Case Constructions

Subject Nominative

• The person or thing that performs the action of the verb

• puella puerum amat - the girl loves the boy

Predicate Nominative/Adjective

• A noun that renames or describes the subject

• puella est discipula / pulchra. - the girl is a student/ beautiful

Genitive of Possession

• Used to show ownership or possession

• puella puerum agricolae amat - the girl loves the boy of the farmer/ farmer’s boy (dont use apostrophes if u dont know how)

Genitive of Quality/Characteristic

• Used to describe character, quality, or size

• femina magnae sapientiae - a woman of great wisdom

Genitive of the Whole (Partitive Genitive)

• Used to designate part of the whole

• pars urbis - part of the city

• satis vini - enough of wine (enough wine)

• nemo amicorum meorum - no one of my friends (none of my friends)

Accusative Direct Object

• The person or thing which receives the action of the verb

• puella donum dat - the girl gives the gift

Accusative of Limit of Motion

• Uses the prepositions "ad" and "in" to limit the motion of a verb

• puella ad villam ambulat - the girl walks to the house

Accusative of Duration

• Used to indicate for how long a period of time an action occurs

• multos annos vixit - he lived for many years

• paucas horas manebit - he will stay for a few hours

Ablative of Place where/in which

• Uses the preposition "in" to denote the place where an action or event occurs.

• puella in via stat - the girl stands in the street

Ablative of Place from which

• Uses the prepositions "e, ex, ab" to denote movement from a place.

• puella e villa ambulat - the girl walks from the house

Ablative of Accompaniment

• Uses the preposition "cum" to denote the person that accompanies the action of a verb.

• puella cum puero ambulat - the girl walks with the boy

Ablative of Personal Agent

Consists of a passive verb and the preposition "a/ab" followed by a person; translated with the word "by."

Ablative of Means/Instrument

Describes with what means or instrument an action is done; no preposition accompanies this construction.

Ablative of Manner

Describes how or in what manner an action is done; the preposition "cum" is usually present when the noun is modified by an adjective.

Ablative of Time When or At Which

Describes the time when or at which an event happened; accompanied by nouns indicating measurement of time with no preposition.

Vocative Case

Used for direct address, such as "agricolae, oppidum occupate" (Farmers, seize the town).

Dative Indirect Object

Denotes the person or thing to whom something is given, shown, said or done.

Dative with compound verbs

Used with many verbs compounded with prefixes such as ad, ante, con, in, inter, ob, post, prae, pro, sub, super and circum.

Dative of Possession

The use of the dative with "esse" and similar words to denote possession.

Dative of Agent

Used with the gerundive to denote the person on whom the necessity rests.

Dative of Purpose

The use of an abstract noun in the dative to show for what a thing serves or what it accomplishes.

Dative of Reference/Interest

Also called Dative of Advantage/Disadvantage, it denotes the person for whose benefit or disadvantage an action is performed.

Double Dative

A combination of a dative of reference with a dative of purpose.

Ethical Dative

A special use typically involving personal pronouns to express emotional involvement or interest in an action.