Latin help

1. How to Decline a
Noun

2. What is she talking
about?
“To decline a noun”
means to add
declension endings
(like “a”, “ae” “us”
etc.) to a noun

3. Some Quick
Notes…
• Nouns are persons, places, things or
ideas
• Example: puella, villa, puer, mens,
nauta, res, etc.
• To do this, you need your dictionary
and your declension charts

4. Let’s look at an
example….

5. Look up the word
for “field”
• First look in the English-Latin section
• THEN find the word in Latin-English

6. WRITE IT DOWN!!
• You have to have ALL the things listed in
the dictionary in order to find and use the
correct declension

7. ager, agri
(m) field

8. First things
first…
• The first thing that we have to do is
find the right declension for each word.
• Remember, there are 5 m/f declensions
and 3 neuter declensions

9. ager, agrī (m)- field
• The first word
listed is the
nominative
singular
• “ager”-
nominative
sing.Declension
Chart

10. Declension Chart
Singular Plural
Nominative ager
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
vocative

11. ager, agrī (m) field
• The second
word listed is
the genitive
singular
• “agrī”-genitive
singularDeclens
ion Chart
This is our “GO-
TO” word!! This
word will tell
you the correct
declension!

12. Declension Chart
Singular Plural
Nominative ager
Genitive agrī
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
vocative
Into which declension does this
chart fit?

13. What to do….
• Look at all your declension charts
and find the one that fits
• Match the nominative singular and
genitive singular endings (“r” and
“i”)
• Also, make sure the gender matches
the declension
• The “r” and “i” match 2nd
declension

14. 2nd
Declension Chart
Singular plural
Nominative r/us ī
Genitive ī ōrum
Dative ō īs
Accusative um ōs
Ablative ō īs
Vocative e ī

15. It fits !
So “ager, agrī” is a 2nd
declension noun!

16. So...to recap…
• TO FIND THE DECLENSION OF A
WORD:
• Look up the word
• Write down all the listings
• Match the GENITIVE SINGULAR to a
declension chart
• Check the gender

17. So, now that you
know the declension,
it’s time to add the
endings….or as we
Romans like to say
“decline the noun”

18. To add case endings:
• Always use the genitive form
• Remember-the genitive is the second
word listed (ager, agri)

19. Form the genitive stem
• Go to the 2nd
word
listed-the genitive
singular ending
• ager, agrī
•Remove the
genitive ending
agrī

20. Make the genitive stem
• Remove the genitive ending
•Agrī
Now add your 2nd
declension
case endings……

21. REMEMBER:
•You don’t have to form
the nominative
singular-it’s already
given to you

22. ager, agrī (m)- field
• The first word
listed is the
nominative
singular
• “ager”-
nominative
sing.Declension
Chart

23. And….
•You already have the
genitive singular!
•So just fill those in…

24. 2nd
Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative ager
Genitive agrī
Dative
Accusative
Ablative

25. Now put your genitive stem in
the remaining squares……

26. 2nd
Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative ager agr__
Genitive agrī agr___
Dative agr__ agr___
Accusative agr__ agr___
Ablative agr__ agr___
Vocative ager agr__

27. 2nd
Declension Chart
Singular plural
Nominative
r/us i
Genitive
i orum
Dative
o is
Accusative
um os
Ablative
o is
Vocative
e i
Now, add the rest of the 2nd
declension
endings to your genitive stem…..

28. 2nd
Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative
ager agrī
Genitive
agri agrōrum
Dative
agrō agrīs
Accusative
agrum agrōs
Ablative
agrō agrīs

29. Nota Bene….
• Sometimes, when you find a word in the
dictionary, it will list the nominative, but then it
has a “-” and an ending
• EXAMPLE:
– puella, -ae (f) girl
• This is just telling you that the nominative and
genitive look the same
• For these, just pull off the nominative ending and
that’s your stem
• puell____

30. Now, you try one…
•Girl
•Look it up!
•Write it down!
•puella, -ae (f)

31. Remember…..
1. Find the right
declension
2. Form the genitive stem
3. Add the correct
endings

32. “girl” Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative puella puellae
Genitive puellae puellārum
Dative puellae puellīs
Accusative puellam puellās
Ablative puellā puellīs
Vocative puella puellae

33. Now, you try …
•slave

34. Remember…..
1. Find the right
declension
2. Form the genitive stem
3. Add the correct
endings

35. “servus, servī” Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative servus servī
Genitive servī servōrum
Dative servō servis
Accusative servum servōs
Ablative servō servīs
Vocative serve servī

36. Now, you try …
•mother

37. Remember…..
1. Find the right
declension
2. Form the genitive stem
3. Add the correct
endings

38. “mater, matris”-Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative mater matrēs
Genitive matris matrum
Dative matrī matribus
Accusative matrem matrēs
Ablative matre matribus
Vocative mater matrēs

39. Now, you try …
•man

40. Remember…..
1. Find the right
declension
2. Form the genitive stem
3. Add the correct
endings

41. “vir, virī” Declension Chart
Case Singular Plural
Nominative vir virī
Genitive virī virōrum
Dative virō virīs
Accusative virum virōs
Ablative virō virīs
Vocative vir virī