1. Nouns and Adjectives
Review Week 3

2. Nouns
In Latin, nouns have 3 characteristics: gender, number, and case.
Latin nouns decline (take certain endings) to exhibit their gender, number, and case.
Latin nouns also fall into 5 distinct categories, or declensions, each of which follows its own pattern of endings.
The gender of a noun does not change, but its number and case will change based upon its syntactical use in a given sentence.
You must recognize which declension a noun belongs to in order to be able to identify its number and case correctly.
Each of the Five Declensions is recognizable based on its genitive singular ending; this is why you MUST memorize the genitive singular form of a noun when you first learn it.
Also, the genitive singular form will provide the stem for each noun; simply remove the genitive singular ending to find the stem.
We will now work our way through each declension, reviewing the forms and characteristics of each.

3. Nouns – 1st Declension -a -ae -ae -ārum -ae -īs -am -ās -ā -īs SING.
The FIRST DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “a”.
Its nouns are primarily FEMININE, but there are a few notable exceptions (poeta, nauta, agricola, etc.-which are all masculine and describe various professions).
The genitive singular ending is “-ae”
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-a -ae
-ae -ārum
-ae -īs
-am -ās
-ā -īs
porta, -ae, f.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
porta
GEN.
portae
portārum
DAT.
portīs
ACC.
portam
portās
ABL.
portā

4. Nouns – 2nd Declension - Masculine
The SECOND DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “o”, which weakens to “u” when short and in the final syllable of the word.
Its nouns are exclusively MASCULINE or NEUTER.
The masculine nouns will have a nominative singular ending “-us” or “-er”
The genitive singular ending is “-ī”
amīcus, -ī, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
amīcus
GEN.
amīcī
amīcōrum
DAT.
amīcō
amīcīs
ACC.
amīcum
amīcōs
ABL.
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-us/-er -ī
-ī -ōrum
-ō -īs
-um -ōs
puer, -ī, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
puer
GEN.
puerī
puerōrum
DAT.
puerō
puerīs
ACC.
puerum
puerōs
ABL.

5. Nouns – 2nd Declension - Neuter
The SECOND DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “o” , which weakens to “u” when short and in the final syllable of the word.
Its nouns are exclusively MASCULINE or NEUTER.
The neuter nouns will have a nominative singular ending “-um”
The genitive singular ending is “-ī”
dōnum, -ī, nt.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
dōnum
dōna
GEN.
dōnī
dōnōrum
DAT.
dōnō
dōnīs
ACC.
ABL.
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-um -a
-ī -ōrum
-ō -īs
Note: The two RULES for NEUTER NOUNS:
The nominative and accusative forms of neuter nouns are identical.
The nom. and acc. plural forms of neuter nouns always end “-a”

6. Nouns – 3rd Declension - Masc./Fem.
The THIRD DECLENSION uses the thematic vowel “e”, though the stems usually end in consonants, so it is properly the “consonant-stem declension.”
Its nouns can be MASCULINE, FEMININE, or NEUTER.
The nominative singular forms of its nouns vary widely, meaning you must memorize them and carefully memorize the gender of each noun.
The genitive singular ending is “-is”
rēx, rēgis, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
rēx
rēgēs
GEN.
rēgis
rēgum
DAT.
rēgī
rēgibus
ACC.
rēgem
ABL.
rēge
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
Ø/-s -ēs
-is -um
-ī -ibus
-em -ēs
-e -ibus
virtūs, virtūtis, f.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
virtūs
virtūtēs
GEN.
virtūtis
virtūtum
DAT.
virtūtī
virtūtibus
ACC.
virtūtem
ABL.
virtūte

7. Nouns – 3rd Declension - Neuter
The THIRD DECLENSION uses the thematic vowel “e”, though the stems usually end in consonants, so it is properly the “consonant-stem declension.”
Its nouns can be MASCULINE, FEMININE, or NEUTER.
The nominative singular forms of its nouns vary widely, meaning you must memorize them and carefully memorize the gender of each noun.
The genitive singular ending is “-is”
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
Ø -a
-is -um
-ī -ibus
Ø -a
-e -ibus
corpus, -oris, nt.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
corpus
corpora
GEN.
corporis
corporum
DAT.
corporī
corporibus
ACC.
ABL.
corpore
Note: The two RULES for NEUTER NOUNS:
The nominative and accusative forms of neuter nouns are identical.
The nom. and acc. plural forms of neuter nouns always end “-a”

8. A Few Remarks on the Nominative Singular of the 3rd Declension:
The nom. sing. ending of 3rd declension masc. and fem. nouns is usually an “s” attached directly to the base of the noun. This “s” will often combine the final consonant of the noun’s base and various (but expected) sound changes will occur:
ex: rēg/s > rēx, virtūt/s > virtūs (try saying these out loud)
A few 3rd declension masc. and fem. nouns demonstrate a “Zero” marker for the nom. sing., meaning nothing was added to the base (usually because the “s” conflicted with the final base consonants), though this may also result in the loss of final consonants:
ex: ration/Ø > ratio
The neuter nouns of the 3rd declension almost without fail utilize a “Zero” marker for the nom. sing., though this is not always clear until you take into account vowel weakening and rhotacism (see the verb review from last week).
ex: corpos/Ø > corpus (weakening)
cf. gen.: corpos/is > corporis (rhotacism)

9. Nouns – 3rd Declension “i” Stems- Masc./Fem.
There is a subset of the THIRD DECLENSION which is built upon the thematic vowel “i,” which leads to a large amount of correspondence in forms to the consonant stem nouns.
The masculine and feminine nouns of the 3rd “i” Stem declension only differ from the regular 3rd declension in the genitive plural, which is “-ium” instead of the usual “-um”
The genitive singular ending is still “-is”
cīvis, cīvis, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
cīvis
cīvēs
GEN.
cīvium
DAT.
cīvī
cīvibus
ACC.
cīvem
ABL.
cīve
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-s -ēs
-is -ium
-ī -ibus
-em -ēs
-e -ibus
urbs, urbis, f.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
urbs
urbēs
GEN.
urbis
urbium
DAT.
urbī
urbibus
ACC.
urbem
ABL.
urbe

10. Nouns – 3rd Declension “i” Stems - Neuter
There is a subset of the THIRD DECLENSION which is built upon the thematic vowel “i”.
The neuter nouns of the 3rd “i” Stem declension differ from the regular 3rd declension neuters in the ablative singular (“-i” not “-e”), the nominative and accusative plural (“-ia” not “-a”) and the genitive plural (“-ium” not “-um”)
The genitive singular ending is still “-is”
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
Ø -ia
-is -ium
-ī -ibus
Ø -ia
mare, maris, nt.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
mare
maria
GEN.
maris
marium
DAT.
marī
maribus
ACC.
ABL.
Note: The two RULES for NEUTER NOUNS:
The nominative and accusative forms of neuter nouns are identical.
The nom. and acc. plural forms of neuter nouns always end “-a”

11. Nouns – 4th Declension - Masc./Fem.
The FOURTH DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “u”.
Its nouns are mainly MASCULINE, but there are a few FEMININE and NEUTER.
The nominative singular ending of the masculine and feminine nouns is “-us”
The genitive singular ending is “-ūs”, which will help you distinguish these from 2nd declension nouns.
frūctus, frūctūs, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
frūctus
GEN.
frūctūs
frūctuum
DAT.
frūctuī
frūctibus
ACC.
frūctum
ABL.
frūctū
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-us -ūs
-ūs -uum
-uī -ibus
-um -ūs
-ū -ibus
manus, manūs, f.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
manus
GEN.
manūs
manuum
DAT.
manuī
manibus
ACC.
manum
ABL.
manū

12. Nouns – 4th Declension - Neuter
The FOURTH DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “ū”.
Its nouns are mainly MASCULINE, but there are a few FEMININE and NEUTER. The NEUTER 4th declension nouns are rare and slightly irregular.
The nominative singular ending of the neuter nouns is “-ū”
The genitive singular ending is “-ūs”.
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-ū -ua
-ūs -uum
-ū -ibus
-ū -ua
cornū, -ūs, nt.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
cornū
cornua
GEN.
cornūs
cornuum
DAT.
cornibus
ACC.
ABL.
Note: The two RULES for NEUTER NOUNS:
The nominative and accusative forms of neuter nouns are identical.
The nom. and acc. plural forms of neuter nouns always end “-a”

13. Nouns – 5th Declension - Fem./Masc.
The FIFTH DECLENSION is built upon the thematic vowel “ē”.
Its nouns are ALL FEMININE, except for one important MASCULINE: diēs.
The nominative singular ending for all 5th declension nouns is “-ēs”
The genitive singular ending is “-ēī” or “-eī” if the “e” is preceded by a consonant.
rēs, reī, f.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
rēs
GEN.
reī
rērum
DAT.
rēbus
ACC.
rem
ABL. rē
Summary of Endings:
Sing. Pl.
-ēs -ēs
-ēī/-eī -ērum
-ēī/-eī -ēbus
-em -ēs
-ē -ēbus
diēs, diēī, m.
SING.
PL.
NOM.
diēs
GEN.
diēī
diērum
DAT.
diēbus
ACC.
diem
ABL.
diē

14. Adjectives
In Latin, adjectives have the same 3 characteristics that nouns have: gender, number, and case.
Latin adjectives also decline (take certain endings) like nouns to exhibit their gender, number, and case.
Unlike nouns, however, there are only 2 declensions of Latin adjectives, each of which follows its own pattern of endings: 1st/2nd (2-1-2) or 3rd
An adjective will always AGREE with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. NOTE: while an adj. agrees with its noun in GNC, the actual endings may differ, if it is paired with a noun from another declension.
You must recognize which declension an adjective belongs to in order to be able to identify its form correctly.
Adjectives are regularly listed as follows: masc. nom. sing., fem. nom. sing., neut. nom. sing.
Be sure to check the fem. nom. sing. form to find the stem for each adjective; simply remove the fem. nom. sing. ending to find the stem.

15. Adjectives – 1st/2nd Declension – “2-1-2”s
The FIRST/SECOND DECLENSION adjectives mirror the endings of the 1st declension feminine nouns and the 2nd declension masculine and neuter nouns.
The nominative singular endings follow one of two patterns: “-us”, “-a”, “-um” and “-er”, “-a”, “-um”
bellus, -a, -um
(sing.)
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
bellus
bella
GEN.
bellī
bellae
DAT.
bellō
ACC.
bellum
bellam
ABL.
bellā
(plur.)
bellōrum
bellārum
bellīs
bellōs
bellās
Summary of Endings:
-us / -a / -um
-ī / -ae / -ī
-ō / -ae / -ō
-um /-am/-um
-ō / -ā / -ō
-ī / -ae / -a
-ōrum /-ārum /-ōrum
-īs / -īs / -īs
-ōs / -ās / -a

16. Adjectives – 1st/2nd Declension – “-er” Adjs.
The “-er” adjectives of the 1st/2nd declension either contract in their stem: (pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum) or do not contract: (līber, lībera, līberum)
You will need to examine the fem. nom. sing. to determine whether the stem contracts.
līber, -era, -erum
(sing.)
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
līber
lībera
GEN.
līberī
līberae
DAT.
līberō
ACC.
līberum
līberam
ABL.
līberā
(plur.)
līberōrum
līberārum
līberīs
līberōs
līberās
Summary of Endings:
-er / -a / -um
-ī / -ae / -ī
-ō / -ae / -ō
-um /-am/-um
-ō / -ā / -ō
-ī / -ae / -a
-ōrum /-ārum /-ōrum
-īs / -īs / -īs
-ōs / -ās / -a

17. Adjectives – 1st/2nd Declension – “-er” Adjs.
The “-er” adjectives of the 1st/2nd declension either contract in their stem: (pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum) or do not contract: (līber, lībera, līberum)
You will need to examine the fem. nom. sing. to determine whether the stem contracts.
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
(sing.)
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
pulcher
pulchra
GEN.
pulchrī
pulchrae
DAT.
pulchrō
ACC.
pulchrum
pulchram
ABL.
pulchrā
(plur.)
pulchrōrum
pulchrārum
pulchrīs
pulchrōs
pulchrās
Summary of Endings:
-er / -a / -rum
-ī / -ae / -ī
-ō / -ae / -ō
-um /-am/-um
-ō / -ā / -ō
-ī / -ae / -a
-ōrum /-ārum /-ōrum
-īs / -īs / -īs
-ōs / -ās / -a

18. Adjectives – 3rd Declension
All adjectives of the 3rd declension are i-stems!
There are, however, three different types of 3rd declension adjectives, depending on the number of nom. sing. endings they exhibit.
“3-Termination” adjectives have 3 separate nom. sing. endings, one for each gender: e.g. – ācer (m.), ācris (f.), ācre (nt.)
“2-Termination” adjectives have 2 separate nom. sing. endings, one for masc./fem. and one for neut.: e.g. – fortis (m./f.), forte (nt.)
“1-Termination” adjectives have just one nom. sing. ending for all three genders: e.g. – potēns (m./f./nt.), potentis (gen. sing.)
NOTE: The 1-Termination adjectives will list their gen. sing. as the second dictionary entry-it is important that you memorize this as it will show you the stem of the adj.
As always, be sure to check the fem. nom. sing. form to find the stem for each adjective; simply remove the fem. nom. sing. ending to find the stem. (for the 1-Termin. adjs., remove the gen. sing. ending to find the stem)

19. Adjectives – 3rd Declension – 3 Termination
The 3-Termination adjectives of the THIRD DECLENSION adjectives mirror the endings of 3rd declension i-stem nouns.
As with 3rd decl. nouns, the nominative singular endings are difficult to predict, so memorize them carefully.
ācer, ācris, ācre
(sing.)
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
ācer
ācre
GEN.
ācris
DAT.
ācrī
ACC.
ācrem
ABL.
(plur.)
ācrēs
ācria
ācrium
ācribus
Summary of Endings:
Ø / -s / Ø
-is / -is / -is
-ī / -ī / -ī
-em / -em / Ø
-ēs / -ēs / -ia
-ium /-ium /-ium
-ibus /-ibus /-ibus

20. Adjectives – 3rd Declension – 2 Termination
The 2-Termination adjectives of the THIRD DECLENSION adjectives mirror the endings of 3rd declension i-stem nouns.
As with 3rd decl. nouns, the nominative singular endings are difficult to predict, so memorize them carefully.
fortis, forte
(sing.)
Masc./Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
fortis
forte
GEN.
DAT.
fortī
ACC.
fortem
ABL.
(plur.)
fortēs
fortia
fortium
fortibus
Summary of Endings:
-s / Ø
-is / -is
-ī / -ī
-em / Ø
-ēs / -ia
-ium /-ium
-ibus /-ibus

21. Adjectives – 3rd Declension – 1 Termination
The 1-Termination adjectives of the THIRD DECLENSION adjectives mirror the endings of 3rd declension i-stem nouns.
NOTE: While there is a single nom. sing. ending for all 3 genders, the acc. sing. and nom./acc. pl. endings still differ between masc./fem. and neut.
potēns, potentis
(sing.)
Masc./Fem.
Neut.
NOM.
potēns
GEN.
potentis
DAT.
potentī
ACC.
potentem
ABL.
(plur.)
potentēs
potentia
potentium
potentibus
Summary of Endings: Ø
-is / -is
-ī / -ī
-em / Ø
-ēs / -ia
-ium /-ium
-ibus /-ibus

22. Tips and Tricks for Memorizing Nouns and Adj.
Now that you’ve worked your way through the PowerPoint, here are a few tricks to keep in mind when studying Latin nouns and adjectives:
Note similarities across all the declensions! (e.g. – “vowel + m” for the acc. sing. of any masc./fem. noun in any declension; “vowel + s” for acc. pl. of any masc./fem. noun in any decl.; dat./abl. pl. always identical in any given decl.; “-ibus” as dat./abl. pl. in 3rd-5th declensions) – Wheelock p. 446 has a great chart that allows you to compare across all declensions
Remember the 2 Rules for Neuter Nouns! (nom. + acc. are always the same; nom. + acc. pl. always end in “a”)
For memorizing the genders of nouns, try reviewing that noun with a adjective attached to show the gender easily: e.g. – pax Romana, pulchrum corpus, bonus rex, etc.
As you use the online Noun/Adj. declension pair boxes to practice, try to mix up nouns and adjectives from different declensions to create the most variety.