Noun Declensions

Noun Declensions• 1st: mostly feminine, with a few masculine.

– ancilla, poēta, aqua

• 2nd: masculine (-us) or neuter (-um)– dominus, servus, templum, ātrium

• 3rd: all genders; usually with one stem in the nominative (with neuters, nominative and accusative) and another for the other cases– leō, leōnis; mīles, mīlitis; custōs, custōdis

• 4th: masculine (-us) and neuter (-ū)– gradus, portus, cornu

• 5th: feminine, except for diēs, which can be masculine or feminine

Dictionary Entries• The dictionary will give you the nominative singul

ar, genitive singular and gender of a noun. To save space, the genitive singular can be abbreviated:– ancilla, ancillae f. OR ancilla, -ae f.– dominus, dominī m. OR dominus, dominī m.– mīles, mīlitis m. OR mīles, -itis m.

• The genitive singular lets you know how the stem changes in a 3rd declension noun and also tells you if a noun in –us is 2nd or 4th declension– servus, -ī m. v. portus, -ūs m.

• The vocabulary at the back of Cambridge Book 1 gives you the accusative singular instead because the genitive is not introduced until Book 2.

General Tips• The accusative singular in masculine and feminine nouns always ends

in –m– dominum, ancillam, mercātōrem

• The accusative plural of masculine and feminine nouns always ends in -s– dominōs, ancillās, montēs

• The genitive plural always ends in -um– dominōrum, ancillārum, montium

• The dative and ablative plural are always the same and end in –īs or –bus – cum ancillīs, cum dominīs, sine mīlitibus, omnibus crēdite

• The neuter nominative and accusative are always the same – forum est pulchrum, forum spectāmus

• The neuter nominative/accusative plural always ends in –a– computātra nōn sunt animālia (so a word ending in –a isn’t al

ways a singular, 1st declension noun)

1st declension: ancilla, -ae (f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative ancilla ancillae

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive ancillae ancillārum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative ancillae ancillīs

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative ancillam ancillās

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative ancillam ancillās

Ablative ancillā ancillīs

2nd declension: dominus, -ī (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative dominus dominī

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive dominī dominōrum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative dominō dominīs

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative dominum dominōs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative dominum dominōs

Ablative dominō dominīs

2nd declension: templum, -ī (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative templum templa

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive templī templōrum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative templō templīs

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative templum templa

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative templum templa

Ablative templō templīs

3rd declension: leō, leōnis (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative leō leōnēs

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive leōnis leōnum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative leōnī leōnibus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative leōnem leōnēs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative leōnem leōnēs

Ablative leōne leōnibus

3rd declension: nōmen, nōminis (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative nōmen nōmina

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive nōminis nōminum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative nōminī nōminibus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative nōmen nōmina

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative nōmen nōmina

Ablative nōmine nōminibus

3rd declension: SeXy nouns

• 3rd declension adjectives ending in –s or–x with the same number of syllables in nominative and genitive singular (e.g cīvis, cīvis, citizen; ignis, ignis, fire) or with a one-syllable nominative singular and a stem for the genitive ending in two consonants (urbs, urbis or nox, noctis) have the genitive plural in –ium: e,g, civium, urbium

• These nouns also have an alternative accusative plural ending in –īs (e.g. cīvīs videō or cīvēs videō, I see the citizens). This ending, rarely used in beginners’ books, is quite common in Latin literature.

• If the nominative and genitive singular are exactly the same, the ablative singular can end in –ī as well as in –e (e.g. cum cīvī or cum cīve (with a citizen), sine ignī or sine igne (without fire))

3rd declension: civis, civis (m., f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative cīvis cīvēs

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive cīvis cīvium

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative cīvī cīvibus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative cīvem cīvēs or cīvīsAblative


Singular Plural




Accusative cīvem cīvēs or cīvīsAblative cīve or civī cīvibus

3rd declension: neuter nouns with –ia plural

• Neuter nouns ending in –e, -al or –ar (e.g. mare, maris, sea; animal, animālis, animal) also have genitive plural nominative in –ium

• They have nominative and accusative plural in –ia

• Their ablative singular ALWAYS ends in -ī

3rd declension: mare, maris (m., f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative mare maria

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive maris marium

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative marī maribus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative mare mariaAblative


Singular Plural




Accusative mare mariaAblative marī maribus

4th declension: gradus, gradūs (m.)

Singular Plural

Nominative gradus gradūs

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive gradūs graduum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative graduī gradibus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative gradum gradūs

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative gradum gradūs

Ablative gradū gradibus

4th declension: cornū, cornūs (n.)

Singular Plural

Nominative cornū cornua

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive cornūs cornuum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative cornu(ī) cornibus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative cornū cornua

Ablative


Singular Plural




Accusative cornū cornua

Ablative cornū cornibus

5th declension: rēs, reī (f.)

Singular Plural

Nominative rēs rēs

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural


Genitive reī rērum

Dative

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative reī rēbus

Accusative

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative reī rēbus

Accusative rem rēs

Ablative


Singular Plural



Dative reī rēbus

Accusative rem rēs

Ablative rē rēbus

Documents

Noun Declensions