How to Construct the Latin Vocabulary Cards Honors Latin I

Write all new vocabulary words on index cards. Keep these vocabulary cards together. Don’t lose them or have them scattered. Review the vocabulary cards at least once daily. As you master the words, you need to attend only to those words you do not know.

What exactly should I include on the vocabulary cards?

What to include for nouns Nominative singular form (entire word), e.g., fēmina, vir Genitive singular form, e.g., fēminae, virī gender(s) of the noun: m., f., or n. glosses (with or w/o quotes) Don’t include the derivates (in parentheses in Wheelock’s ) āra, - ae, f., “altar”

Example of a Noun on Two Sides of Vocabulary Card āra, ārae, f. altar

What to include for verbs 1 st principal part = first-person singular present indicative active, e.g., amō 2 nd principal part = infinitive, e.g., amāre 3 rd principal part = first-person singular perfect indicative active, e.g., amāvī 4 th = perfect passive participal, e.g., amātus amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus

What to include for verbs At the least, include the macrons for the second principal part of the verb. It’s best to inclūde all mācrons, but you need not inclúde the áccent marks.

What to include for verbs In addition to the principal parts, provide the glosses from Wheelock’s, e.g., amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus, “love” moneō, monēre, monuī, monitus, “warn” dēleō, dēlēre, delēvī, dēlētus, “destroy”

Example of a Verb on Two Sides of Vocabulary Card amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus to love

What to include for adjectives This description will be supplemented when we get to third-declension adjectives. Include the nominative singular masculine form, as well as the nominative singular feminine and neuter forms, e.g., validus, valida, validum When we get to Chapter Four, you may start to include only the ending of the feminine and neuter, e.g., validus, -a, -um

What to include for adjectives Even after Chapter Four, you must include more than the ending for some adjectives*, e.g., pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum could be written as pulcher, -chra, -chrum * Adjectives that end in – er in the nom. sg. masc., or otherwise have nom. sg. masc. forms from which it’s difficult to determine the adjective base

What to include for adjectives As for verbs and nouns, include the glosses from Wheelock’s

What to include for adverbs Include the adverb and at least one gloss. semper, “always” subitō, “suddenly” deinde, “finally”

What to include for prepositions Include the preposition, the case(s) it governs, and glosses For prepositions that govern the accusative and ablative, distinguish the glosses for each case, e.g., in, acc. with motion, e.g., “into,” “onto,”; abl., no motion, e.g., “in,” “on” in, “into,” “onto” (acc. for motion); “in,” “on” (abl., no motion)

What to include for conjunctions Include the conjunction and its glosses et, “and” sed, “but” aut … aut : “either … or” nec … nec : “neither … nor” neque … necque “neither … nor”