How do you know which declension belongs to a word in Latin? Also on noun cases, I want to know a very very detailed (with some examples) definition on each of the five main noun cases. (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative) Thank you!
2007-08-19 01:26:05 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Also, can you tell me how to say the basic "I am ______", "I am a _____", You are ______", You are a ______, He is _______, He is a _______, She is ______, She is a _______, etc.
2007-08-19 15:28:04 · update #1
The nominative is really unimportant to tell the declension of a word, it's the genitive singular that tells you which declension a word belongs. That's why you memorize the nominative and the genitive.
1st -ae
2nd -i
3rd -is
4th -us (long u with a macron over it, always)
5th -es
In all my examples, I am using servus -i, m. slave in the given case.
nominative is used as the subject of the sentence. it performs the verb, if the verb is active
servus laborat. The slave works.
genitive is generally possession
canis servi laborat. The slave's dog works
dative is the indirect object (direct object of special verbs)
dominus pecuniam servo dat. The master gives money to the slave.
accusative is the direct object, or the object of certain prepositions
dominus servum vidit. The master sees the slave.
ablative is used with certain prepositions, or without prepositions to denote with/by/from, place where, time when and other uses
Dominus portatur a servo. The master is carried by the slave.
If you are looking at a word and trying to guess the declension, chances are if it has an -a near the end, it's 1st declension. Chances are if it has a -u near the end, it's 4th declension, except the 2nd declension has -u in the nominative and accusative singular. That leaves 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. The 5th declension has a lot of -e's BUT there are e's in f the 3rd declension nominative and accusative plural. There are -o is usually 2nd declension. And the 3rd declension is just a mess, because the nominative singular can be ANYTHING.
Added: The verb endings are
-o/-m (I)
-s (you singular)
-t (he, she, it, singular name)
-mus (we)
-tis (you plural)
-nt (they)
These endings are added to the stem of the word, which changes based on certain vowels in the words.
amo - I love
amas - you love (you are talking to one person)
amat - he loves (Sextus amat = Sextus loves)
amamus -we love
amatis - you love (meaning more than one person)
amant - they love (Canes amant = dogs love...)
sum = I am (sum laeta = I am happy. sum femina = I am a woman)
es = you (singular) are
est = he/she/it/name is
sumus = we are
estis = you (plural) are
sunt = they are
"I am ______", "I am a _____", You are ______", You are a ______, He is _______, He is a _______, She is ______, She is a _______, etc.
2007-08-19 13:05:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
There's no way to tell perfectly. You just have to figure out based on the context of a sentence. Note, however, that if you have what would be an accusative right after "to be" verb (Sum, es, est, etc; and all the parts of it), then that accusative is gong to be a nominative. So Malum donum est bellum. - A wicked gift is war, bellum is (or should be) nominative. But anyway, yeah, you just have to know by context. If it's an adjective, see if there are any nominative nouns it can describe (which means they have to be neuter too). If there is no clear nominative, the neuter adjective might be it, followed by man, thing, etc. Sorry to go off on a tangent. Anyway, to answer directly: If the verb is 3rd person-conjugated, and there is no other definite nominative, use the neuter and see if it works. If there is definitely another nominative, there is no "and (et, atque, ac, ect)," and the neuter is a noun, then it's an accusative. Be aware that there are a TON of look alikes in latin. Especially in fourth declension. Just get used to being able to figure out what a noun is based on context.
2016-05-17 06:51:02 · answer #2 · answered by jeana 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will find a detailed explanation of the declensions in the following episode of 'Latinum', which you can listen to on the Latinum podcast:
http://latinum.mypodcast.com/2007/06/Adler_XIII_Pensum_Tertium_Decimum_A_ii-31483.html
There are also lots of examples of questions ans answers on the podcast, so if your goal is to learn how to ask questions in Latin, the the question-answer format of the Latinum lessons will help you become a superb interrogator.
If you want a full detailed description of the cases, and their historical liguistic origins, and what they actually serve for, then you can download Bennett's Historical Outline of the Latin Language from Google Books, (if you are in the USA)
2007-08-20 12:46:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
nominative = subject
genitive = (of...)as like in english genitive
dative = (to...)
accusative = direct object
vocative = for a calling, a vocation
ablative = others indirect objects
the 1st declension is for feminine nouns.
singular
ros-a "the rose" subject
ros-ae "of the rose"
ros-ae "to the rose"
ros-am "the rose" object
ros-a "oh rose!"
ros-a "for the rose, with the rose, among the rose" and so on.
plural
ros-ae "the roses"
ros-arum "of the roses"
ros-is "to the roses"
ros-as "the rose"
ros-ae "oh roses!"
ros-is "for/with the roses"
the 2nd is for masculine nouns. The roles and translations are the same.
singular: -us,-i,-o,-um,-e,-o plural: -i,-orum,-is,-os,-is,-is
the 3rd is for various nouns, feminine, masculine and neutre. it is not regular and there are a lot of exceptions.
the 4th is generally for neutre nouns, but also feminine and masculine.
the 5th is almost composted by feminine nouns.
Of course, you have to study all of them; and you have to understand the meaning or the declansion by the sense of the sentence.
**********
sum = I am
es= you are
est= he/she is
sumus= we are
estis= you are
sunt= they are
You can say "I am a ..." just adding the accusative form (that depens on the declension, of course) of the word/adjective you want to say.
2007-08-19 04:58:29 · answer #4 · answered by toz 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
if it is second declination then 90%nouns are m...
you have to remember extension in genitive
if it is ae then it is 1st declination
if it is -i then it is 2nd
if it is -is ithen it is 3rd
if it is -us then it is 4th
if it is -ei then it is 5th
nominative and genitive you learn from dictionary
others are really har to explain but you can learn some prepositions (for example, "in" goes with acc or abl so word after it must be acc or abl)!
2007-08-19 02:54:10 · answer #5 · answered by deedee 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You must learn each. And also its gender. It is like irregular English verbs. How do you know "swim" is irregular? Because they have told you so and you remember it. But Latin is much more complex.
About the cases, maybe you should read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_declension#Grammatical_cases
2007-08-19 04:54:42 · answer #6 · answered by kamelåså 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋