A Little Bit of Latin Grammar…
Understanding the Latin Language
1. Read through the sentence aloud in Latin. Try to get an idea
of each word as you read it.
2. Remember that there are no silent syllables in Latin.
3. Many times the meaning becomes clear as you read.
4. Latin has no words for a, an, and the. You will need to supply
those words to the nouns that need them for making sense of the
sentence.
5. Latin word order is different from English. English adheres to
a strict structure, usually, subject-verb-object.
6. Latin word order varies and is flexible. Normally, a verb is
last but not always.
7. Latin nouns, adjectives, and verbs have endings and change
endings (called inflection) that tell the reader what the word
order should be.
Sentences
The English word sentence comes from the Latin word sententia.
This means “thought”. In both languages a sentence is a group of
words that convey thoughts.
Nouns
Nouns are used in English and Latin to name persons, places, and
things. There are five (5) declensions of Latin nouns.
We will look only at the first declension (a, ae- feminine) and the
second declension (us,i- masculine) nouns in Latin.
The case of a noun tells its use in a sentence. We will examine
only the subjects and predicate nominatives (nominative case) in
Latin and the direct objects (accusative case) in Latin.
Verbs
There are four (4) conjugations of Latin verbs. We will examine
only the first conjugation. These are the verbs whose stem ends
in -a after the -re infinitive ending is removed. An infinitive of
the verb in English means “to” do what the verb mentions, e.g. to
prepare, to carry.
Est is a linking verb in Latin. It means is, he/she/it is, and there
is. It uses the nominative singular case noun and adj. endings.
Sunt is a linking verb in Latin. It means are, they are, and there
are. It uses the nominative plural case noun and adjective
endings.
Adjectives
An adjective is a word used to describe a noun. In English its
position is generally before the noun it modifies, e.g. green shirt.
In Latin the adjective generally comes after the noun it modifies,
An adjective in English does not change if the noun is plural, e.g.
the big dog and the big dogs. Only the noun becomes plural.
In Latin the adjective must match the noun in gender, number,
and case. This means that puella bona (singular) would be puellae
bonae (plural) so adjective and noun would match.
Word Order
The greatest difference between an English and a Latin sentence
is word order. In English the strict word order helps the meaning
of the sentence to be understood.
In Latin the word order is not important because the endings on
the nouns tell you what the subject and objects are.
Look at these examples: Puellam equus bonus portat.
Bonus equus puellam portat.
Portat puellam equus bonus.
The word order is different in each sentence, yet the meaning is
the same. The good horse carries the girl.
To form a question in Latin, you add -ne to the first word in the
sentence and put a ? at the end.
e.g. Estne Marcus discipulus Romanus? or Marcusne est discipulus
Romanus?
Working with Nouns and Verbs
First Declension Nouns: feminine in gender
Nominative Case (subjects) ending in -a (singular) -ae (plural)
Accusative Case (direct objects) ending in -am (sing.) -as (pl.)
Second Declension Nouns: masculine in gender
Nominative Case (subjects) ending in –us (singular) –i (plural)
Accusative Case (direct objects) ending in –um (singular)
–os (plural)
First Conjugation Verbs: verbs with stems ending in –a.
Drop the infinitive –re ending and you have the present stem:
e.g. portare = portaamare = amaNow add –t to the stem and you have he, she, or it doing
something. e.g. portat = He, She, or It carries. (singular)
Now add –nt to the stem and you have they do something.
e.g. portant = They carry. (plural)
Useful Vocabulary
Verbs
1. portare = to carry
2. laborare = to work
3. amare = to like, to love
4. spectare = to watch, to look (at)
5. clamare = to shout, to scream
6. cantare = to sing
7. bibere = to drink
8. legere = to read
9. scribere = to write
10. est = is, there is
11. sunt = are, there are
Nouns
1. terra = earth, land
2. aqua = water
3. puella = girl
4. familia = family
5. fortuna = luck, fortune
6. agricola = farmer
7. nauta = sailor
8. poeta = poet
Adjectives
1. parvus (a) = small
2. magnus (a) = large, big
3. altus (a) = tall
4. longus (a) = long
5. multus (a) = much, many
9. insula = island
10. silva = forest, woods
11. epistula = letter
12. puer = boy
13. liber = book
14. dominus = master, lord
15. servus = slave
16. equus = horse
6. bonus (a) = good
7. malus (a) = bad
8. novus (a) = new
9. iratus (a) = angry
10. laetus(a) = happy
Declension Chart
Nominative Case (subjects)
Singular
Feminine
Masculine
a
us
Plural
ae
i
Accusative Case (objects)
Singular
Feminine
Masculine
am
um
Plural
as
os
Verbs
t (singular)
nt (plural)
Let’s Practice
Translate the following:
1. Silva est parva. ___________________
2. Familiae sunt magnae. ___________________
3. Puella Italiam amat. _____________________
4. Insula est magna. _____________________
5. Tiberius et Maria aquam bonam portant.
___________________________________
Supply the Latin word.
1. Puellae (the land) amant. _________
2. Equus (water) portat. ___________
3. Claudius (the letter) legit. _____________
Add the correct endings.
1. Naut__ est alt___.
2. Terr___ non bon____est.
3. Carr__ est magn____.
4. Eq___ puell____ portant.
5. Agricol___ aqu___ portat.
For more practice, see pages 154 and 155.