Latin Grammar

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Latin Grammar

If you're trying to learn the most essential topics about

Latin you will find some useful resources including a course

about adjectives, adverbs, articles, gender (feminine,

masculine...), negation, nouns, numbers, phrases, plural, prepositions, pronouns, questions, verbs,

vocabulary, excercises... to help you with your Latin grammar Enjoy our courses!

Latin LessonsLearning Latin can help you communicate with other people who speak Latin. The following courses will

provide you with some help based on the lessons you choose. Here is a list of what we offer:

1- Cases Lesson

a) Introduction, Nominative and Accusative:

In English, a noun’s role in a sentence is determined by its position in that sentence, and/or by any

prepositions immediately before it. For example, the subject of a sentence (the person performing the

action) usually goes at the start of the sentence, while the object (the person to whom the action is

done) goes at the end:

The boy [subject] loves the girl [object].

In Latin, a noun’s role is determined by its case. The subject of a sentence is always in the Nominative

case, and the object in the Accusative case:

puer puellam amat*.

(The boy [subject] loves the girl [object].)

In contrast to English, word order is unimportant, so you could reverse the words and the meaning would

stay the same:

puellam puer amat.

(The boy loves the girl)

The accusative can also indicate extent of space or time:

puer quinque pedes altus est

(The boy is five feet tall)

puer puellam duos annos amavit

(The boy loved the girl for two years)

b) Vocative:

The Vocative case is used when calling or addressing someone, and is the same as the nominative except

for 1st Declension masculine singular nouns ending in -us or –ius. Examples:

Nominative Vocative

puer (boy) puer! (“Boy!”)

puella (girl) puella! (“Girl!”)

servus (slave) serve! (“Slave!”)

Julius Juli! (“Julius!”)

c) Genitive:

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The Genitive case denotes ownership, and has the same meaning as (-‘s) in English:

pueri liber

(The boy’s book)

puellae liber

(The girl’s book)

d) Dative:

In an English sentence, the recipient of an item is preceded by “to” or “for”. In Latin they are put in the

Dative case, for example:

puella dat librum puero

(The girl gives the book to the boy)

puer dat librum puellae

(The boy gives the book to the girl)

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e) Ablative:

The Ablative case has several uses. Used on its own, it can denote authorship, use of something as a tool

(like “with” in English), the time when or the time within which something happens:

puella amatur puero

(The girl is loved by the boy)

puella pulsat puerum libro

(The girl hits the boy with the book)

esurientes implevit bonis

(He has filled the hungry with good things)

resurrexit tertia die

(On the third day He rose again)

puer librum tribus diebus legit

(The boy read the book in three days)

2- Declensions Lesson

In Latin a noun’s ending is determined both by its case and by its declension. There are five declensions,

of which 1-3 are by far the most common. Here are examples of words from each declension, showing

the endings for all cases in the singular and plural:

Singular

Case 1st declension

(almost all

feminine)

2nd declension 3rd

declension

(masc/fem

/neut)

4th

declension

(usually

masculine)

5th

declension

(feminine)Masculine Neuter

Nom

/Voc.

puella (girl) servus/

serve

(slave)

puer

(boy)

templum

(temple)

mercator

(merchant)

gradus

(step)

dies (day)

Acc. puellam servum puerum templum mercatorem gradum diem

Gen. puellae servi pueri templi mercatoris gradūs diei

Dat. puellae servo puero templo mercatori gradui diei

Abl. puellā servo puero templo mercatore gruadu die

Plural

Case 1st decl.

2nd declension 3rd decl. 4th decl. 5th

decl.

Masculine Neuter

Nom

/Voc.

puellae servi pueri templa mercatores gradūs dies

Acc. puellas servos pueros templa mercatores gradūs dies

Gen. puellarum servorum puerorum templorum mercatorum graduum dierum

Dat. puellis servis pueris templis mercatoribus gradibus diebus

Abl. puellis servis pueris templis mercatoribus gruadibus diebus


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Three general rules about case endings:

· For all neuter nouns, the accusative singular ending is the same as the nominative singular, and the

accusative plural is identical to the nominative plural.

· For second declension nouns, the ablative singular ending is the same as the dative singular (-o)

· With all nouns, the ablative plural is identical to the dative plural (‘-is’ for declensions 1 and 2,

‘-ibus’ for declensions 3-5)

3- Adjectives Lesson

While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes, in Latin an adjective should agree

in gender, number and case with the noun. For example:

a) Masculine to feminine example:

hic est filius parvus meus (this is my little son) becomes: haec est filia parva mea (this is my little

daughter)

b) Singular to plural example:

hic est servus novus meus (this is my new slave) becomes: hi sunt servi novi mei (these are my new

slaves)

c) Nominative to accusative example:

haec pulchra puella me amat (this beautiful girl loves me) becomes ego amo hanc pulchram puellam (I

love this beautiful girl)

As you can see from the first two examples, the adjective usually (but not necessarily) comes after the

noun.

As with nouns, an adjective’s ending is determined by its gender, number, case and declension. Most

adjectives either belong to both the first and second declension, or to the third declension:

1st/2nd Declension Adjectives - Singular

Nominative in –us/-a/-um Nominative in –er/-a/-um

Case Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neut

Nom./Voc. bonus/

bone (good)

bona bonum pulcher

(beautiful)

pulchra pulchrum

Acc. bonum bonam bonum pulchrum pulchram pulchrum

Gen. boni bonae boni pulchri pulchrae pulchri

Dat. bono bonae bono pulchro pulchrae pulchro

Abl. bono bonā bono pulchro pulchrā pulchro

Plural

Nominative in –us/-a/-um Nominative in –er/-a/-um

Case Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neut

Nom./Voc. boni bonae bona pulchri

pulchrae pulchra

Acc. bonos bonas bona pulchros pulchras pulchra

Gen. bonorum bonarum bonorum pulchrorum pulchrarum pulchrorum

Dat. bonis bonis bonis pulchris pulchris pulchris

Abl. bonis bonis bonis pulchris pulchris pulchris


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3rd Declension Adjectives – Singular

Nominative in -ns Nom. in -x Nom. in -is/-e Nom. in –er/-is/-e

M/F Neut M/F Neut M/F Neut Masc. Fem Neut

N/V amans

(loving)

amans felix

(lucky)

felix levis

(light)

leve acer

(sharp)

acris acre

Acc amantem amans felicem felix levem leve acrem acrem acre

Gen amantis amantis felicis felicis levis levis acris acris acre

Dat. amanti amanti felici felici levi levi acri acri acri

Abl. amanti/e amanti/e felici/e felici/e levi/e levi/e acri/e acri/e acri/e

3rd Declension Adjectives – Plural

Nominative in -ns Nom. in -x Nom. in -is/-e Nom. in –er/-is/-e

M/F Neut M/F Neut M/F Neut M/F Neut

N/V amantes amantia felices felicia leves levia acres acria

Acc amantes amantia felices feliia leves levia acres acria

Gen amantium amantium felicium felicium levium levium acrium acrium

Dat. amantibus amantibus felicibus felicibus levibus levibus acribus acribus

Abl. amantibus amantibus felicibus felicibus levibus levibus acribus acribus

General rules:

· 1st/2nd declension adjectives decline like puella, servus or templum, depending on whether they

are respectively feminine, masculine or neuter.

· Masculine and feminine 3rd declension adjectives decline like mercator.

· For neuter 3rd declension adjectives the accusative singular ending is the same as the nominative

singular (‘-e’) and the accusative plural the same as the nominative plural (‘-ia’).

In Latin there are five Possessive Adjectives, which denote ownership:

meus My/mine

tuus Your/yours (sing.)

suus His/her/hers or Their/theirs

noster Our/ours

vester Your/yours (pl.)

meus, tuus and suus decline like bonus, except that the vocative singular of meus is mi, and that tuus

and suus do not require vocative endings. noster and vester decline like pulcher. (See 1st/2nd Declension

Adjectives, above).

4- Adverbs Lesson

In English adverbs are usually formed by adding (-ly) to adjectives. In Latin too many adverbs are formed

from adjectives. With 1st/2nd declension adjectives this is done by changing the ending to ‘-e’.

Examples:

tardus (slow) becomes tarde (slowly)

verus (true) becomes vere (truly)


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With 3rd declension adjectives, the ending is ‘-(i)ter’:

prudens (wise) becomes prudenter (wisely)

felix (lucky) becomes feliciter (luckily)

levis (light) becomes leviter (lightly)

However, that’s not always the case, as miser (wretched) is 3rd declension but takes the ‘-e’ ending

when it becomes an adverb:

misere (wretchedly)

Adjectives of extent take their singular neuter form when used as adverbs, e.g.:

multum (much)

paulum (a liitle)

primum (first, firstly)

nimium (too much)

Some words are adverbs by nature, and thus do not need a special ending, such as

nunc (now), saepe (often), sic (thus) and mox (soon).

Adverbs come before the verb that they modify, with adjectives of time coming at the beginning of a

sentence:

vehementer errabas, Verres.

(You were erring grievously, Verres)

bis consul

(twice consul)

cras mane se putat venturum esse

(He thinks he will come early tomorrow morning)

5- Numbers Lesson

In Latin numbers from 1 to 10 are unique and therefore need to be memorized individually. Numbers

from 11 to 17 are formed by using 1 + 10 while connecting them: 11 = undecim. 18 and 19 are formed by

using 2 from 20 and 1 from 20 respectively: duodeviginti and undeviginti. These patterns repeat

themselves, but with numbers above 20 putting the tens before the units, so that 21 is vigintiunus and

31 trigintaunus. Similarly, 28 is duodetriginta (‘2 from 30’) and 29 undetriginta (‘1 from 30’).

unus (one), duo (two), and tres (three) all agree with the noun that they describe. unus and duo decline like

a 1st/2nd declension adjective (e.g. bonus) and tres declines like a 3rd declension adjective (e.g. amans):

Singular

Masc. Fem. Neut.

Nom./

Voc.

unus/

une

una unum

Acc. unum unam unum

Gen. uni unae uni

Dat. uno unae uno

Abl. uno unā uno

Plural


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Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc./Fem. Neut.

Nom./Voc. uni unae una duo duae dua tres tria

Acc. unos unas una duos duas dua tres tria

Gen. unorum unarum unorum duorum duarum duorum trium trium

Dat. unis unis unis duis duis duis tribus tribus

Abl. unis unis unis duis duis duis tribus tribus

You can see from the above tables that duo and tres do not exist in the singular, as they are only needed

to describe plural nouns. unus, surprisingly, does exist in the plural when describing nouns such as

epistolae (letter) and castra (camp). Although these nouns refer to singular objects, they have plural

endings (epistolae is 1st declension feminine and castra is 2nd declension neuter) and thus require their

number to be in the plural.

6- Articles Lesson

There are no articles in Latin. For example, domus (house) can mean ‘the house’ or ‘a house’,

depending on context.

7- Verbs Lessons

Present Tense

In Latin, most verbs exist in the Active voice, where the subject of the sentence is performing an

action, and in the Passive voice, where the subject is having an action performed on them. An example

of a sentence in the Active voice would be:

puer puellam amat

The boy [subject] loves the girl [object].

Here the boy is the subject, and is thus in the nominative case (puer). The girl is the object, and is in

the accusative (puellam). ‘Loves’ takes the present active ending (amat). If you wanted to express the

same idea using the Passive voice, you would write:

puella puero amatur

The girl [subject] is loved by the boy

The girl is now the subject, and thus now takes the nominative (puella). The verb takes the passive

ending (amatur = ‘is loved’), and the boy is now in the ablative (see Cases Lesson).

The endings that a verb takes depend on its conjugation. There are four conjugations plus a few

irregular verbs. The table below shows the present tense endings for the four conjugations and for two

of the most common irregular verbs:

Present tense – Active voice

1st conj 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

Singular

1st person amo*

(I love)

moneo

(I warn)

sumo

(I take)

audio

(I hear/listen)

sum

(I am)

eo

(I go)

2nd person amas mones sumis audis es is

3rd person amat monet sumit audit est it

Plural


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1st person amamus monemus sumimus audimus sumus imus

2nd person amatis monetis sumitis auditis estis itis

3rd person amant monent sumunt audiunt sunt eunt


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Present tense – Passive voice

1st conj 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

Singular

1st person amor

(I am loved)

moneor

(I am warned)

sumor

(I am taken)

audior

(I am heard)

2nd person amaris moneris sumeris audiris

3rd person amatur monetur sumitur auditur

Plural

1st person amamur monemur sumimur audimur

2nd person amamini monemini sumimini audimini

3rd person amantur monentur sumuntur audiuntur

· Verbs such as possum (I am able) and absum (I am absent) are derived from sum and take the same

endings. Similarly, verbs like ineo (I enter), take the same endings as eo.

· sum and eo do not exist in the passive voice.

Future Tense

As in English, the future tense denotes actions that are going to happen:

cras ibo Romam

(I shall go to Rome tomorrow)

diceris in carminibus poetarum

(You will be celebrated in the songs of poets)

Future tense endings – Active voice


Singular

1st person amabo

(I shall love)

monebo

(I shall warn)

sumam

(I shall take)

audiam

(I shall hear)

ero

(I shall be)

ibo

(I shall

go)

2nd person amabis monebis sumes audies eris ibis

3rd person amabit monebit sumet audiet erit ibit

Plural

1st person amabimus monebimus sumemus audimus erimus ibimus

2nd person amabitis monebitis sumetis audietis eritis ibitis

3rd person amabunt monebunt sument audient erunt ibunt

Future tense – Passive voice


Singular

1st person amabor

(I shall be

loved)

moneor

(I shall be

warned)

sumar

(I shall be

taken)

audiar

(I shall be

heard)


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2nd person amaberis moneris sumeris audieris

3rd person amabitur monetur sumetur audietur

Plural

1st person amabimur monemur sumemur audiemur

2nd person amabimini monemini sumemini audiemini

3rd person amabuntur monentur sumentur audientur


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Past Tenses

There are three main types of past tense in Latin – the Imperfect, the Perfect and the Pluperfect:

a) Imperfect:

As in English, the imperfect tense describes an action that happened over a length of time or repeatedly.

It can also describe an action that was interrupted as it was happening or about to happen. Examples:

cantores audiebam

(I was listening to the singers)

Roma Gallis obsedebatur

(Rome was being besieged by the Gauls)

Romani fortiter pugnabant

(The Romans used to fight bravely/kept fighting bravely)

Romam intrabam

(I was about to enter Rome)

Imperfect tense – Active voice


Singular

1st person amabam

(I was loving)

monebam

(I was

warning)

sumebam

(I was taking)

audiebam

(I was

hearing)

eram

(I was)

ibam

(I was

going)

2nd person amabas monebas sumebas audiebas eras ibas

3rd person amabat monebat sumebant audiebat erat ibat

Plural

1st person amabamus monebamus sumebamus audiebamus eramus ibamus

2nd person amabatis monebatis sumebatis audiebatis eratis ibatis

3rd person amabant monebant sumebant audiebant erant ibant

Imperfect tense – Passive voice


Singular

1st person amabar

(I was being

loved)

monebar

(I was being

warned)

sumebar

(I was being

taken)

audiebar

(I was being

heard)

2nd person amabaris monebaris sumebaris audiebaris

3rd person amabatur monebatur sumebantur audiebatur

Plural

1st person amabamur monebamur sumebamur audiebamur

2nd person amabamini monebamini sumebamini audiebamini

3rd person amabant monebantur sumebantur audiebantur

b) Perfect:

The perfect tense in Latin corresponds to the simple past tense in English (‘-ed’) in that it describes a


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single completed past action. It can also correspond to the English perfect tense (‘have/has -ed’) by

describing a past action that has been completed but which still has an effect in the present. Examples:

puella puerum in via conspexit

(The girl glimpsed the boy in the street)

Caesar monitus est de Bruto et Cassio

(Caesar was warned about Brutus and Cassius)

nunc puella puerum nupsit

(The girl has now married the boy)

Perfect tense – Active voice


Singular

1st person amavi

I (have)

loved

monui

I (have)

warned

sumpsi

I (have) taken

audivi

I (have)

heard

fui

(I was,

have been)

i(v)i

(I went,

have

gone)

2nd person amavisti monuisti sumpsisti audivisti fuistis iisti

3rd person amavit monuit sumpsit audivit fuerit iit

Plural

1st person amavimus monuimus sumpsimus audivimus fuimus iimus

2nd person amavistis monuistis sumpsistis audivistis fuistis iistis

3rd person amaverunt monerunt sumpserunt audiverunt fuerunt ierunt

Perfect tense – Passive voice


Singular

1st pers amatus sum

(I was/have been

loved)

monitus sum

(I was/have been

warned)

sumptus sum

(I was/have been

taken)

auditus sum

(I was/have been

heard)

2nd pers amatus es monitus es sumptus es auditus es

3rd pers amatus est monitus est sumptus est auditus est

Plural

1st pers amati sumus moniti sumus sumpti sumus auditi sumus

2nd pers amati estis moniti estis sumpti estis auditi estis

3rd pers amati sunt moniti sunt sumpti sunt auditi sunt

Perfect Passive and Pluperfect Passive verb endings match the subject of the sentence in gender, number

and case and decline like 1st/2nd declension adjectives such as bonus/bona/bonum (see Adjectives

Lesson).

c) Pluperfect:

The pluperfect tense corresponds to the English pluperfect, ‘had -ed’. It denotes an action that was

completed before another action happened (the later action is usually in the perfect or imperfect). It

can also denote an action that was completed but has since been negated and thus no longer has an


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effect in the present. For example:

cibum edebam quem servi paraverant

(I was eating the food that the slaves had prepared)

iam Hanibal fugerat cum Romani advenerunt

(Hanibal had already fled when the Romans arrived)

Romani civitates liberaverunt quae captae erant Hanibale

(The Romans freed the cities that had been captured by Hanibal)


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Pluperfect tense – Active voice


Singular

1st pers amaveram

(I had loved)

monueram

(I had warned)

sumpseram

(I had taken)

audieram

(I had heard)

fueram

(I had

been)

iveram

(I had

gone)

2nd pers amaveras monueras sumpseras audieras fueras iveras

3rd pers amaverat monuerat sumpserat audierat fuerat iverat

Plural

1st pers amaveramus monueramus sumpseramus audieramus fueramus iveramus

2nd pers amaveratis monueratis sumpseratis audieratis fueratis iveratis

3rd pers amaverant monuerant sumpserant audierant fuerant iverant

Pluperfect tense – Passive voice


Singular

1st pers amatus eram

(I had been

loved)

monitus erm

(I had been

warned)

sumptus eram

(I had been taken)

auditus eram

(I had been

heard)

2nd pers amatus eras monitus eras sumptus eras auditus eras

3rd pers amatus erat monitus erat sumptus erat auditus erat

Plural

1st pers amati eramus moniti eramus sumpti eramus auditi eramus

2nd pers amati eratis moniti eratis sumpti eratis auditi eratis

3rd pers amati erant moniti erant sumpti erant auditi erant

8- Direct and Indirect Speech/Infinitives

In English there are two ways of reporting speech, thought or perception. Direct Speech is when you

directly quote the speaker’s words within quotation marks, e.g.:

My teacher says: “People who learn Latin are very clever.”

Indirect Speech does not use quotation marks and need not quote the speaker word for word, although

it may do. An indirect speech clause is normally introduced by a verb of telling, perceiving or thinking,

followed by ‘that’. For example, in indirect speech the above sentence would be expressed as:

My teacher says that people who learn Latin are very clever.

In Latin, indirect speech does not use ‘that’, but instead puts the subject of the clause (e.g. ‘people’) in

the accusative case, followed by the infinitive form of the verb (‘to be’):

magister meus dicit homines qui Latinam discunt callidissimos esse

[Literally]: My teacher says people [acc.] who learn Latin to be very clever

There are three types of infinitive in Latin: The Present Infinitive (reporting a current or ongoing

action), the Perfect Infinitive (reporting a past action) and the Future Infinitive (reporting a future

action). For example:


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Present Infinitive: dico te errare I say that you are making a mistake

[Lit]: I say you [acc.] to make a mistake

Perfect Infinitive: dico te erravisse I say that you (have) made a mistake

Future Infinitive: dico te erraturum esse I say that you will make a mistake

When the main verb of the sentence is in a past tense, the infinitive is translated slightly differently:

Present Infinitive: dixi te errare I said that you were making a mistake

Perfect Infinitive: dixi te erravisse I said that you had made a mistake

Future Infinitive: dixi te erraturum esse I said that you would make a mistake

Notice how English translates putavi te errare as ‘I said you were making a mistake’, but in the Latin

errare remains in the present. This is because the original direct statement would have been in the

present tense - “You are making a mistake” - and in Latin indirect speech clauses always keep the tense

in which the statement was originally made.

Here are the active infinitives for the four regular verb conjugations, sum and eo:

Infinitives - Active voice

1st conj. 2nd conj. 3rd conj. 4th conj. Irregular

Present amare

(to love)

monere

(to warn)

sumere

(to take)

audire

(to hear)

esse

(to be)

ire

(to go)

Perfect amavisse

(to have

loved)

monuisse

(to have

warned)

sumpsisse

(to have

taken)

audivisse

(to have

heard)

fuisse

(to have

been)

i(v)isse

(to have

gone)

Future amaturus

esse

(to be about

to love)

moniturus

esse (to

be about to

warn)

sumpturus

esse (to

be about to

take)

auditurus

esse (to

be about to

hear)

futurus

esse

(to be

about to

be)

iturus esse

(to be

about to

go)

Future infinitive endings agree with their subjects in gender, number and case (the case always being

accusative). They decline like 1st/2nd declension adjectives:

puto virum Romam iturum esse

(I think that the man will go to Rome)

putavi puellas Romam ituras esse

(I thought that the girls would go to Rome)

imperator promisit templum aedificaturum esse

(The emperor promised that a temple would be built)

The Passive Infinitive is used for indirect statements where the verb is passive, e.g.:

audio Romam obsideri

(I hear that Rome is being besieged)

audivi Romam obsideri

(I heard that Rome was being besieged)

Infinitives - Passive voice


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1st conj. 2nd conj. 3rd conj. 4th conj.

Present amari

(to be loved)

moneri

(to be warned)

sumeri

(to be taken)

audiri

(to be heard)

Perfect amatus esse

(to have been

loved)

monitus esse

(to have been

warned)

sumptus esse

(to have been

taken)

auditus esse

(to have been

heard)

Future amatus iri

(to be about to

be loved)

monitus iri

(to be about to

be warned)

sumptus iri

(to be about to be

taken)

auditus iri (to

be about to be

heard)

Passive perfect and future infinitive endings agree with their subjects, and decline like 1st/2nd

declension adjectives:

Plutarchus scribit Antonium amatum esse Cleopatrā

(Plutarch writes that Antony was loved by Cleopatra)

nuntius dicit barbaros victos esse

(The messenger says that the barbarians have been defeated)

spero carmina mea audita iri

(I hope that my songs will be heard)

As in English, the infinitive can also be used to express a wish to perform an action, or to have an action

performed on oneself, e.g.:

volo carmina pulchra audire

(I wish to hear beautiful songs)

Caesar voluit amari populo

(Caesar wished to be loved by the people)

9- Asking a Question Lesson

Latin has three ways of turning a statement into a question. The first way is to place the key word at the

start of the sentence and add –ne, so that:

Marcus in civitate habitat

(Marcus lives in the city)

becomes:

habitatne Marcus in civitate?

(Does Marcus live in the city?)

If you want to alter the emphasis of the question, simply attach -ne to a different word and place that

at the beginning of the sentence, for example:

Marcusne habitat in civitate?

(Is it Marcus who lives in the city?)

The second way is used when a ‘yes’ answer is expected. Simply place nonne at the start of the

sentence:

nonne Roma optima civitas est in mundo?

(Surely Rome is the best city in the world? / Rome is the best city in the world, isn’t it?)


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Thirdly, if you expect a ‘no’ answer, begin the sentence with num:

num putas barbaros victuros esse?

(Surely you don’t think the barbarians will win? / You don’t think the barbarians will win, do you?)

The main interrogatives (question words) in Latin are quis (who?), quantus (how much?), quails (of

what kind?), cur (why?), quando (when?), ubi (where?), quo (to where?) and unde (from where?).

quantus declines like bonus, and quails declines like levis (see Adjectives Lesson). The endings for quis

are shown opposite. All the other interrogatives do not decline but keep the same endings.


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quis - Singular

Masculine Feminine Neuter

N/V quis (who?)

quem (whom?)

cuius (whose?/of whom?)

cui (to whom?)

quo (by/from whom?)

quis/quae (who?)

quam (whom?)

cuius (whose?/of whom?)

cui (to whom?)

quo (by/from whom?)

quid (what?)

quid (what?)

cuius (of what?)

cui (to what?)

quo (by/from what?)

Acc

Gen

Dat.

Abl.

quis - Plural

Masculine Feminine Neuter

N/V

AccGenDat.

Abl

qui (who?)

quos (whom?)

quorum (whose?/of whom?)

quibus (to whom?)

quibus (by/from whom?)

quae (who?)

quas (whom?)

quarum (whose?/of whom?)

quibus (to whom?)

quibus (by/from whom?)

quae (what?)

quae (what?)

quorum (of what?)

quibus (to what?)

quibus (by/from what?)

10- Negation Lesson

In Latin, negation can be made simply by placing "non" before the main verb:

non possum hoc facere.

(I can't do this)

mihi illud non placet.

(I don't like it)

(Literally: “It is not pleasing to me”).

As in standard English, but unlike, say, Spanish, Russian or colloquial English, a double negative makes a

positive:

qui non numquam Baias vidit

(He who has indeed seen Baiae)

(Lit: “He who has not never seen Baiae”)

Other common negatives are nullus (no…), nemo (nobody), nil (nothing), nihil (nothing) neque…neque…

(neither…nor…), nec…nec…(neither..nor..) and numquam (never). The endings for nullus and nemo are

shown below, nullus matching the noun that it describes. The other negatives do not decline.

nullus - Singular

Case Masc. Fem. Neut.

Nom./Voc. nullus/

nulla nullum

Acc. nullum nullam nullum

Gen. nullius nullius nulli

Dat. nulli nulli nullo

Abl. nullo nullā nullo


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nullus - Plural

Case Masc. Fem. Neut.

Nom./Voc. nulli

nullae nulla

Acc. nullos nullas nulla

Gen. nullorum nullarum nullorum

Dat. nullis nullis nullis

Abl. nullis nullis nullis

nulla in mundo pax sincera

(There is no true peace in the world)

voluntas testium nullo negotio flecti et detorqueri potest

(The testimony of witnesses can be bent and distorted with no difficulty)

nemo - Singular

Masc./Fem.

Nom/Voc. nemo

Acc. neminem

Gen. neminis

Dat. nemini

Abl nemini/e

nemo does not exist in the plural.

nemo me impune laecessit

(No-one provokes me with impunity)

fabula mea nemini narravi

(I told my story to no-one)

Cyclops dixit neminem fugisse

(The Cyclops said that no-one [accusative] had escaped)

11- Pronouns Lesson

There are ten pronouns In Latin:

ego… (I), tu… (you [singular]), is… (he), ea… (she), id...(it).

nos… (we), vos…(you [plural]), ei… (they [masc.]), eae… (they [fem.]) and ea (they [neut.])

All the personal pronouns decline, and their endings are shown below:

Personal Pronouns - Singular

Masc/Fem Masc/Fem Masc Fem Neut

N/V ego (I) tu (you) is(he) ea (she) id (it)


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Acc me (me) te (you) eum (him) eam (her) id (it)

Gen mei (of me) tui (of you) eius (of him) eius (of her) eius (of it)

Dat mihi (to me) tibi (to you) ei (to him) ei (to her) ei (to it)

Abl me (by/with/

from me)

te (by/with/

from you)

eo (by/with/

from him)

eā (by/with/

from her)

eo (by/with/

from it)

Personal Pronouns - Plural

Masc/Fem Masc/Fem Masc Fem Neut

N/V nos (we) vos (you) ei (they) eae (they) ea (they)

Acc nos (us) vos (you) eos (them) eas (them) ea (them)

Gen nostri/nostrum

(of us)

vestri/vestrum

(of you)

eorum (of

them)

earum (of

them)

eorum (of

them)

Dat nobis (to us) vobis (to you) eis (to them) eis (to them) eis (to them)

Abl nobis (by/with/

from us)

vobis (by/with/

from you)

eis (by/with/

from them)

eis (by/with/

from them)

eis (by/with/

from them)

Personal pronouns are seldom used in the nominative, as the verb ending by itself is enough to indicate

who is performing an action (see Verbs Lessons). The genitive forms, mei, tui, nostri and vestri, are

often substituted by the possessive adjectives meus (my/mine), tuus (your/yours [sing.]), noster

(our/ours) and vester (your/yours [pl.]).

Further Reading

Carrol, P.J., Collins Latin Dictionary Plus Grammar (Collins 2001) ISBN 0-00-472092-X

Kennedy, B.H., Revised Latin Primer, (Routledge 2008) ISBN: 0-582-36240-7

* Latin does not use capital letters to begin sentences, but only for proper nouns and for adjectivesderived from them, e.g. Caesar, Roma, Romanus.

* Whereas in English the dictionary form of a verb is its infinitive (e.g. ‘to love’), in Latin it is the firstperson singular present active. For example, ‘love’ would be listed as ‘amo’ (‘I love’) rather than‘amare’.

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