Latin grammar

Latin, like all other ancient Indo-European languages, is highly inflectional, which allows for very flexible word order. As such, Latin is rather archaic in its preservation of Proto-Indo-European forms. In Latin there exist five declensions of nouns and four conjugations of verbs. 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. Latin syntax is generally Subject Object Verb, though variations in poetry are common. Latin is right-branching, uses prepositions, and usually places adjectives after nouns. Latin is also pro-drop language and verb-framed.

Verbs

Detailed information and conjugation tables can be found at Latin conjugation.

Verbs are one of the trickiest areas of Latin for students since they are quite complex, with numerous conjugated forms per verb. Verbs have three moods (indicative, imperative, and subjunctive), two voices (active and passive), as well as three persons (first, second and third) and various other forms. Verbs are conjugated in six main tenses (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect), with complement of moods for the present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect. In addition, infinitives and participles for present, in the present, perfect, and future tenses.

Conjugating is the process of inflecting verbs; a set of conjugated forms of the same word is called a conjugation. Latin verbs are divided into four different conjugations by their infinitives: -are verbs, -ere verbs, and -ire verbs.

There are six tenses (Latin: tempus) in Latin. They are:

Present, (Latin: praesens) describes actions happening at the time of speaking: The slave carries the wine jar.
Imperfect, (Latin: imperfectum) describes actions continuing in the past: The slave was carrying the wine jar.
Future, (Latin: futurum simplex) describes actions taking place in the future: The slave will carry the wine jar.
Perfect, (Latin: perfectum) describes actions completed by the present: He has taught (or taught) the boy.
Pluperfect, (Latin: plusquamperfectum) describes actions occurring before another past action: He had taught the boy.
Future Perfect, (Latin: futurum exactum) describes actions that will be completed some time in the future: By tomorrow, he will have sent the letter.

There are three moods (Latin: modus):

Indicative, (Latin: indicativus) which states facts: That slave is carrying a wine jar.
Subjunctive, (Latin: coniunctivus) which is used for possibilities, intentions, necessities, statements contrary to fact, etc: It is necessary that the centurion defeat the barbarians.
Imperative, (Latin: imperativus) used for commands: "Carry this wine jar!"

There are two voices (Latin: genus):

Active, (Latin: activum) where the verb is done by the subject: The slave carried the wine jar
Passive, (Latin: passivum) where the verb is done to the subject: The wine jar was carried by the slave

Nouns

Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.

Nouns (including proper nouns and pronouns) have seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative, and locative, three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter, which were served a grammatical function, not to distinguish the sex of the object, and two numbers: singular and plural. Declining is the process of inflecting nouns; a set of declined forms of the same word is called a declension. Most adjectives, pronouns, and participles, indicate the gender of the noun they reference or modify.

Most nouns in the 1st declension are feminine, most in the 2nd are masculine and neuter, 3rd can either be masculine, feminine, or neuter, 4th is either masculine or neuter, and 5th is usually feminine with a couple of masculine. It is necessary to learn the gender of each noun because it is often impossible to discern the gender from the word itself. One must also memorize to which declension each noun belongs in order to be able to decline it. Therefore Latin nouns are often memorized with their genitive (rex, regis) as this gives a good indication for the declension to use and reveals the stem of the word (reg, not rex).

The nominative case, which is used to express the subject of a statement.
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 vocative case, which is used to address someone or something in direct speech.

Pronouns

Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.

In Latin there is no indefinite article or definite article. Latin therefore uses other words such as ille, which means that with emphasis, haec, which means this with emphasis, is, ea, id, which mean he, she, it, this, or that without emphasis to add definitiveness to nouns.

Adjectives

Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.

In Latin, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in case and number and gender. Because of this, Latin adjectives must also be declined. Latin first declension and second declension adjectives are declined like nouns in the first and second declensions. Generally, adjectives follow the nouns they modify. Adjectives also have a positive, comparative and superlative form.

Positive adjectives are declined according to the first and second declension noun paradigm. Comparative adjectives are declined according to the third declension noun paradigm. Superlative adjectives are declined according to the first and second declension noun paradigm. Fortis is 'brave' in its positive form, fortior in its comparative form, and fortissimus in it superlative form.

Cornelia pulcher puella est: Cornelia is a beautiful girl.
Cornelia pulcherior puella est quam Flavia: Cornelia is a more beautiful girl than Flavia.
Cornelia pulcherrima puella omnium est: Cornelia is the most beautiful girl of all.

As in any language, irregular adjectives exist in Latin as well. Note that because of space constraints, each adjective is displayed with the masculine suffix.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
bonus	melior	optimus
exter	exterior	extremus
frugi	frugalior	frugalissimus
magnus	maior	maximus
malus	peior	pessimus
multus	plus	plurimus
nequam	nequior	nequissimus
novus	recentior	novissimus
posterus	posterior	postremus
superus	superior	supremus

Adverbs

Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs by indicating time, place, or mannor. Latin adverbs are indeclinable. Adverbs can be formed by modifying the ending of an adjective. Like adjectives, with adverbs there exist positive, comparative, and superlative degrees.

The positive form of an adverb is formed from the first and second declension adjectives, in which a long -e replaces the ending. Instead of the adjective clarus, -a, -um, which mean bright, the adverb is clare, which means brightly.

The comparative form of an adverb, formed from third declension adjectives, is extremely simple. It is exactly the same as the neuter nominative singular form of a comparative adjective and it almost always ends in -ius. Instead of the adjective clarior, which mean brighter, the adverb is clarius, which means more brightly.

The superlative form as well is extremely simple. It has exactly the same stem as the superlative adjective and it always ends in with a long -e. Instead of the adjective clarissimus, which mean brightest, the adverb is clarissime, which means most brightly''.

Word Order

Latin allows for a very flexible word order because of its inflectional syntax. Ordinary prose tended to follow the pattern of Subject, Indirect Object, Direct Object, Adverbial Words or Phrases, Verb. Any extra, though subordinate verbs, are placed before the main verb, for example infinitives. Adjectives and participles usually directly followed nouns, unless they were nouns of beauty, size, goodness, or truth, in which case they preceded the noun being modified. Relative clauses are always placed after the antecedent which the relative pronoun describes. This permutation was the most frequent in Classical Latin.

In poetry, however, the ordering was often changed for the sake of rhythm or emphasis. Some Latin writers varied word order to add emphasis to certain words in a statement. In Virgil's Eclogues, for example, he writes, Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori!: Love conquers all, let us yield to love!. It is possible to construct a poem with a completely regular rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables through careful arrangement of the right words in the right order, a feat rendered virtually impossible in English. An example of this form of poetry is the dactylic hexameter. Virgil composed Rome's epic, The Aeneid in such a manor.

The ending of the common Roman name Marcus is different in each of the following examples due to its grammatical usage in that sentence. The ordering in the following sentences would be perfectly correct in Latin and no doubt understood with clarity, despite the fact that in English they're awkward at best and senseless at worst:

Marcus ferit Corneliam: Marcus hits Cornelia. (Subject-Verb-Object)
Corneliam ferit Marcus: Marcus hits Cornelia. (Subject-Object-Verb)

Cornelia dat Marco donum: Cornelia gives Marcus a gift. (Subject, Verb, Indirect Object, Direct Object)
Marco dat Cornelia donum: Cornelia gives Marcus a gift. (Indirect Object, Verb, Subject Direct Object)
Cornelia Marco donum dat: Cornelia gives Marcus a gift. (Subject, Indirect Object, Direct Object, Verb)

Ablative absolute

In Latin grammar, the ablative absolute (Latin: ablativus absolutus) is a noun phrase cast in the ablative case. It indicates the time, condition, or attending circumstances of an action being described in the main sentence. It takes the place of, and translates, many phrases that would require a subordinate clause in English. The unfamiliarity of this construction makes it sometimes difficult for Latin students to grasp; however, mastery of this construction is needed to write Latin well, and its availability makes Latin prose quite concise. The closest English equivalent is the nominative absolute.

The closest translation to the Latin follows the paradigm, with the NOUN having been VERBed. This construction however can occasionally sound awkward in english; it is often therefore finessed into a more elegant English construction based upon context. In the following examples, the first line is the direct translation from Latin, while the second has been construed to sound more at home in English.

Urbe capta, Aeneas fugit

With the city having been captured, Aeneas fled.
When the city was captured, Aeneas fled.

Ovidio exule, Musae planguntur.

With Ovid having been exiled, the Muses wept.
The Muses wept because Ovid was an exile.

The ablative absolute indicates the time when things happened, or the circumstances when they occurred.

vivo Caesare...

with Caesar having been alive...
when Caesar was alive...

It also indicates the causes of things, as in:

Ira calefacta, sapientia dormit.

With anger having been kindled, wisdom sleeps.
Wisdom sleeps because anger is kindled.

Domino absente, fur fenestram penetravit.

With the master being absent, a thief entered the window.
Since the master was absent, a thief entered the window.

It can be used to add descriptions:

Passis palmis, pacem petiverunt.

With hands outstretched, they sued for peace.
Hands outstretched, they sued for peace.

Sometimes an infinitive or clause occurs in the ablative absolute construction, especially in Livy and later authors:

audito eum fugisse...

with it having been heard that he had fled...
having heard that he had fled...
when they heard he had fled...

The ablative absolute construction is sometimes imitated in English in a construction called the nominative absolute: "The Americans, their independence secured, formed a government." But the construction is rarer and less natural in English than it is in Latin. It was introduced by early modern authors heavily influenced by Latin, for example, John Milton whose Paradise Lost is an example of the construction.

References

Bennett, Charles E., Latin Grammar (Allyn and Bacon, 1895).
Wheelock, Frederic, Latin: An Introduction (Collins, 6th ed., 2005) ISBN 0060784237

External links

Ablative Absolute from Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar
Ablative Absolute by William Harris

Grammars of specific languages | Latin language

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Verbs

Nouns

Pronouns

Adjectives

Adverbs

Word Order

Ablative absolute

References

External links