Latin for beginners (1911)/Part II/Lesson III

by Benjamin Leonard D'Ooge

Layout 2

LESSON III

FIRST PRINCIPLES (Continued)

32. Declension of Nouns. We learned above (§§19, 20) the difference between the subject and object, and that in English they may be distinguished by the order of the words. Sometimes, however, the order is such that we are left in doubt. For example, the sentence The lady her daughter loves might mean either that the lady loves her daughter, or that the daughter loves the lady.

1. If the sentence were in Latin, no doubt could arise, because the subject and the object are distinguished, not by the order of the words, but by the endings of the words themselves. Compare the following sentences:

Domina fīliam amat	The lady loves her daughter
Fīliam domina amat
Amat fīliam domina
Domina amat fīliam

Fīlia dominam amat	The daughter loves the lady
Dominam fīlia amat
Amat dominam fīlia
Fīlia amat dominam

a. Observe that in each case the subject of the sentence ends in -a and the object in -am. The form of the noun shows how it is used in the sentence, and the order of the words has no effect on the essential meaning.

2. As stated above (§23), this change of ending is called declension, and each different ending produces what is called a case. When we decline a noun, we give all its different cases, or changes of endings. In English we have three cases, — nominative, possessive, and objective; but, in nouns, the nominative and objective have the same form, and only the possessive case shows a change of ending, by adding ’s or the apostrophe. The interrogative pronoun, however, has the fuller declension, who? whose? whom?

33. The following table shows a comparison between English and Latin declension forms, and should be thoroughly memorized:

English Cases		Latin Cases
Declension of who?	Name of case and use	Declension of domina and translation	Name of case and use	Singular
Who? Whose? Whom?	Nominative — case of the subject Possessive — case of the possessor Objective — case of the object	do’min-a the lady domin-ae the lady’s, of the lady domin-am the lady	Nominative — case of the subject Genitive — case of the possessor Accusative — case of the direct object
Who? Whose? Whom?	Nominative — case of the subject Possessive — case of the possessor Objective — case of the object	domin-ae the ladies domin-ā’rum the ladies’, of the ladies domin-ās the ladies	Nominative — case of the subject Genitive — case of the possessor Accusative — case of the direct object	Plural

When the nominative singular of a noun ends in -a, observe that

a. The nominative plural ends in -ae.

b. The genitive singular ends in -ae and the genitive plural in -ārum.

c. The accusative singular ends in -am and the accusative plural in -ās.

d. The genitive singular and the nominative plural have the same ending.

34. EXERCISE Pronounce the following words and give their general meaning. Then give the number and case, and the use of each form. Where the same form stands for more than one case, give all the possible cases and uses.

1. Silva, silvās, silvam.

2. Fugam, fugae, fuga.

3. Terrārum, terrae, terrās.

4. Aquās, causam, lūnās.

5. Fīliae, fortūnae, lūnae.

6. Iniūriās, agricolārum, aquārum.

7. Iniūriārum, agricolae, puellās

8. Nautam, agricolās, nautās.

9. Agricolam, puellam, silvārum.