Chapter 8
 There
are three genders of nouns in Latin.
You have already seen two of them,
masculine and feminine, and in this
chapter, we will take a look at the third
gender, the neuter.
 Keep in mind that you must memorize the
gender from the vocabulary. Inanimate
objects are not always neuter in Latin.
 These
rules are for ALL neuter nouns, no
matter what declension they are in.
• Nominative and Accusative will look
alike.
• Nominative and Accusative plural will
end in –a.
 All
other endings are the same as the
masculine endings you have already
learned.

Look at the following chart of endings
for a 2nd Declension, neuter word:
Case
Singular
Plural
Nom.
-um
-a
Gen.
-i
-orum
Dat.
-o
-is
Acc.
-um
-a
Abl.
-o
-is
 Notice
how many neuter endings look just
like the masculine ones.
 Here’s
an example of a second
declension, neuter word declined.
• First find the base of the noun- donum, doni, n.
• Then add the endings:
Case
Singular
Plural
Nom.
donum
dona
Gen.
doni
donorum
Dat.
dono
donis
Acc.
donum
dona
Abl.
dono
donis
 Here
are some other 2nd Declension,
neuter words from your reading:
• arma, armorum, n. weapons *
• bellum, belli, n. war
• castra, castrorum, n. camp*
• consilium, consili, n. plan, advice
• forum, fori, n. forum
• templum, templi, n. temple
*NOTICE
that CASTRA and ARMA
are always plural. Since the –a is the
nominative, neuter, plural ending for
2nd declension, that is the nominative
form that you see in the dictionary
entry.


Look at the following chart of endings for a 3rd
Declension, neuter word:
Case
Singular
Plural
Nom.
---
-a
Gen.
-is
-um
Dat.
-i
-ibus
Acc.
---
-a
Abl.
-e
-ibus
Notice that the nominative, singular is
unpredictable in the 3rd Declension. The
accusative will always look like the nominative
when the word is neuter.
 Here’s
an example of a third declension,
neuter word declined.
• First find the base of the noun- corpus, corporis,
n.
• Then add the endings:
Case
Singular
Plural
Nom.
corpus
corpora
Gen.
corporis
corporum
Dat.
corpori
corporibus
Acc.
corpus
corpora
Abl.
corpore
corporibus
 Some
of the 3rd declension neuter nouns
in your readings are:
• carmen, carminis., n. song, poem
• corpus, corporis, n. body
• iter, itineris, n. journey
• mare, maris, n. sea
• opus, operis, n. work, labor, a literary work
 Always
remember the two rules for
neuter nouns. They will work no matter
what the declension.
• Nominative and Accusative will look
alike.
• Nominative and Accusative plural will
end in –a.