Latin II_H.Q1.Vocabulary Test #1 POST-MORTEM Comments / Test-Taking Tips
1. ALL first declension nouns end in –a in the nominative singular and –ae in the genitive singular. ALL 2nd
declension nouns end in –us, -er, or –um. One minor exception is vir, virī, m., which still ends in –r.
a. A noun such as aestās, which does NOT end in –a in the nominative singular, CANNOT be first
declension.
i. Therefore, aestae is NOT a possible genitive singular form for aestās, which is third
declension.
b. Similarly, libertās CANNOT be second declension. Hence, liberatī and liberī are NOT the genitive
form for libertās.
c. Both aestās and lībertās have similar genitive forms: aestātis and lībertātis. Latin is full of words
in the third declension that have similar nominative-genitive patterns. The more you can find such
patterns, the easier it comes to learn the vocabulary
i. –tās > -tātis (gravitās, gravitātis and celeritās, celeritātis, etc.)
ii. –men > -minis (flūmen, flūminis and carmen, carminis, etc.)
iii. – ō > -inis (altitūdō, altitūdinis and magnitūdō, magnitūdinis, etc.)
iv. many others
2. ALL second declension nouns ending in –um in the nominative are NEUTER.
a. on this test: periculum, consilium
b. others you’ve had for sure: rēgnum, oppidum, bellum
3. (pretty much) ALL second declension nouns ending in –us in the nominative singular are MASCULINE.
a. There are a very, very few exceptions to this. None of the words you learn in Latin I or II are
exceptions.
b. Examples of some of the exceptions, and you DON’T need to know these (unless you play
certamen): vulgus (crowd), cetus (sea-monster), and carbasus (sail).
4. Latin genders are not necessarily logical to the real world, but ALL words that represent real people or jobs
must be either masculine (most likely) or feminine.
a. Therefore a word such as nauta, sailor, CANNOT be neuter.
b. Similarly, hostis, enemy, CANNOT be neuter.
c. Nauta is one of several first-declension nouns that are masculine. These include agricola (farmer),
poēta (poet), athlēta (athlete), aurīga (charioteer), incola (inhabitant) among some others.
5. NOUNS are persons, places, or things. Therefore, when you guess a noun’s definition, you should NOT
guess such things as:
a. ADJECTIVES—social (2), free (4), bold (2), brave (2), mad, angry, hospitable, wounded
b. VERBS—irritate, flee, hasten, get in the way, would
c. ADVERBS—quickly, now
6. VERBS are action words. Therefore, when you guess a verb’s definition, you should NOT guess such
things as:
a. NOUNS—family, manners
Latin II_H.Q1.Vocabulary Test #1 POST-MORTEM Comments / Test-Taking Tips
7. ADJECTIVES are describing words. They “modify” nouns and tell you more about them. Therefore, when
you guess an adjective’s definition, you should NOT guess such things as:
a. NOUNS—freedom (2), peace, place, mountains, power, swiftness
b. VERBS—release, lack, finish, leave from
8. ALL first declension nouns have a genitive singular ending in –ae, ALL second declension nouns have a
genitive singular ending in –ī, and ALL third declension nouns have a genitive ending in –is.
a. Therefore, when guessing the genitive singular of a noun, your noun form MUST end in –ae, -ī, or –
is unless it’s a rare plural-only noun (e.g. castra), in which case it would end in either -ārum, ōrum, or –um depending on which declension it is.
9. Distinguish these words carefully for the sake of not only your Latin but also your English:
a. consul, consulis, m. = CONSUL, i.e. an elected official of the Roman republic or, in modern times,
an ambassador or diplomat
b. consilium, consiliī, n. = COUNSEL, i.e. advice, a plan, something a “counselor” provides you to
help guide you in making a decision
c. concilium, conciliī, n. = COUNCIL, i.e. a group of people who meet to make decisions
10. Distinguish these two oft-confused Latin verbs:
a. You’ve had this word: servō, servāre, servāvī, servātum—to guard, protect; derivatives: conserve,
preservative, conservatory,
b. You haven’t had this yet in vocab but this is what many people get confused with the verb above:
serviō, servīre, servī, servītum—to serve; derivatives: servitude, service, servile
11. Going forward, please be sure to mark the macron over the first “e” when giving the principal parts of a
second conjugation verb, e.g. doceō, docēre, docuī, doctum.
12. The easiest way to make some principal part patterns easy for you is to make sure you know when a verb is
1st conjugation, because as long as it is, it is EXTREMELY likely it’s going to follow the very consistent –ō,
-āre, -āvī, -ātus/-a/-um pattern.
a. E.g. laudō, laudāre, laudāvī, laudātum.
b. Here’s a verb you’ve never seen, but you can figure out the principal parts once you’re certain it’s 1st
conjugation: incitō. (incitāre, incitāvi, incitātum).
c. KEY Exceptions:
i. dō, dare, dedī, datum – to give
ii. stō, stāre, stetī, statum – to stand
iii. later on, you’ll have lavō, lavāre, lavī, lautum – to wash; derivatives: lavatory, lavish, lotion
13. maneō does not mean “hold.” habeō can mean “hold,” and teneō is a great verb for “hold.”
a. I suspect that there was an error in whatever quizlet card somebody made and shared with friends
and this caused a bunch of people to misremember maneō as “hold.”
b. Suggestion: make your own vocabulary/quizlet cards if you can, or get in the habit of checking the
cards once before you fully dive into them.
c. Make sure your quizlet and vocabulary cards put only the nominative singular of nouns and first
principal part of verbs on the front. On the back, write the rest of the dictionary information required
of you on tests.