Unit 2 Stage 13 infinitives; -que Infinitives These are the base form of the verb; they tell you what conjugation a verb belongs to. Conjugations are to verbs as declensions are to nouns. They don t alter the translation; they basically govern the spelling rules for verbs. There are 4 conjugations, plus irregulars. Infinitives will end in the following manner. 1 st Conjugation: -āre (clamat clamāre) 2 nd Conjugation: -ēre* (habet habēre) *notice the long mark over the first e 3 rd Conjugation: -ere (credit credere) 4 th Conjugation: -īre (audio audīre) Infinitives are translated as to verb (to shout, to have, to trust, to hear, etc.) The frequently follow verbs like potest (he is able) and vult (he wants). These are called complementary infinitives, because they complete the idea of the main verb. (He is able to walk. She wants to eat the brisket.) -que This is an enclitic (a type of suffix) that is translated as and. It should be translated before the word it is attached to. (pueri puellaeque laetae = the boys and happy girls NOT the boys, girls, and happy ) -que can be added to most parts of speech. Stage 14 adjectives; prepositional phrases Adjectives Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in case, number, and gender. If a noun is in the dative case, then the adjective modifying that noun must also be dative. If a noun is singular, then its adjective must be singular. If a noun is feminine, the adjective going with it must also be feminine. However, although nouns and their adjectives must have the same case, number, and gender, this does not mean that they have to have the same endings. For instance, servus and tristis are both masculine, singular, and nominative, but their endings (-us and -is) are not the same. This is because nouns and adjectives can belong to separate declensions. Nouns (with rare exception) belong to only one declension. servus is 2 nd declension and will always be so. femina will always be 1 st declension. Adjectives are a bit more flexible and belong in two groups. Adjectives will either be 1 st /2 nd Declension Adjectives or 3 rd Declension Adjectives, but not both. 1 st /2 nd Declension Adjectives will use 1 st and 2 nd declension endings to modify nouns. The declension will change depending on the gender of the noun. 1 st /2 nd Declension Adjectives use the 1 st declension endings when they are modifying feminine nouns, 2 nd declension endings when they are modifying masculine nouns, and the 2 nd declension neuter endings when they are modifying neuter nouns. They will use these endings regardless of the declension of the noun they are modifying. The dictionary entry for 1 st /2 nd Declension Adjectives looks like the example below: bonus, bona, bonum or bonus, -a, -um. 3 rd Declension Adjectives will use 3 rd declension endings to modify masculine or feminine nouns and 3 rd declension neuter endings to modify neuter nouns.
The dictionary entry for 3 rd Declension Adjectives will take multiple forms. ingens, ingentis (gen.) All three genders have the same nominative, singular form. tristis, triste Neuter has a separate nominative, singular form. acer, acris, acre All three genders have separate nominative, singular forms. To decline an adjective so that it agrees with the noun, we need to find the base of the adjective. For 1 st /2 nd declension adjectives, we go to the feminine form of the adjective (the second form provided), remove the -a and add the appropriate ending. Most 1 st /2 nd declension adjectives follow the regular us, -a, -um pattern, so there isn t much difference between forms. However, some 1 st /2 nd declension adjectives do not follow this pattern. Look at the example below: pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum Notice that the e drops out of the feminine and neuter forms, but is present in the masculine form. When declining the adjective, that e will drop out of everything but the masculine, nominative, singular form. Masculine Feminine Neuter pulcher pulchri pulchra pulchrae pulchrum pulchra pulchri pulchorum pulchrae pulchrarum pulchri pulchrorum pulchro pulchris pulchrae pulchris pulchro pulchris pulchrum pulchros pulchram pulchras pulchrum pulchra pulchro pulchris pulchrā pulchris pulchro pulchris The same rule applies to 3 rd declension adjectives. Prepositions Prepositions in Latin require an object in either the accusative or ablative case. While most prepositions will take only the accusative or the ablative, some will take both, depending on the meaning. A list of prepositions and the cases they take can be found on my website. Stage 15 relative clauses; gender Relative Clauses Relative clauses are phrases that give more information about a noun (antecedent). Like adjectives, relative pronouns need to agree with their antecedent in number and gender, but not necessarily case. This is because the relative clause functions as its own unit and can have separate grammatical structure from the main sentence. For example: The boy, whom I saw yesterday, was riding his bike today. The relative clause (whom I saw yesterday) gives us more information about its antecedent (the boy); however, while the boy is the subject of the main sentence (The boy...was riding his bike today.) he is the direct object of the relative clause. In Latin, the boy would be masculine, nominative, singular, but the relative pronoun would be masculine, accusative, singular. Relative pronouns can agree in case as well, but this is not always the case. The relative pronoun chart (qui, quae, quod) can be found in the back of the book or on my website. Gender In Latin all nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. In English, men are masculine, women are feminine, and anything else (with rare exception) is neuter. In Latin, men are still masculine, women are still feminine, but inanimate objects can be any gender. A basic rule of thumb is that 1 st declension nouns are feminine and 2 nd declension nouns are masculine. This is not always the case, but it is usually the case.
Stage 16 pluperfect tense; num/-ne/nonne Pluperfect Tense The pluperfect tense is used to show that something happened in the past before something else happened in the past. The pluperfect tense is always translated as had verbed. To form the pluperfect tense, you begin with the perfect base and add the following chart: eram eramus eras eratis erat erant The perfect base is found by dropping the i from the 3 rd principle part of the verb. amo, amāre, amavi amavvideo, vidēre, vidi vidimitto, mittere, misi misaudio, audīre, audivi audiv- Examples: amaveram, habuerat, miseramus, audiverant, etc. num/-ne/nonne num, ne, and nonne are three different ways to ask a question in Latin. num begins a sentence, and is used when you expect the person to answer with no. It is usually translated Surely...not? num domum ivisti? Surely you didn t go home? nonne begins a sentence, and is used when you expect the person to answer with yes. It is usually translated Surely...? ne domum ivisti? Surely you went home? -ne is attached to the first word of a sentence, usually a verb, and is used to ask a question with no expected answer. It is the Latin equivalent of a question mark. ivistine domum? Did you go home? Stage 17 genitive case Genitive Case The genitive case is usually used to show possession and can best be translated as of the noun. You could also say the noun s. The genitive is used with more than just possession, so I encourage of the noun because that covers most of the other uses as well. When looking at a dictionary entry (e.g. servus, servi, m. slave) the second form given is the genitive, singular form (servi). This is the form used to identify the declension and base of the noun. Each declension has a unique genitive singular ending, (-ae, -i, -is, -us, -ei), which makes declension identification simple. Nouns may also change their base when not in the nominative, singular form (e.g. custos, custodis). The genitive, singular form will always show this change and gives the base (custod-) to which the other endings are added.
Stage 18 neuter gender; 4 th, 5 th declension Neuter Gender The neuter gender has one key feature that separates it from masculine and feminine nouns. The nominative and accusative singular forms of neuter nouns will always be the same. Pronouns also follow this rule. Always. For example: Nominative templum corpus nomen genu quod hoc illud Accusative templum corpus nomen genu quod hoc illud Also, the nominative plural and accusative plural form of all neuter nouns will end with a. For example: Nominative templa corpora nomina genua *quae *haec illa Accusative templa corpora nomina genua quae haec illa *Not all pronouns will follow this rule, but their nominative and accusative plural forms will match. 4 th and 5 th Declensions These declensions behave no differently than the first three. The 4 th declension is easily identified by the proliferation of u s in the forms, and most nouns will be masculine, though there are some feminine and neuter nouns. The 5 th delcension is easily identified by the proliferation of e s in the forms, and most nouns will be feminine, though masculine forms exist, as well. Stage 19 hic/ille; imperatives; vocative hic/ille hic and ille are a demonstrative adjectives/pronouns. hic points out something that is close to the speaker and is translated as this. ille points out something farther away from the speaker and is translated as that. They can be used to modify a noun (hic/ille servus this/that slave) or they can stand on their own as a pronoun (hic/ille this/that thing/guy). Imperative The imperative is the form of the verb that expresses a command (Close the door. Open your books. Sit down.). The singular imperative is formed simply by using the present base of a verb (infinitive re): amo, amāre, amavi ama! video, vidēre, vidi vidē! mitto, mittere, misi mitte! audio, audīre, audivi audi!
The plural imperative is formed by adding te to the end of the singular imperative: amā! --> amate! vidē! --> vidēte! mitte! --> *mittite! audi! --> audite! *Notice the short e once again changes into an i in the 3 rd conjugation. Vocative The vocative is the case used when directly addressing someone (Cornelia, open the door. Boys, you are late.). The vocative singular form is identical to the nominative singular form except for 2 nd declension words ending with us (servus, Marcus, Cornelius, Salvius). When a 2 nd declension word ends with just us, the us is turned into a short e. servus --> serve Marcus --> Marce But, if a 2 nd declension words ends with ius, then you just drop the us. Cornelius --> Corneli Salvius --> Salvi The vocative plural is always identical to the nominative plural. servi --> servi puellae --> puellae custodes --> custodes Stage 20 present participles; is/ea/id Present participles A participle is a verbal adjective. That is, it is an adjective that is taken from a verb and retains some verbal qualities. It is, however, primarily an adjective and must, therefore, agree with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender, and must also use adjectival endings. All present participles are 3 rd declension adjectives. Present participles are translated as the ing form of the verb (running, sitting, laughing, throwing, etc.) The present participle is formed by adding ns to the present base of the verb. This will give you the nominative singular form of the participle. amo, amāre, amavi amans video, vidēre, vidi vidēns mitto, mittere, misi mittens audio, audīre, audivi *audiens *Notice the extra e added before ns. To get the remaining forms of the participle, switch the ns to nt- and add the appropriate 3 rd declension ending. amans amantis amanti amantem amante amantes amantium amantibus amantes amantibus Present active participles can be recognized because the nt in the participle matches the -nt in present.
is/ea/id is, ea, and id are 3 rd person pronouns. They take the place of a noun in a sentence. They exist in all genders, numbers, and cases.