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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.
Grammatical cases
A complete declenation 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 genitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the gentive case is represented analytically by the preposition of; inflectively, by the suffix "-es" (or -se, when the stem ends in a vowel - e.g., who > whose, not "whoes"). This suffix, which is the same as the Latin suffix "-is," is typically abbreviated "-'s" (e.g., Paul > Paul's, not "Paules").
- The dative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for most commonly denote this case analytically.
- The accusative case, which expresses the direct object of a verb. In English, except for a small number of words which display a distinct accusative case (e.g., who > whom), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
- The vocative case, which is used to address someone or something in direct speech. This case is indicated in English by punctuation, e.g. "Mary is going to the store" (Mary is nominative) compared to "Mary, are you going to the store?" (Mary is vocative) or "Mary!"
- The ablative case, which expresses separation, indirection, or the means by which an action is performed. In English, the prepositions by, with, and from are most commonly used to indicate 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. The locative case is extremely marginal in Latin, applying only to the names of cities and small islands and to a few other isolated words, and is identical to the genitive case (in the first and second declension singular), the dative case (in the first and second declension plural and in the third declension) or the ablative case (fourth and fifth declension).
The sequence of the grammatical cases above is standard in North America, and in fact goes back to Byzantine grammarians originally writing about Greek. But the presentation NOM-VOC-ACC-GEN-DAT-ABL has been the usual order in Britain and many European and Commonwealth countries since the publication of Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). This order is argued to more closely reflect the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings.
In Polish language Latin learner texts, however, the most common order is NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-ABL-VOC, which is a similar order to the one adopted for Modern Polish. Likewise, in German textbooks, the order NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-VOC-ABL is used, to mirror the order of the four grammatical cases of Modern German (NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC). The same order is used in Italian textbooks (Italian has no grammatical cases).
However, Brazilian grammarian Napoleão Mendes uses the unusual sequence NOM-VOC-GEN-DAT-ABL-ACC.
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. For example, the vocative of Aeneās is Aenea, although Aeneās is first declension.
- 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-, second-declension, and fourth declension nouns that are not neuter.
- 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 (assuming not neuter) ends in a long vowel plus -s; so does the nominative plural of the third, fourth and fifth declensions (again assuming not neuter).
First declension
Nouns of this declension usually end in –a and are typically feminine, for example 'road' (via, viae fem.) and 'water' (aqua, aquae fem.), with a few masculine exceptions, including 'farmer' (agricola, agricolae masc.) and 'sailor' (nauta, nautae masc.). The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a. The nominative singular form consists of the stem and the affix -a, and the genitive singular form is the stem plus -ae.
| Case | puella, –ae girl f. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | puella | –a | puellae | –ae |
| Genitive | puellae | –ae | puellārum | –ārum |
| Dative | puellae | –ae | puellīs | –īs |
| Accusative | puellam | –am | puellās | –ās |
| Ablative | puellā | –ā | puellīs | –īs |
| Vocative | puella | –a | puellae | –ae |
First declension Greek nouns
The first declension also holds three types of Greek nouns. They are declined irregularly in the singular.| Case | Aenēās, –ae Aeneas m. | Circē, –ēs Circe f. | cometēs, –ae comet f. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Singular | Ending | Singular | Ending | |
| Nominative | Aenēās | –ās | Circē | –ē | cometēs | –ēs |
| Genitive | Aenēae | –ae | Circēs | –ēs | cometae | –ae |
| Dative | Aenēae | –ae | Circae | –ae | cometae | –ae |
| Accusative | Aenēam1 | –am1 | Circēn | –ēn | cometēn | –ēn |
| Ablative | Aenēā | –ā | Circē | –ē | cometē2 | –ē2 |
| Vocative | Aenēā | –ā | Circē | –ē | cometēs | –a |
- 1: may end in –ān
- 2: may end in –ā
Second declension
The second declension is a large group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine nouns like 'horse' (equus, equi masc.) and 'boy' (puer, pueri masc.) and neuter nouns like 'fort' (castellum, castelli neut.), with a few feminine exceptions including names of gemstones, trees, and some cities. In the nominative singular, most masculine nouns consist of the stem and the affix -us, although some end in -er, which is not necessarily attached to the complete stem. Neuter nouns generally have a nominative singular consisiting of the stem and the ending -um. However, every second-declension noun has the affix -i attached as a suffix to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is o.
| Case | campus, –ī field m. | saxum, –ī rock n. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | campus | –us | campī | –ī | saxum | –um | saxa | –a |
| Genitive | campī | –ī | campōrum | –ōrum | saxī | –ī | saxōrum | –ōrum |
| Dative | campō | –ō | campīs | –īs | saxō | –ō | saxīs | –īs |
| Accusative | campum | –um | campōs | –ōs | saxum | –um | saxa | –a |
| Dative | campō | –ō | campīs | –īs | saxō | –ō | saxīs | –īs |
| Vocative | campe | –e | campī | –ī | saxum | –um | saxa | –a |
Second declension R nouns
Some masculine nouns of the second declension end in an –er or an –ir in the nominative singular. The genitive singular must be learned to see if the E is dropped. For example, socer, –erī keeps its E. Though, in magister, –trī drops its E. (The I in nouns that have –ir in the nominative singular is never dropped.) Below is an example of magister.| Case | magister, –trī teacher, master m. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | magister | –r | magistrī | –ī |
| Genitive | magistrī | –ī | magistrōrum | –ōrum |
| Dative | magistrō | –ō | magistrīs | –īs |
| Accusative | magistrum | –um | magistrōs | –ōs |
| Ablative | magistrō | –ō | magistrīs | –īs |
| Vocative | magister | –r | magistrī | –ī |
Second declension Greek nouns
There are two types of masculine Greek nouns, and there is one type of neuter Greek noun. These nouns are only irregular in the singular, as are their first declension counterparts.| Case | barbitos, –ī lyre m. | Hypnōs, –ō Hypnos m. | doron, –ī gift n. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Singular | Ending | Singular | Ending | |
| Nominative | barbitos | –os | Hypnōs | –ōs | doron | –on |
| Genitive | barbitī | –ī | Hypnō1 | –ō1 | dorī | –ī |
| Dative | barbitō | –ō | Hypnō | –ō | dorō | –ō |
| Accusative | barbiton | –on | Hypnōn | –ōn | doron | –on |
| Ablative | barbite | –e | Hypnō | –ō | dorō | –ō |
| Vocative | barbite | –e | Hypnōs | –ōs | doron | –on |
- 1: may end in –ī
Third declension
The third declension is the largest group of nouns. Nouns that lie here may end in –a,–e, –ī, –ō, –y, –c, –l, –n, –r, –s, –t, or –x It consists of masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns of variable nominative cases and roots. The third declension includes 'river' (flumen, fluminis neut.), 'flower' (flos, floris masc.), and 'peace' (pax, pacis fem.). Each noun has the affix -is as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns each have their own special nominative singular endings. For instance, only masculine nouns end in an –or (amor). Only feminine nouns end in an –īx (phoenīx), and only neuter nouns end in an –us (onus). As in all declensions, some nouns defy these rules.
| Case | amor, –ōris love m. | phoenīx, –īcis phoenix f. | onus, –eris work n. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | amor | –or | amōrēs | –ēs | phoenīx | –īx | phoenīcēs | –ēs | onus | –us | onera | –a |
| Genitive | amōris | –is | amōrum | –um | phoenīcis | –is | phoenīcum | –um | oneris | –is | onerum | –um |
| Dative | amōrī | –ī | amōribus | –ibus | phoenīcī | –ī | phoenīcibus | –ibus | onerī | –ī | oneribus | –ibus |
| Accusative | amōrem | –em | amōrēs | –ēs | phoenīcem | –īx | phoenīcēs | –ēs | onus1 | –us1 | onera | –a |
| Ablative | amōre | –e | amōribus | –ibus | phoenīce | –e | phoenīcibus | –ibus | onere | –e | oneribus | –ibus |
| Vocative | amor | –or | amōrēs | –ēs | phoenīx | –īx | phoenīcēs | –ēs | onus | –us | onera | –a |
- 1: Neuter nouns' nominatives and accusatives always repeat. So –us isn't always the appropriate termination, though it seems as if it were in the inflection above.
Third declension i-stem nouns
The third declension also has a set of nouns which are declined different. They are called i-stems. Once can tell whether a word is an i-stem or not based on the following criteria.- Masculine & Feminine
- Parasyllibic Rule: Some masculine and feminine third declension i-stem nouns have the same number of syllables in the genitive as they do in the nominative. For example: canālis, –is.
- Double-Constanant Rule: The rest of the masculine and feminine third declension i-stem nouns have a two constants before the –is in the genitive singular. For example: pars, partis.
- Neuter
- Neuter third declension i-stems have no rule. Though, all of them end in either an –al, –ar or –e.
| Case | canālis, –is canal m. | pars, –artis part f. | hastīle, –is spear n. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | canālis | –is | canālēs | –ēs | pars | –rs | partēs | –ēs | hastīle | –e | hastīlia | –ia |
| Genitive | canālis | –is | canālium | –ium | partis | –is | partium | –ium | hastīlis | –is | hastīlum | –ium |
| Dative | canālī | –ī | canālibus | –ibus | partī | –ī | partibus | –ibus | hastīlī | –ī | hastīlibus | –ibus |
| Accusative | canālem1 | –em1 | canālēs2 | –ēs2 | partem1 | –īx1 | partēs2 | –ēs2 | hastīle | –e | hastīlia | –ia |
| Ablative | canāle3 | –e3 | canālibus | –ibus | parte3 | –e3 | partibus | –ibus | hastīlī | –ī | hastīlibus | –ibus |
| Vocative | canālis | –is | canālēs | –ēs | pars | –rs | partēs | –ēs | hastīle | –e | hastīlia | –ia |
- 1: may end in –im
- 2: may end in –īs
- 3: may end in –ī
Fourth declension
The fourth declension is a group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine words like 'wave' (fluctus, fluctūs masc.) and 'port' (portus, portūs masc.) with a few feminine exceptions, including 'hand' (manus, manūs fem.). The fourth declension also includes several neuter nouns like 'knee' (genu, genūs neut.). Each noun has the affix -ūs as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is u.
| Case | portus, –ūs port m. | gelū, –ūs frost, chill n. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | portus | –us | portūs | –ūs | gelū | –ū | gelua | –ua |
| Genitive | portūs | –ūs | portuum | –uum | gelūs | –ūs | geluum | –uum |
| Dative | portuī | –uī | portibus | –ibus | gelū | –ū | gelibus | –ibus |
| Accusative | portum | –um | portūs | –ūs | gelū | –ū | gelua | –ua |
| Ablative | portū | –ū | portibus | –ibus | gelū | –ū | gelibus | –ibus |
| Vocative | portus | –us | portūs | –ūs | gelū | –ū | gelua | –ua |
Fifth declension
The fifth declension is a small group of nouns consisting of mostly feminine words like 'affair, matter, thing' (res, rei fem.) and 'day' (dies, diei usually feminine, except on notable days when it is masculine). Each noun has the affix -ei as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form.
| Case | effigiēs, –ēī effigy, ideal f. | spēs, –eī hope f. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | Singular | Ending | Plural | Ending | |
| Nominative | effigiēs | –ēs | effigiēs | –ēs | spēs | –ēs | spēs | –ēs |
| Genitive | effigiēī | –ēī | effigiērum | –ērum | speī | –eī | spērum | –ērum |
| Dative | effigiēī | –ēī | effigiēbus | –ēbus | speī | –eī | spēbus | –ēbus |
| Accusative | effigiem | –em | effigiēs | –ēs | spem | –em | spēs | –ēs |
| Ablative | effigiē | –ē | effigiēbus | –ēs | spē | –ē | spēbus | –ēbus |
| Vocative | effigiēs | –ēs | effigiēs | –ēs | spēs | –ēs | spēs | –ēs |
Note that nouns ending in iēs have long ēī in the dative and genitive, while nouns ending in a consonant + ēs have short eī in these cases.
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 -ī: rather than -ae or -ō.
- the genitive singular ends in -īus rather than -ae or -ī.
Personal Pronouns
| Case | ego, nōs I, we | tū, vōs you (ye, thou) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural''' | |
| Nominative | ego | nōs | tū | vōs |
| Genitive | meī | nostrum1 | tuī | vestrum1 |
| Dative | mihi | nōbīs | tibi | vōbīs |
| Accusative | mē | nōs | tē | vōs |
| Ablative | mē | nōbīs | tē | vōbīs |
| Vocative | —— | —— | tū | vōs |
- 1: May end in –trī.
Usually, to show the ablative of accompaniment, cum would be added to the ablative form. Though, with personal pronouns and the interrogative (not with 3rd person), cum is added on to the end of the ablative form. For example: mēcum, nōbīscum, tēcum, vōbīscum and quōcum (sometimes quīcum).
| Case | is, eī he, they | ea, eae she, they | id, ea it, they | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | is | eī | ea | eae | id | ea |
| Genitive | eius | eōrum | eius | eārum | eius | eōrum |
| Dative | eī | eīs | eī | eīs | eī | eīs |
| Accusative | eum | eōs | ean | eās | id | ea |
| Ablative | eō | eīs | eā | eīs | eō | eīs |
Interrogative Pronouns
The interrogative pronouns are used strictly for asking questions. It is best not to confused them with the relative pronoun and the interrogative adjective (which is declined like the relative pronoun). Interrogative pronouns rarely occur in the plural; though, they may. The plural interrogative pronouns are the same as the plural relative pronouns.| Case | Quis who? m. & f. | quid what? n. |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||
| Nominative | quis | quid |
| Genitive | cūius | cūius |
| Dative | cui | cui |
| Accusative | quem | quid |
| Ablative | quō | quō |
Personal 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 |
| Vocative | is | ea | id | eī | eae | ea |
| Ablative | eō | eā | eō | eīs | eīs | eīs |
| Locative | eō | eius | 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 |
| Vocative | ille | illa | illud | illī | illae | illa |
| Ablative | illō | illā | illō | illīs | illīs | illīs |
| Locative | illō | illius | 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 |
| Vocative | hic | haec | hoc | hī | hae | haec |
| Ablative | hōc | hāc | hōc | hīs | hīs | hīs |
| Locative | hōc | huius | 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 |
| Vocative | quī | quae | quod | quī | quae | quae |
| Ablative | quō | quā | quō | quibus | quibus | quibus |
| Locative | quō | cuius | quō | quibus | quibus | quibus |
See also
Déclinaisons latines | Declinatio | Латински деклинации | Latince dil bilgisi:İsim çekimleri
"Latin declension"