There is no easy way - you just have to say them over and over until you can do it in your sleep. Do NOT go by what Sweet Dragon told you - that was a mess! A mix of singular and plural, and in some cases neither. I have no idea how she came up with those "declinations" - they are actually cases within the declensions. We were taught to start with the singular and then the plural - a, ae, ae, am, a, ae, arum, is, as, is. Nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, in that order.
1st Declension Feminine
a......ae
ae....arum
ae....is
am...as
a......is
2nd Declension Masculine
us.....i
i........orum
o.......is
um....os
o.......is
2nd Declension Neuter
um....a
i........orum
o.......is
um....a
o.......is
3rd Declension Masculine & Feminine
.........es
is......um
i........ibus
em....es
e.......ibus
3rd Declension Neuter
.........a
is......um
i........ibus
.........a
e.......ibus
2006-10-25 23:02:20
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answer #1
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answered by Jeannie 7
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No, "declension" is the correct word, even though the verb is "decline". "Declination" is an astronomical term. By the way, 2nd declension is both masculine and neuter; 3rd can be any gender.
Unfortunately, I can't think of an easy way to remember the declensions; you just have to memorize them. The nominative plurals are usually easy because we keep the formations in English (larva/larvae, datum/data). It might help to keep certain Latin phrases in mind (E Pluribus unum, so third declension ablative plural is -ibus), but really, you've just got to practice. No one said Latin was easy!
2006-10-25 16:12:01
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answer #2
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answered by kslnet 3
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My Latin teacher did a cheer for the 1st declension ones, so I'm never going to forget those. It's kinda hard to demonstrate that online, though...sorry.
2006-10-25 15:40:50
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answer #3
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answered by Courtney B 2
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"Declinations" is the word sweetie.
And it goes with gender and not 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Declination //Noun feminine // Noun Masculine // Noun Neutral
Nominative //Rosa // Puer // Rus
Vocative //Rosa // Puer // Rus
Genitive // Rosae // Pueris // Ruris
Dative // Rosae // Pueris // Ruris
Ablative //Rosae // Pueris // Ruris
Accusative //Rosam // Puer // Rus
Hope it helps
2006-10-25 15:47:33
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answer #4
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answered by Sweet Dragon 5
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