Grammar Study Guide for Latin II
Nouns: describe a person, place or thing.
Declensions: Latin nouns belong to “families” called declensions. Each declension has its on set of endings
for the various cases.
1st : All nouns end in –a in the nominative case and all are feminine expect when the noun indicates a male
(e.g. poeta and agricola)
2nd : Almost all nouns end in –us in the nominative and all are masculine. However, there are a few neuters.
3rd : The largest group of nouns and all genders are present (masc., fem., and neuter)\
4th : Dominated by the letter u.
5th: Dominated by the letter e.
Cases: In Latin, nouns change their endings according to their function in a sentence. These different forms
of the same noun are called cases.
Nominative: the subject of the verb
Caesar died.
Genitive: belonging to someone/something
The home of my friend.
Dative: the indirect object of the verb
I gave the book to my son.
Accusative: the direct object of the verb
The cat ate the mouse.
Ablative: says by, with or from whom/what
This was agreed by the Senate.
Vocative: addressing someone or something
Welcome, Alexander.
Noun Charts:
1st
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Voc.
4th
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Voc.
sing
-a
-ae
-ae
-am
-a
-a
pl
2nd
sing
-ae
-arum
-is
-as
-is
-ae
sing
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Voc.
-us
-i
-o
-um
-o
-e
-us
-us
-ui
-um
-u
-us
pl
-us
-uum
-ibus
-us
-ibus
-us
pl
-i
-orum
-is
-os
-is
-i
5th
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Voc.
3rd
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Voc.
sing
--------is
-i
-em
-e
-------sing
-es
-ei
-ei
-em
-e
-es
pl
-es
-um
-ibus
-es
-ibus
-es
pl
-es
-erum
-ebus
-es
-ebus
-es
Verbs: indicate an action.
Conjugations: There are four patterns of regular Latin verbs called conjugations. Each can be identified by the
ending of the present infinitve.
1st : verbs end in –are (e.g. amare—to love)
2nd : verbs end in –ere (e.g. habere—to have)
3rd : verbs end in –ere (e.g. mittere—to send)
4th : verbs end in –ire (e.g. audire---to hear)
over-->
Tenses: These forms of the verb show when an action takes place in the present, in the past or in the future.
Present: describes an action that is occurring right now.
Imperfect: describes an action that happened in the past but was going on for some time.
Perfect: describes an action that happened in the past, but it is a completed action that happened once.
PluPerfect: describes an action that happened in the past, it is the farthest in the past you can go.
Verb Charts
Present
1
2
3
Active Voice
Sing
-o/-m
-s
-t
Translated:
PluPerf
1
2
3
Indicative Mood
Plural
-mus
-tis
-nt
Imperfect
1
2
3
Sing
-bam
-bas
-bat
Plural
-bamus
-batis
-bant
Translated:
Sing
-eram
-eras
-erat
Perfect
1
2
3
Sing
-i
-isti
-it
Plural
-imus
-istis
-erunt
Translated:
Plural
-eramus
-eratis
-erant
Translated:
**Irregular Verbs**
Refer to p206-207 in the blue book to study these irregular verbs. The most prominent is:
sum, esse ----to be
Present:
sum---I am
sumus---we are
Imperfect:
eram---I was
eramus—we were
es—you are
estis---you(pl) are
eras—you were
eratis—you (pl) were
est—He/she/it is
sunt---- they are
erat--- he/she/it was
errant—they were
Infinitives: are basically verbal nouns, they have tense and voice but no person or number. They are the 2nd principle
part of all verbs.
Eg. amare- to love ducere-to lead
Adjectives: add quality or describe a noun. In Latin they must agree with the noun they modify in case, number, and
gender. E.g. longus, longior, longissimus
Positive: the adjective in its simplest form.
Easy
Comparative: the adjective used when things are being compared
easier
Superlative: the adjective used when things are the most of something
easiest
Pronouns: take the place of nouns.
Relative Pronouns: placed at the beginning of a relative clause and translated “who”, “which”, and “whom.” The
noun described by the relative clause is known as the antecedent of the relative pronoun.
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Masc.
Fem.
Neuter
Plural
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Masc.
Fem.
Neuter
Demonstrative Pronouns: demonstrate or show and are translated “this” and “these” and “that” and “those.”
This
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
That
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Masc.
Masc.
Fem.
Fem.
Neuter
Neuter
These
Plural
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Those
Plural
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Masc.
Fem.
Neuter
Masc.
Fem.
Neuter
Participles: are verbal adjectives, meaning they are part verb but describe a noun like an adjective.
e.g. The running man was hit by the car.
Present Active: are translated –ing are taken from the infinitive (2nd part of the verb) – (-re) + the appropriate
endings.
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Plural
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.