Servis

Vocative: Servi


Singular

Nominative: Pater

Genitive: Patri

Dative: Patro

Accusative: Patrum

Ablative: Patro

Vocative: Pater

Plural

Nominative: Patri

Genitive: Patrorum

Dative: Patris

Accusative: Patros

Ablative: Patris

Vocative: Patri


Second Declension, Genitive, Plural


First Declension, Genitive/Dative, Singular


First Declension, Ablative, Singular


Second Declension, Dative/Ablative, Plural


Third Declension, Nominative/Accusative, Plural


Second Declension, Nominative/Accusative, Plural

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