Lesson 1: Cases and 1st Declension Nouns Aug. 30, 2012
All about nouns!
Nouns are the names of persons places or things.
Latin Nouns Have 4 Features Case---how a noun works in its sentence. Number---whether a noun is singular or plural (singular=one, plural=more than one) Gender---whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter. Declension---each noun belongs to one of the 5 declensions: groups of nouns that share the same pattern of endings
1st Declension Nouns Let’s learn how to write a 1st declension noun on its “declension chart.” A declension chart shows the noun in all its cases (spellings). For example…
AQUAM AQUIS AQUA AQUAE AQUA AQUAS AQUARUM
one by one in the weeks ahead. Don’t worry about all these uses right now! We’ll be learning them one by one in the weeks ahead. In Latin, the use of the noun is determined by its case ending, not its place in the sentence. There are five cases: Nominative - subject and predicate nominative Genitive – possession Dative - indirect object Accusative - direct object Ablative – (various)
1st Declension Nouns aqua, aquae (feminine) :water 1st declension nouns end in –ae in their genitive form (the 2nd form listed in the vocab list). Most 1st declension nouns are feminine. aqua, aquae (feminine) :water
Step 1 – Find the noun stem The noun stem is found by dropping the genitive singular ending from the noun. Dictionary entry of a noun: Puella puellae, f. girl Meaning Genitive singular Gender Nominative singular Puellae – ae = puell Noun Stem
Finding noun stems aqua, aquae (f.) aqu- insula, insulae (f.) insul- silva, silvae (f.) silv- via, viae (f.) vi-
In Latin, the endings indicate the case of the noun. Write these down! (Endings) Case Singular Plural Nominative -a -ae Genitive -ae -arum Dative -ae -is Accusative -am -as Ablative -a -is Example: insularum = plural genitive
Step 2: Add the case endings to the noun stem. Singular Plural Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Ablative On your whiteboard, decline the following 2 nouns: via, viae (f.) and aqua, aquae (f.)