There are 6 main cases in Latin: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, and vocative. Each case indicates the grammatical function of nouns and adjectives within sentences. The nominative case indicates the subject of the sentence. The genitive case expresses possession or relationships denoted by the English preposition "of". The dative case denotes the indirect object, often translated as "to" or "for". The accusative case marks the direct object. The ablative case expresses concepts like means, manner, place, and time. The vocative case is used for direct address. Knowledge of Latin cases is essential for understanding how nouns and adjectives relate to verbs and each

1. cases and its function in Latin
Introduction:
Latin Case:
Case refersto the formal markers (inLatin they are endingsaddedto the stem of a noun or adjective)
that tell you how a noun or adjective is to be construedin relationshipto other words in the sentence.
What are the formal markers for English?Here are some reflectionsonhow cases in general relate to
meaningin a sentence.
There are 6 distinct cases inLatin: Nominative,Genitive,Dative,Accusative,Ablative,andVocative;
and there are vestigesofa seventh,the Locative.The basic descriptionsthat followare alsofound on
the pagesintroducing the more detaileddescriptionsofthe cases, which you may reach by clickingthe
case names inthe prior sentence.
The nominative case isthe case for the subjectof the sentence.The subjectis the person or thing
about which the predicate makes a statement,and the name, "nominative," means"pertainingtothe
personor thing designated." InLatin the subject doesnot always needto be expressed because itcan
be indicatedby the person and number ofthe verb. "Theypraise" = laudant. See the subject case in
English,which is similarto the Latin nominative case. Goto: Nominative Case
The genitive case is most familiarto Englishspeakersas the case that expressespossession:"myhat"
or "Harry's house." In Latin it is usedto indicate any number of relationshipsthatare most frequently
and easilytranslated into Englishby the preposition"of":"love ofgod","the driverof the bus," the
"state of the union," "the son ofgod." The genitive case in Latin is also usedadverbiallywith certain
verbs. The most common are verbsof convicting,accusing and punishing.The construction is parallel
to the English"I accuse you of treason." accuso te maiestatis.See how the possessive case and the
preposition"of" work inEnglish. To see a more detailedlistof the Goto: Genitive Case.
What are the basic functionsof the different'cases' inLatin?
Much like English,words withina Latin sentence have differentpurposesinorder to form a complete
sentence.The 'cases' in Latin are a way to describe and identifythe various functionsof nouns only.In
total, there are six cases.

2. THE NOMINATIVE:This refersto the subjectof the sentence,orthe noun that iscompletingthe action
of the verb.
Eg. cives ad portam processerunt.
The citizensproceeded to the gate.
Here,"cives" (the citizens) isthe nominative noun because they are the onesproceedingto the gate.
THE ACCUSATIVE:This refersto the direct objectof the sentence,orthe noun that has the action done
to it.
Eg. cives ad portam processerunt.
The citizensproceeded to the gate.
Here,"portam" (the gate) isthe accusative noun becuase it is beingproceededtoby the citizens.
THE GENITIVE:Genitive nounsare usedin Latin to indicate possession,orto show who the noun
belongsto. It is useful to rememberthat the genitive shouldbe translated usingthe englishword 'of'.
Eg. filiasenatoris
The daughter of the senator/thesenator'sdaughter
Here,"senatoris" (the senator) is the nounin the genitive case,demonstratingthat the daughter
belongsto him.
THE DATIVE: The dative is the indirectobject of the sentence.Thismeans that the action ofthe
sentence iscompleted for the dative noun. Dative nouns are oftentranslated using the English words
"to" or "for".
Eg. peur canem amico dedit.
The boy gave a dogto hisfriend.
Here,the "amico" (friend) isthe dative noun, because the boy is completingthe action for the benefit
of hisfriend.
THE ABLATIVE CASE: Nounsin the ablative are oftentranslated using the Englishwords "by","with" or
"from",and so oftenexplain how an object is usedto achieve the completionofthe verb.

3. Eg. mileshostemgladio necavit.
The soldier killedthe enemy with hissword.
Here,"gladio" (sword) is the noun that is inthe ablative,since it is the noun withwhich the soldier
killshis enemy.
THE VOCATIVE: The use of the vocative is perhapsthe most straighforward, since it is usedto address
another noun directly,oftenin directspeech.
Eg. "domine,Clemensestinatrio," Grumiodixit.
"Master,Clemens isin the atrium," saidGrumio.
Here,"domine" (master) isthe noun inthe vocative because it isthe master who is beingdirectly
addressedand named by the speaker,Grumio.
The dative case is most familiar to Englishspeakersas the case of the indirectobject,and the most
common instance of the indirectobjectis the person"to or for whom" somethingisgiven: "Igave the
book to her","to her" would be in the dative case. This common usage givesthe case its name: it is
the case that pertains to giving.However,it is more satisfactory to considerthe dative case as the
case for the personwho is interested(ina positive or negative way) insome action or activity, and the
most common (and most accurate) translation of the dative case is "for." Consider:as I give the book,
I might say "for you." This indicatesthat eveninthe idiom"I give the book to you",the givingitselfis
really"for you." The dative iscommon after verbs that indicate certain kinds of activities:favoring,
obeying,pleasing,serving,envying,beingangry,pardoning, ordering,and so on.Goto: Dative Case
The accusative case isthe case for the direct object of transitive verbs,the internal object ofany verb
(but frequentlywithintransitive verbs),forexpressionsindicatingthe extentof space or the duration
of time,and for the objectof certain prepositions.Originalyit was the case that indicatedthe endor
ultimate goal of an action. Goto: Accusative Case.
The ablative case is the most complexofthe cases in Latin. It may be used by itselfor as the objectof
prepositionsand it iscommonly usedto express(withor without the aid of a preposition) ideas
translated into Englishby the prepositions"from" (thatis, an ideaof separation and origin),"with"
and "by" (that is,an idea of instrumentalityor association),and "in" (that is,an ideaof place where or
time when).Go to: Ablative Case.
The vocative case presentslittle problemfor Englishspeakers.It isusually the same as the
nominative,as in English,and it is usedwhen you addresssomeone directly.The exceptionstothe
rule that the vocative is the same as the nominative are summarizedin the phrase, Marce mi fili,
which is the vocative for Marcus meus filius,andis a convenientwayto rememberthat all 2nd
declensionnounsin-us, have a vocative in -e,that the vocative of meusis mi, and that all 2nd
declensionnounsin-iushave a vocative in -i.

4. Latin also had a Locative Case,but few of the forms are still used inClassical Latin. The locative case is
usedto indicate "place where" and isfound primarilywith the names ofcities,towns and small
islands.(Actually,these three places are all the same since the islandhas to be small enoughto be
named for the only city or town on it; ifthere are two towns, you much use in + Ablative.The forms
for the Locative are the same as the genitive inthe 1st and 2nd DeclensionSingularand the same as
the Ablative inthe 3rd DeclensionSingular.Towns (like Athens,Athenae) whose formis plural take
theirlocative forms from the Ablative plural in all declensions.Otherlocative forms are: domi, humi,
belli,militiae,andruri
The Casesand TheirGrammatical Positionin Sentences
Nominative (nominativus):Subjectofthe sentence.
Genitive (genitivus):Generallytranslatedbythe Englishpossessive,orby the objective withthe
prepositionof.
Dative (dativus):Indirectobject. Usually translatedby the objective withthe prepositionto or for.
Accusative (accusativus): Direct objectof the verb and objectwith many prepositions.
Ablative (ablativus):Usedto show means,manner, place,and othercircumstances. Usuallytranslated
by the objective withthe prepositions"from,by,with, in,at."
Vocative (vocativus):Usedfor direct address.
Vestigial Cases: Locative (locativus):Denotes "the place where."This vestigial caseis often left out of
Latin noun declensions. Traces ofit appear in names oftowns and a few other words: Rōmae ("at
Rome") / rūrī ("in the country"). Still another vestigial case, the instrumental, appears in a few adverbs.
All the cases, except the nominative and vocative, are used as objectcases; they are sometimes called
"oblique cases"(cāsūs oblīquī).
Five Declensions of Nouns and Their Endings
Nouns are declined according to gender,number, and case (a declension is essentially a fixed pattern of
endings). There are only five regulardeclensions ofnouns in Latin;there is a sixth for some pronouns and
adjectives that end in -ius in the genitive caseform. Each noun is declined according to number, gender,
and case. This means that there are six sets ofcase endings for fivedeclensions ofnouns—one set for each
declension. And students have to memorize them all. Below are briefdescriptions ofthe five noun
declensions, with links to the full declension for each, including the case endings for each declension.
1. First declension nouns: End in -a in the nominativesingular and are feminine.
2. Second declension nouns:
 Most are masculine and end in -us, -er or -ir.
 Some are neuter and end in -um.
Esse: The all-important irregular verbesse ("to be") belongs to this group. Words associated with it are in
the nominative case. It does not take an object and should never be in the accusative case.

5. The following is a sample paradigm* ofthe second declension masculine noun somnus, -i ("to sleep"). The
case name is followed by the singular, then the plural.
*Note that the term "paradigm"is frequently used in discussions ofLatin grammar;a "paradigm"is an
example ofa conjugation or declension showing a word in all its inflectional forms.
 Nominative somnus somni
 Genitive somni somnorum
 Dative somno somnis
 Accusative somnum somnos
 Ablative somno somnis
 Locative somni somnis
 Vocative somne somni
3. T hird declension nouns: End in -is in the genitive singular. That's how you identify them.
4. Fourth declension nouns: Ending in -us are masculine,apart from manus and domus, whichare
feminine. Fourth declension nouns ending in -u are neuter.
5. Fifth declension nouns: End in -es and are feminine.
The exception is dies, which is usually masculine when singular and always masculine when plural.
Grammatical Casesand Declensions
Many languages use differentcasesto show the relationof the word ina sentence.InLatin, the
nouns,adjective and pronounschange theirform dependingon how theyare used ina sentence.This
form change is calleda case. Although OldEnglishalso had thisfeature,it has mostlybeenlost during
the transitioninto ModernEnglish. However,a few Englishpronounsstill exhibitthisfeature (i.e.,
"I"↔"My"↔"Mine"↔"Me" are all first-personsingularpronouns).
A lot of languageschange the endingofa word based on what case it is in. Latin, German,Russian,
Finnish,Hungarian, and Greekare good examplesofthis. The word'smeaningchanges as its endingis
modifiedtoconform with its case'sending.For example,puellameans‘girl’,while puellae means“the
girl's” or “ofthe girl”.SometimesinLatin, endingsof differentcasescoincide,forcingone to interpret
the meaningbasedon the context of the word.
There are sevencasesthat are usedin the Latin language: Nominative,Genitive,Dative,Accusative,
Ablative,Vocative,and Locative. The last two, Vocative and Locative, are relativelyrare compared to
the otherfive,and the Locative case is actually onlyused witha fewselectwords. The case is the most
important part of the noun (besidesitsactual meaning).Casesdefine exactlyhow the nounis used in
the sentence.Here are the cases and their uses
Referents

6. https://www.thoughtco.com/cases-of-latin-nouns-117588
com/cases-of-latin-nouns-11