Grammar: Nouns and Noun-Adjacent - LATIN 111 and 112

What does a noun do?

“names” or identifies a person, place, or thing, either generally or specifically

can be abstract or concrete

decline nouns (and adjectives) by adding the ending to the base

Preposition

usually “positioned before” a noun or pronoun (its “object”), forming with that object a prepositional phrase that modifies either a noun, a verb, or some other word in the sentence

What cases do prepositions generally take as objects?

ablative case or the accusative case, though a few can take both cases (with different shades of meaning, though)

Grammar Entries for Nouns and Adjectives

Noun: nominative and genitive singular forms

Adjective: masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative singular forms

How to find the base of a noun or adjective

Noun: drop the GENITIVE ending

Adjective: drop the FEMININE ending

Gender of First Declension Nouns

most are feminine, but there are a few nouns denoting individuals engaged in what were among the Romans traditionally male occupations, and these nouns are masculine

Gender of Second Declension Nouns

regularly either masculine or neuter

Subgroups of Masculine Second Declension Nouns

• Most second declension masculines have a nominative singular ending in -us, while a few end in -er.

• Masculines in -er

  • some retain the -e- in the base

  • most drop the -e-

  • pay attention to the genitive!

• Unique -ir masculine vir, virī, m.

• only in the singular of -us nouns and adjectives of the second declension does the vocative ever differ in spelling from the nominative!

• Nouns in -ius and the adjective meus have a single ī in the vocative singular!

• NOTE: only exception to vocatives matching the nominative is the sg voc and nom of second declension -us/-ius words!

Neuter/masculine nouns with the base ending in -i- (genitive singular option)

In the genitive singular of neuter and masculine nouns with a base ending in -i-, the Romans sometimes dropped that vowel (ex: fīlī for fīliī or cōnsilī for cōnsiliī). In this book/class, the stem vowel is regularly retained.

Gender of Third Declension Nouns

this declension contains nouns of all three genders

Traits of the Third Declension

• great variety of nom sg endings

• genitive sg = -is

• add the endings to the base (find base by dropping the genitive sg -is)

• vocative is identical to nominative

• “norm” is the consonant stem

Gender of Nouns, Generally (pertaining mostly to the 3rd declension)

*the following have few or no exceptions

• human beings = typically masc or fem

• masc → large group of agent nouns (persons performing actions)

• fem → large group of abstract nouns (abstract concepts)

MASC base endings

• -or, -ōris (nom and gen)

  • long ō of base is short in the nom, as usual before a final -r

FEM base endings

• -tās, -tātis (nom and gen)

• -tūs, -tūtis (nom and gen)

• -tūdō, -tūdinis (nom and gen)

• -tiō, -tiōnis (nom and gen)

NEUTER base endings

• -us

  • note: in contrast to masculine nouns, for neuters with a base ending in “or,” the “o” is short

• -e, -al, -ar

• -men

Third Declension i-Stem Nouns

• characteristic “i” in certain case endings

  • “i-stem nouns” as opposed to “consonant stems”

• GEN PL: -ium

  • instead of -um

  • all genders

• NEUTERS

  • ABL SG

    • -ī instead of -e

  • NOM/ACC/VOC PL

    • -ia instead of -a

• vīs is a common irregular i-stem

• alternate masc and fem acc pl ending is -īs

  • rarely appears in the book, but frequently employed throughout Republican literature and into the Augustan period

How to Identify i-Stems in the Wild

Masc/Fem i-stems

1. Parisyllabics

• nom sg in -is or -ēs

• same number of syllables in both the nom and gen

2. Base in 2 consonants

• nom sg in -s or -x

• base ends in two consonants

• most have monosyllabic nominatives

• chiefly fem nouns, but also masc

* only ending ordinarily distinguishing these masc/fem nouns from consonant stems is gen pl in -ium

Neuter i-stems

3. Neuter in -al, -ar, or -e

• nom sg in -al, -ar, or -e

* characteristic i in gen pl, abl sg, and nom/acc/voc pl

Fourth Declension

• contains relatively few nouns

  • mostly masc and some fem with nom sg in -us

  • a few neuters with nom sg in -ū

• add endings to base (per usual)

• characteristic vowel U appears in all endings except the DATIVE AND ABLATIVE PLURAL

  • however, a few nouns have -ubus for -ibus

• of all the “-us” endings, only the masc/fem nom sg has a short -u-

Fifth Declension

• Characteristic vowel: “-ē-”

• Genitive/Dative ending: -ēī or -eī

  • -e- is LONG when preceded by a VOWEL

  • -e- is SHORT when preceded by a CONSONANT

• All feminine nouns except diēs (day) and its compound merīdiēs (midday), which are masculine

• Base + Endings (per usual)

• Identical Cases

  • gen and dat sg

  • nom sg and nom and acc pl

  • dat and abl pl

Neuter “Case Matching”

nominative, accusative, and vocative cases are identical to one another in all neuters from all declensions (both signular and plural)

What is an adjective? What do attributive adjectives do?

a word that “adds” information about, or “modifies” a noun or pronoun

describe “attributes” of the nouns (simple modifiers)

Predicate Nouns and Adjectives

• connected or even equated with the subject by the linking verb, such as “sum”

• predicate nominatives

• naturally agree with the subject in number and case (usually nominative), and wherever possible, in gender as well

• compound subjects

  • agrees in gender with the nearest, though the masculine often predominates

Substantive Adjectives

• replaces a noun

• many adjectives can be translated as English substantives, but for natural idiom, you will often need to supply “man” or “men,” “woman” or “women,” “thing” or “things,” in accordance with the word’s number and gender

In what ways do adjectives and verbs agree with nouns?

Adjectives: agree with the noun in gender, number, and case

• the spelling of endings will not necessarily be identical

Verbs: agree with the noun in person and number

If an adjective modifies more than one noun, which noun does it “agree” with?

usually agrees in gender with the nearest one, though sometimes the masculine predominates

Adjective Positioning

• usually positioned next to its noun

• typically FOLLOWS the noun

  • Exceptions: adjectives denoting size or number (beFOUR), demonstratives (this, that), and adjectives which the speaker wants to emphasize

  • These exceptions PRECEDE the noun (as opposed to following it)

Declensions Used for First/Second Declension Adjectives

Masculine endings: second declension masculine

Feminine endings: first declension

Neuter endings: second declension neuter

First/Second Declension Adjectives in -ER

• the masculine endings are in -ER, not -US

• some adjectives retain the -e- in the base

• some adjectives drop the -e- from the base

• you can tell if the adjective retains or drops the -e- by looking at the feminine and neuter nominative forms

• other than this, these adjectives are declined the same as “regular” first/second declension adjectives (base + regular endings)

Special -īus Adjectives

• NINE common first/second declension adjectives

• gen sg = -īus

• dat sg = -ī

• elsewhere in sg and throughout the pl, these are regular adjectives, following the pattern of magnus, -a, -um

  • except for neuter sg aliud for alius, alia, aliud

  • except for gen sg alterīus for alius, alia, aliud (borrows the stem from alter)

• each of these nine words indicates some aspect of number

Acrostic for Special -īus Adjectives

U - ūnus, -a, -um (one)

N - nūllus, -a, -um (no, none)

U - ūllus, -a, -um (any)

S - sōlus, -a, -um (alone, only)

N - neuter, neutra, neutrum (neither)

A - alius, -a, -ud (another, other)

U - uter, utra, utrum (either, which (of two))

T - tōtus, -a, -um (whole, entire)

A - alter, altera, alterum (the other (of two))

Third Declension Adjectives

• declined exactly like i-stem nouns, except that the ABL SG of ALL GENDERS ends with -ī

• Three Categories:

  • Adjectives of Three Endings

    • 3 distinct forms of the nom sg

    • masc, fem, and neuter

  • Adjectives of Two Endings

    • 2 distinct forms of the nom sg

    • masc/fem and neuter

  • Adjectives of One Ending

    • one form of the nom sg for all genders

• In all other respects, the adjectives of all three categories are the same, with the masc/fem endings differing from the neuters only in the acc sg and the nom/acc/voc pl

The Characteristic “i” in Third Declension Adjectives

• -ī in abl sg of ALL GENDERS

• -ium in gen pl of ALL GENDERS

• -ia in nom/acc/voc pl of NEUTER

*like i-stem nouns, third declension adjectives have an alternate -īs ending in the accusative masc/fem plural (rarely used in this book)

Uses of the Third Declension Adjective

• Attributive Adjective: simple modifier

  • commonly follows the noun it modifies, except if it denotes size/quantity, is a demonstrative, or is meant to be emphatic

• Predicate Adjective: describing the subject, with a form of sum or some other linking verb

• Substantive Adjective: used in place of a noun

• Objective Complement: describing the result of the action of the verb on the object

  • Ex: virtūs fēcit virōs fortēs = virtue made the men brave (not virtue made the brave men)

How do you describe the syntax of a given noun or adjective?

state its form, the word on which it most closely depends, and the reason for the form (grammatical use or function in the sentence)

Articles in Latin

there are none

Apposition

• appositive: a noun that is “positioned next to” another noun as an explanatory equivalent

• nouns in apposition always agree in case, usually in number, and often in gender!

• an appositive is commonly separated from the preceding noun by commas

Postpositives

ordinarily does not appear as the first word of a sentence, but instead is positioned after the first word or phrase

Demonstratives

adjectives and pronouns that in general “point” to persons or things that are relatively near to, or far from, a speaker or an addresssee

• “this/these” and “that/those”

• declensions generally follow that of magnus, -a, -um

  • with many exceptions mostly in the present

  • follows the pattern of magnus, -a, -um entirely in the plural with the exception of the neuter haec

• striking “pattern” differences

  • genitive sg (-īus)

  • *genitive sg iota short for hic

  • dative sg (-ī)

  • -c in several forms of hic (shortened form of the demonstrative enclitic -ce)

• Position when modifying nouns

  • BEFORE the noun

  • naturally emphatic

• can also function as pronouns (when used alone)

  • in place of a noun, referring, less specifically than a noun, to a person, place, or thing

  • generally, the neuter was used as a pronoun only in the nom and acc; in other cases, the demonstrative was usually employed as an adjective agreeing with the noun for “thing”

Personal Pronouns

used “in place of a noun” to designate a particular person, from the speaker’s point of view

• irregular in form, but similar to one another

• first and second person: two different forms of the genitive plural

• third person: declension is comparable to those of hic and ille

  • base is e- in all but four forms (masc and neuter nom sg, neuter acc sg, and masc nom pl)

Usage of Personal Pronouns

• employed as substitutes for nouns

• in general, used as their corresponding nouns would be (subjects, direct objects, etc.)

• NOMINATIVES

  • used ONLY when speaker desires to STRESS the subject

  • otherwise, the subject is indicated by the verb’s ending with no need for the pronominal subject

• ABLATIVE W/ CUM

  • cum is generally suffixed to the ablative personal pronoun, rather than preceding it as a separate preposition (ex: nōbīscum instead of cum nōbīs)

• GENITIVES

  • First/Second Person: NOT used to indicate possession

    • rather, use the possessive adjectives for first and second person (meus, noster, tuus, vester)

  • Third Person: COMMONLY used to indicate possession

    • can translate as “his/her/its/their” rather than “of him/of her/of it/of them”

Third Person Personal Pronoun (is, ea, id) as a Demonstrative

• is/ea/id can be used as a demonstrative with a somewhat weaker force than hic or ille

• translated as this/these or that/those

• in general, translate the word in this way when you find it immediately preceding and modifying a noun

īdem, eadem, idem (Demonstrative)

• formed by adding -dem directly to the forms of is, ea, id

• Exceptions:

  • singular nominatives īdem (masc) and idem (neuter)

  • singular accusatives eundem (masc), eandem (fem), and idem (neuter)

  • plural genitives eōrundem (masc), eārundem (fem), and eōrundem (neuter)

*the final -m of the is, ea, id forms changes to -n- before the -dem suffix (basically, in addition to the forms of īdem and idem)

• may function as an adjective or a pronoun

Agreement: Possessive Pronominal Adjectives vs. Possessive Genitives of the Person Pronoun

• possessive pronominal adjectives of the first and second persons naturally agree with their noun in gender, number, and case, as all adjectives agree with their nouns

• possessive genitives eius, eōrum, and eārum, being pronouns, remain UNCHANGED, regardless of the gender, number, and case of the noun on which they depend

Presence of the Possessive in Latin

Possessives are ROUNTINELY OMITTED, except for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity, so remember to be cognisant of this.

Reflexive Pronouns

• myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves, 

• used ordinarily only in the predicate

• refer back to the subject

  • “bend back” or “reflect”

• CANNOT BE THE SUBJECT

  • except: accusative subject of an infinitive phrase

• no nominatives

• 1st and 2nd persons

  • declension/form is IDENTICAL to corresponding PERSONAL PRONOUNS

• 3rd person

  • forms identical to the SINGULAR of tū

    • nominative is lacking!

    • forms begin with S- rather than T-

  • SINGULAR and PLURAL are IDENTICAL

    • not distinguished; since reflexives “reflect” the number (as well as gender of the subject), you can parse out what the reflexive means

Reflexive Possessive Adjectives

• my own, your own, his/her/its/their own

• 1st and 2nd persons

  • identical to regular possessives

• 3rd person

  • new word: suus, sua, suum

  • like tuus, tua, tuum but with s- instead of t-

  • agrees with the noun it modifies in number, gender, and case

    • in the English translation, it naturally reflects the gender and number of the subject to which it refers (reflects back towards)

  • make sure to distinguish from the nonreflexive possessive genitives eius, eōrum, and eārum which refer to some person(s) other than the subject

Intensive Pronoun - ipse, ipsa, ipsum

• EMPHASIZES any noun or pronoun in either the subject or predicate of a sentence

  • myself/ourselves, yourself/yourselves, himself/herself/itself/themselves

  • the very, the actual

• follows the declensional pattern of the demonstratives in the genitive and the dative singular

  • gen sg: ipsīus, ipsīus, ipsīus

  • dat sg: ipsī, ipsī, ipsī

• otherwise, follows the pattern of magnus, -a, -um

• declines to match the noun/pronoun being emphasized

Numerals

• Cardinals: “pivotal” numbers in counting (one, two, three, etc.)

• Ordinals: numerals indicating “order” of occurrence (first, second, third, etc.)

Cardinal Numerals

• most cardinal numerals through 100 are indeclinable adjectives

  • one form is used for ALL cases and genders

• Declinable cardinal numerals (through 100)

  • one (ūnus, -a, -um)

  • two (duo, duae, duo)

  • three (trēs, tria)

• cardinals indicating hundreds from 200 to 900

  • declined like plural adjectives of the first and second declensions

• mīlle/mīlia, mīlium, n.

  • SG

    • indeclinable adjective

  • PL

    • neuter i-stem 3rd declension noun

Ordinal Numerals

• regular first/second declension adjectives

Relative Pronoun Function

ordinarily introduces a subordinate clause and refers back to some noun or pronoun known as its antecedent

• Antecedent - usually appears in a preceding clause

Relative Clause Function

adjectival function, providing descriptive information about the antecedent

Agreement with Relative Pronouns

- agrees with antecedent for GENDER and NUMBER

- CASE determined by function of relative pronoun in the relative clause

Interrogative Pronoun

• asks for the identity of a person or thing

Forms

• Singular:

  • follows the pattern of the relative pronoun with 2 exceptions

  • MASC and FEM have the SAME FORMS

  • NOM = QUIS, QUID (quid also for neuter acc)

• Plural:

  • IDENTICAL to the RELATIVE PRONOUN

*note: the forms of quisque, quidque (indefinite pronoun — each one, each person, each thing) are based on the interrogative pronoun + -que)

Interrogative Adjective

asks for more specific identification of a person or thing

sometimes has exclamatory force

Forms

• IDENTICAL to the RELATIVE PRONOUN in SG and PL

“Order” of Cases

nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative

First Declension Singular Endings

-a, -ae, -ae, -am, -ā, -a

First Declension Plural Endings

-ae, -ārum, -īs, -ās, -īs, -ae

Second Declension Singular Endings (masculines in -us)

-us, - ī, -ō, -um, -ō, -e

*nouns in -ius and the adjective meus (my) have a single -ī in the vocative singular! (replaces all of -ius/-eus)

Second Declension Plural Endings (masculines in -us)

-ī, -ōrum, -īs, -ōs, -īs, -ī

Second Declension Singular Endings (masculines in -er)

-er, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō, -er

Second Declension Plural Endings (masculines in -er)

-ī, -ōrum, -īs, -ōs, -īs, -ī

Second Declension Singular Endings (neuters)

-um, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō, -um

Second Declension Plural Endings (neuters)

-a, -ōrum, -īs, -a, -īs, -a

Third Declension Singular Endings (masc//fem)

—, -is, -ī, -em, -e, —

Third Declension Plural Endings (masc//fem)

-ēs, -um, -ibus, -ēs, -ibus, -ēs

Third Declension Singular Endings (neuter)

—, -is, -ī, —, -e, —

Third Declension Plural Endings (neuter)

-a, -um, -ibus, -a, -ibus, -a

Fourth Declension Singular Endings (masc/fem)

-us, -ūs, -uī, -um, -ū, -us

Fourth Declension Plural Endings (masc/fem)

-ūs, -uum, -ibus, -ūs, -ibus, -ūs

Fourth Declension Singular Endings (neuter)

-ū, -ūs, -ū, -ū, -ū, -ū

Fourth Declension Plural Endings (neuter)

-ua, -uum, -ibus, -ua, -ibus, -ua

Fifth Declension Singular Endings

-ēs, -eī/-ēī, -eī/-ēī, -em, -ē, -ēs

Fifth Declension Plural Endings

-ēs, -ērum, -ēbus, -ēs, -ēbus, -ēs

ille, illa, illud - SINGULAR

ille, illa, illud

illīus, illīus, illīus

illī, illī, illī

illum, illam, illud

illō, illā, illō

ille, illa, illud

ille, illa, illud - PLURAL

illī, illae, illa

illōrum, illārum, illōrum

illīs, illīs, illīs

illōs, illās, illa

illīs, illīs, illīs

illī, illae, illa

hic, haec, hoc - SINGULAR

hic, haec, hoc

huius, huius, huius

huic, huic, huic

hunc, hanc, hoc

hōc, hāc, hōc

hic, haec, hoc

hic, haec, hoc - PLURAL

hī, hae, haec

hōrum, hārum, hōrum

hīs, hīs, hīs

hōs, hās, haec

hīs, hīs, hīs

hī, hae, haec

iste, ista, istud - SINGULAR

iste, ista, istud

istīus, istīus, istīus

istī, istī, istī

istum, istam, istud

istō, istā, istō

iste, ista, istud

iste, ista, istud - PLURAL

istī, istae, ista

istōrum, istārum, istōrum

istīs, istīs, istīs

istōs, istās, ista

istīs, istīs, istīs

istī, istae, ista

1st person personal pronoun - SINGULAR

ego

meī

mihi

mē

mē

1st person personal pronoun - PLURAL

nōs

nostrum/nostrī

nōbīs

nōs

nōbīs

2nd person personal pronoun - SINGULAR

tū

tuī

tibi

tē

tē

2nd person personal pronoun - PLURAL

vōs

vestrum/vestrī

vōbīs

vōs

vōbīs

3rd person personal pronoun - SINGULAR

is, ea, id

eius, eius, eius

eī, eī, eī

eum, eam, id

eō, eā, eō

3rd person personal pronoun - PLURAL

eī or iī, eae, ea

eōrum, eārum, eōrum

eīs, eīs, eīs

eōs, eās, ea

eīs, eīs, eīs

1st person reflexive pronoun - SINGULAR

--

meī

mihi

mē

mē

1st person reflexive pronoun - PLURAL

--

nostrī

nōbīs

nōs

nōbīs

2nd person reflexive pronoun - SINGULAR

--

tuī

tibi

tē

tē

2nd person reflexive pronoun - PLURAL

--

vestrī

vōbīs

vōs

vōbīs

3rd person reflexive pronoun - SINGULAR AND PLURAL

--

suī

sibi

sē

sē

Vīs Forms

vīs vīrēs

vīs vīrium

vī vīribus

vim vīrēs

vī vīribus

Duo Forms

*masc, fem, and neuter

duo, duae, duo

duōrum, duārum, duōrum

duōbus, duābus, duōbus

duōs, duās, duo

duōbus, duābus, duōbus

Trēs Forms

*masc/fem and neuter

trēs, tria

trium, trium

tribus, tribus

trēs, tria

tribus, tribus

Mīlia (pl) Forms

mīlia

mīlium

mīlibus

mīlia

mīlibus

Relative Pronoun and Interrogative Adjective - Quī, Quae, Quod - SINGULAR FORMS

quī, quae, quod

cuius, cuius, cuius

cui, cui, cui

quem, quam, quod

quō, quā, quō

Relative Pronoun, Interrogative Pronoun, and Interrogative Adjective - Quī, Quae, Quod - PLURAL FORMS

quī, quae, quae

quōrum, quārum, quōrum

quibus, quibus, quibus

quōs, quās, quae

quibus, quibus, quibus

Interrogative Pronoun - Quis, Quid - SINGULAR FORMS

quis, quid

cuius, cuius

cui, cui

quem, quid

quō, quō