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Parts of speech
A NOUN is a person, place, or thing. A few nouns are indeclinable; the rest are categorized in 5
declensions, defined by the ending of the singular genitive (i.e., the 2nd principal part):
 1st declension: -ae
 2nd declension: -ī
 3rd declension: -is
 4th declension: -ūs
 5th declension: -eī
A noun has the following characteristics:
 gender (a fixed characteristic of each noun): masculine, feminine, or neuter
 number (declines): singular or plural
 case (declines): nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative, or vocative
The nominative case has 3 uses:
 subject (performs the action of the verb): Every man dies; not every man really lives.
 predicate nominative (renames the subject of a linking verb): Away, you are an ass.
 predicate adjective (modifies the subject of a linking verb): You are old, Father William.
The genitive case generally is used for a noun that depends on another noun. It typically
translates into English with the suffix -’s (possession by a singular noun) or -s’ (possession by a
plural noun), or with the preposition of (although it does not use a preposition in Latin). Some
common uses are:
 possession: I have not been able to bring your majesty’s business to a successful
conclusion.
 partitive: We sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street.
 objective: The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
 value: Your argument is not worth that snap of the fingers!
The dative case is used the least frequently of the 5 major cases. All uses of the dative case,
except the dative of purpose, are collectively known as the dative of reference—the action is
done with reference to, or to the advantage or disadvantage of, the noun in the dative case. It
typically translates into English with the preposition to or for (although it does not use a
preposition in Latin). Some common uses are:
 indirect object (the noun indirectly affected by a verb of giving, telling, or showing):
Come back with the man, and I’ll give you a shilling. (A sentence with an indirect object
usually has a direct object [in this example, a shilling] as well.)
 possession (with a linking verb): The Ring is mine. (Possession is more often indicated
by the genitive case.)
 with certain adjectives: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.
 purpose: To everything that has the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.
(A dative of reference [in this example, everything] is often found with a dative of
purpose, together forming the double dative.)
Some common uses of the accusative case are:
 direct object (the noun directly affected by an action verb): The gods may throw the dice.
(A sentence with a direct object very often lacks an indirect object. See also the note
below, between ablative and locative.)
 object of preposition (particularly prepositions indicating motion towards): A middle-
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aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott.
 duration of time (no preposition in Latin; for or no preposition in English): Surely I have
not slept here all night.
 subject of an infinitive verb: I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the
earth.
The ablative case has the largest number of uses, of which some use a preposition and others do
not. It often translates into English with the preposition with, in, by, or from. Some common
uses are:
 object of preposition (particularly prepositions indicating location or motion away from):
A middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott. (This
is an example of the ablative of separation, which may be written with or without a
preposition in Latin.)
 time when or within which (no preposition in Latin; at, on, in, within, or no preposition in
English): I will demolish the basis of that idea in three minutes.
 means (no preposition in Latin; with, by, or by means of in English): And now the air is
shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
 price (no preposition in Latin; for, at, etc. in English): Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny? (This is a subcategory of the ablative of means, as the price paid for a commodity
is the means by which it is obtained.)
 manner (cum [which may be omitted if an adjective is present] in Latin; with in English):
The minister held out the Bible with some reluctance.
 accompaniment (cum in Latin; with in English): I came home through the woods with my
string of fish.
 agent (passive verb; ā or ab in Latin; by in English): You will be haunted by three
Spirits. (The gerundive uses the dative of agent instead, without a preposition.)
 comparison (no preposition in Latin; than in English): You made him a little lower than
the heavenly beings. (This is often written instead using the conjunction quam [“than”],
with the noun after quam [in this example, the heavenly beings] taking the same case as
the noun to which it is compared [in this example, him].)
 degree of difference (no preposition in Latin; usually no preposition in English): You
made him a little lower than the heavenly beings.
 ablative absolute (no preposition in Latin; with or no preposition in English): A well
regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Certain verbs use the genitive (e.g., meminī), dative (e.g., pāreō; also many compound verbs,
e.g., occurrō), or ablative (e.g., ūtor) for the noun that in English is the direct object and
therefore seemingly ought to be in the accusative.
The locative case is used only for certain words: the names of cities, towns, and small islands,
and the words domus (house), humus (ground), and rūs (countryside). It has only 1 use:
 location (no preposition): Meet me in St. Louis, Louis, meet me at the Fair.
The vocative case has only 1 use:
 direct address: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
A PRONOUN is substituted for a noun (the pronoun’s antecedent). Grammatically, it therefore
has the same characteristics as a noun (gender, number, and case) and functions exactly as a
noun does, although it tends not to be modified by adjectives. The gender and number of the
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pronoun agree with the antecedent, while the case of the pronoun is determined by its use in its
own clause. There are 7 types of pronouns:
 personal: I am the vine, and you are the branches.
 reflexive (refers back to the subject): Harvey stretched himself in every direction but
could not report any injuries.
 demonstrative (points out something): These are the times that try men’s souls.
 intensive (emphasizes another noun or pronoun): You did this because you yourself have
feelings of insecurity.
 relative (introduces a relative clause, a type of subordinate clause): I who speak to you
am he.
 interrogative (introduces a question): “What is truth?” Pilate asked.
 indefinite (refers to an unspecified noun): But anyone can find out what will happen.
An ADJECTIVE modifies (i.e., describes) a noun or pronoun, typically indicating which one,
what kind, or how many. It agrees with that noun in gender, number, and case, all of which
decline. A few adjectives (notably cardinal numbers) are indeclinable; the rest are categorized
thus:
 1st & 2nd declension, using 1st-declension forms to modify feminine nouns, 2nddeclension masculine forms to modify masculine nouns, and 2nd-declension neuter forms
to modify neuter nouns.
 3rd declension, using 3rd-declension forms of all genders to modify nouns of all genders.
Most adjectives can be formed in the positive, comparative (more, too, or rather), and
superlative (most or very) degrees.
Articles (a, an, the) are adjectives; however, they are absent in Latin.
A VERB tells what happens in a sentence. Verbs have 2 main categories:
 Action verbs describe action. The great majority of verbs are in this category.
 Linking verbs describe state of being. To be is the most common one.
Verbs are categorized in 4 conjugations, defined by the ending of the present active infinitive
(i.e., the 2nd principal part):
 1st conjugation: -āre
 2nd conjugation: -ēre
 3rd conjugation: -ere
 4th conjugation: -īre
A verb has the following characteristics, all of which conjugate:
 person: 1st (I / we), 2nd (you), or 3rd (he, she, it, they)
 number: singular or plural
 tense: future (“I shall speak”), present (“I speak”), imperfect (“I was speaking”), future
perfect (“I shall have spoken”), perfect (“I spoke”; “I have spoken”), or pluperfect (“I had
spoken”)
 voice: active (the subject performs the action—“I speak the words”) or passive (the
subject receives the action—“the words are spoken by me”)
 mood: indicative (statements or questions of actual fact), imperative (commands),
subjunctive (potential or hypothetical actions), infinitive (e.g., to speak), or participle
(e.g., speaking, having been spoken, etc.)
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An ADVERB modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb, typically indicating when, where, why, or
how. Many adverbs in English end with –ly (e.g., slowly); others are more, not, very, well, etc.
A PREPOSITION links a noun or pronoun to another word. (It is often loosely but usefully
defined for elementary school children as a word that indicates where a squirrel can be in relation
to some trees—in, on, around, with, between, among, etc.) Thus, a prepositional phrase must
include at least 2 words: a preposition and an object of the preposition (a noun or pronoun). It
may include adjectives and adverbs as well. The object of a preposition is always in the
accusative or ablative case.
A CONJUNCTION connects words, phrases, or clauses.
 Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, etc.) join items of parallel grammatical
function.
 Subordinating conjunctions (if, when, as, because, etc.) introduce subordinate clauses.
An INTERJECTION has no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence: oh, gosh, wow,
well, etc.
Other definitions
INFLECTION is the act of changing the form of a word to indicate how it is used in a sentence.
 Declension is the act of inflecting a noun, pronoun, or adjective.
 Conjugation is the act of inflecting a verb.
A CLAUSE is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb.
 A main clause, or independent clause, is one that can stand as a complete sentence by
itself: If they were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad.
 A dependent clause, or subordinate clause, is one that cannot stand as a complete
sentence by itself: If they were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad.
A PHRASE is a group of words that has some collective grammatical function but is not a
clause (i.e., lacks a subject and/or a verb).
Note that the Latin word cum may be a preposition (introducing a prepositional phrase) or a
conjunction (introducing a subordinate clause).