And gender of nouns, cont. St. 15 Relative Pronouns And gender of nouns, cont.

Relative clause — what is it? A relative clause is an additional element of a sentence that gives you some extra info about one of the people or things in that sentence. The man, who is crossing the street, is tall. The book, which you are reading, is good. This building is dedicated to all of the people who worked very hard on building it. Notice the pattern? Who/which

How do they work? In Latin, pronouns work like adjectives. The agree with the noun they modify/describe in two of the same ways: Number Gender The girl who rides a bike… Puella quae… The boy who is fishing… Puer qui… Both of these pronouns (who) are singular, but one will be feminine, the other masculine.

Will the pronoun need to be masculine (qui) or feminine (quae)? The man who… qui The woman who… quae The slavegirl who… The cook who… The slave who… The mother who… The merchant who…

Are the pronouns singular or plural? The gladiators who plural The merchant who singular The women who The boys who The girl who The wine jar which

What these look like in Latin The MASCULINE singular AND plural form is qui. The FEMININE singular AND plural form is quae. Puella quae in atrio sedet est laeta. The girl who is sitting in the atrium is happy. Puellae quae in atrio sedent sunt laetae. The girls who are sitting in the atrium are happy. Puer qui in foro ambulat est laetus. The boy who walks in the forum is happy. Pueri qui in foro ambulant sunt laeti. The boys who are walking in the forum are happy.

To sum up so far… Qui = who/which when you are describing something MASCULINE. Quae = who/which when you are describing something FEMININE. But what about things that are neither masculine nor feminine?

Neuter! Yes, there are neuter pronouns, too. Neuter nouns are either 2nd or 3rd declension. 2nd declension neuter nouns ALWAYS end in –um. 3rd declension nouns are more sneaky. You’ll have to remember them. When you learn a noun, you will see a “m,” “f,” or “n” right after it. This lets you know whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.

What they look like: Atrium, quod est ornatum, Metellae placet. The atrium, which is decorated, pleases Metella. Quintus saxum, quod est magnum, conspexit. Quintus caught sight of a rock which is large. The neuter SINGULAR is quod.

To sum up…again Qui Quae Quod Qui Quae Singular Relative Pronouns: Plural relative pronouns: Masculine Feminine Neuter Qui Quae Quod Masculine Feminine neuter Qui Quae *DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW.

What about the accusatives? Notice the difference in these two sentences: The man, who is crossing the street, is tall. In the relative clause, the man IS DOING the action. The man, whom I see, crosses the street. In the relative clause, the man RECEIVES the action. When you RECEIVE the action, what case are you in? THE ACCUSATIVE!

Masculine and feminine accusatives Puer, quem video, est altus. The boy, WHOM I SEE, is tall. Puella, quam video, est alta. The girl, WHOM I SEE, is tall. Pueri, quos video, sunt alti. The boys WHOME I see, are tall. Puellae, quas video, sunt altae. The girls WHOME I see, are tall.

What about the neuters? Saxum, quod video, est altum. The rock, which I see, is tall. NOTE: there is no difference in how this pronoun will look in the nominative and accusative.

In closing Qui Quae Quod Quem Quam Qui Quae Quos Quas Singular Nominative and Accusative endings: Plural nominative and Accusative endings: Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative Qui Quae Quod Accusative Quem Quam Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative Qui Quae ***Don’t worry about yet*** Accusative Quos Quas ***don’t worry about yet****