nomen mihi est _______________________
Latin 1 Review: Chapters 1 & 2
Latin is an inflected language that is, a language “in which the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs have
variable endings by which the relationship of the words to each other in a sentence can be indicated.” (p
xxviii)
In both Latin and English, verbs have five characteristics:
1. Person – Who is the subject of the sentence? The one who performs (or, in passive voice,
receives) the action, from the POV of the speaker.

1st Person: I, we (i.e. the one speaking)

2nd Person: you, y’all (i.e. person(s) spoken to)

3rd Person: he, she, it, they (i.e. the person(s) spoken about, not directly to)
2. Number – how many subjects?

Singular (one)

Plural (more than one)
3. Tense – the time of the action

Present

Imperfect

Future

Perfect (or present perfect)

Pluperfect

Future Perfect
4. Mood – manner of indicating the action or state of being of the verb

Indicative: indicates facts

Imperative: commands and orders actions

Subjunctive: describes hypothetical or potential actions
5. Voice – Does the subject perform the action, or does it receive it? This has to do with transitive
verbs1.
1

Active voice: The subject performs the action.

Passive voice: The subject receives the action.
Transitive verbs can take a direct object (ex: to read. She reads the book. The book is the direct object), while intransitive verbs
cannot. (ex: to go. You can’t go a book. You can’t go a car, or a cup, or a flower. It can’t take a direct object)
nomen mihi est _______________________
Latin verbs are divided up into four groups called conjugations, each with a different thematic vowel:

1st: ā ex: amāre, laudāre, etc

2nd: ē ex: monēre, audēre, etc

3rd: e ex: agere, ducere, etc

4th: ī ex: audīre, venīre, etc
In Latin, the personal endings of the verbs tell us its five characteristics.
Personal Endings of the Active Voice:
1 person
Singular
-o or -m
English equiv.
I
Plural
-mus
English equiv.
We
2nd person
-s
You (sg)
-tis
You (pl)/Y’all
-t
He/she/it
-nt
They
st
rd
3 person
Latin verbs have four principal parts. Let’s use as an example the 1st conjugation verb laudō, laudāre,
laudāvī, laudātum. The first principal part is the 1st person singular active indicative. With this verb, it
simply means “I praise.” The second principal part is the present active infinitive: “to praise.” In order to
conjugate a verb, we take the stem and add on the personal endings from the chart above. To find the stem,
you just take the infitive/2nd principal part and chop off the -re.
Singular
1 person
laudo
English equiv.
I praise
2nd person
laudas
You (sg) priase
laudatis
You (pl) praise
laudat
He/she/it praises
laudant
They praise
Plural
monemus
English equiv.
We advise
st
rd
3 person
Plural
laudamus
English equiv.
We praise
We can do the same with the 2nd conjugation verb moneō:
Singular
1 person
moneo
English equiv.
I advise
2nd person
mones
You (sg) advise
monetis
You (pl) advise
monet
He/she/it advises
monent
They advise
st
rd
3 person
It’s simple to form the present active imperative of the first two conjugations. The singular imperative is
identical to the present stem and the plural imperative (used when addressing 2 or more people) is the pres.
stem + -te.
nomen mihi est _______________________
2nd person singular
2nd person plural
Lauda
Laudate
Praise!
Praise! (pl)
Mone
Monete
Advise!
Advise! (pl)
Because it is inflected, Latin has a looser word order than English. In English, the meaning of the sentence is
tied to the position/location of the words in the sentence. We must say “Sally sells seashells.” Rearranging
the words into sentences like “Seashells sells Sally” or “Sells seashells Sally” doesn’t make much sense. But
because Latin is inflected and the word endings tell us the functions of the words in the sentence, saying
“Sally seashells sells,” in Latin, would make perfect sense.
In fact, Latin word order tends to be SOV, while English word order is SVO.
(S = Subject, O = Object, V = Verb)
Latin nouns have three characteristics:
1. Gender

Masculine

Feminine

Neuter
2. Number

Singular

Plural
3. Case – (This is a preliminary list of functions):

Nominative – Used for the subject of the sentence.

Genitive – Used to show possession; the noun doing the possessing is in this case.

Dative – Used for indirect objects, that is, secondary objects of verbs. Usually translated with
“to” or “for.”

Accusative – Direct object of verbs; the person or object directly affected by the verb. Also,
used with certain prepositions.

Ablative – This is the adverbial case. This case encompasses many usages, including with
certain prepositions, for manner, means, agent, and accompaniment.

Vocative – Direct address.
nomen mihi est _______________________
Nouns are divided up into five groups called
First declension endings:
declensions.
Sg.
Pl.
It is very important to remember that declension
Nom.
a
ae
does NOT equal gender! To decline a noun or
Gen.
ae
arum
adjective, we add endings to the word stem/base,
Dat.
ae
īs
found by removing the case ending from the
Acc.
am
as
genitive singular.
Abl.
ā
īs
Voc.
a
ae
Ex:
Singular
Nom
Gen
Dat
Acc
Abl
Voc
vita
vitae
vitae
vitam
vitā
vita
English Equiv.
The life
Of the life
To/for the life
The life (dir. obj.)
By/with/from the life
O life!
Plural
vitae
vitarum
vitīs
vitas
vitīs
vitae
NB that in Latin there is no word for “the.”
Practice: English to Latin
1.1 What does he see?
Quid videt?
1.2 They are giving nothing.
Nihil dant.
1.3 You ought not to praise me.
Me laudāre non debes/debetis.
1.4 If I err, he often warns me.
Si erro, saepe me monet.
1.5 If you love me, save me, please!
Si me amas, (con)serva me, amabo te!
2.1 The girls save the poet’s life.
Puellae vitam poetae (con)servant.
2.2 Without philosophy we often go astray and pay the penalty.
Sine philosophiā saepe erramus et poenas damus.
English Equiv.
The lives
Of the lives
To/for the lives
The lives (dir. obj.)
By/with/from the lives
O lives!
nomen mihi est _______________________
2.3 If your land is strong, nothing terrifies the sailors and you ought to praise your great fortune.
Si patria tua valet, nihil nautas terret et magnam fortunam laudāre debes/debetis.
2.4 We often see the penalty of anger.
Poenam irae saepe videmus.
2.5 The ancient gate is large.
Porta antiqua est magna.