Nouns
Latin nouns behave differently than English nouns. In Latin, all nouns change endings in order to indicate what function the noun plays in the sentence (e.g. subject or direct object). These functions are specific to each Latin case. The case system in Latin is one of the defining features than sets it apart from English, since we never use endings to indicate a noun's role. Changing a noun's endings is called declining, and the pattern of endings the noun uses is called a declension. There are 5 declensions in Latin.
1. Latin's Case System
- This video provides a broad overview of all cases in Latin, and is best used as a review for Latin II and Latin III students (and Latin I students, when preparing for the final exam).
- 2:08 - Nominative Case (subject; predicate nominative)
- 3:01 - Genitive Case (possession; divided whole; description; objective)
- 4:07 - Dative Case (indirect object; reference; possession)
- 5:23 - Accusative Case (direct object; with prepositions; motion toward; duration of time)
- 6:16 - Ablative Case (adverbial: means/instrument; accompaniment; separation; place where; place from which; time when; with prepositions)
- 7:57 - Vocative Case (direct address)
- 8:35 - Summary
2. The Basics of Declension
The other important difference between Latin and English nouns is that all Latin nouns have gender - masculine, feminine, or neuter. While the gender of nouns describing people is very easy to figure out, nouns of inanimate objects or ideas still have a gender and it won't necessarily make any sense to you at first (for instance, book is masculine, while letter is feminine, and poem is neuter).
3. Latin Gender
- 5:00 - reinforcement of basic noun-adjective agreement principles
4. Nominative and Accusative Cases
- Nominative case as Subject
- Accusative case as Direct Object
5. Basic Latin Word Order
- Reinforces video #1 (subjects and direct objects)
6. First Declension
7. Second Declension - Masculine
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 3, Language Facts I (p. 32) and II (pp. 34-36)
- masculine nouns ending in -us, -ī
- masculine nouns ending in -r, -ī
- 4:41 - comparison of 1st and 2nd declensions
8. Genitive Case
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 3, Language Fact III (p. 37)
- 3:23 - reminder that personal pronouns in Latin are NOT used to show possession
9. Vocative Case
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 3, Language Fact IV (pp. 37-38)
10. Second Declension - Neuter (-um, -ī)
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 4, Language Fact I (p. 60)
- 1:20 - Neuter Rules #1 & #2
- 2:55 - use of context to resolve ambiguities of form
- 5:11 - comparison of neuter 2nd declension with masculine 2nd declension
11. Third Declension - Masculine and Feminine
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 7, Language Fact I (p. 114)
- 0:00 - review of how to identify a noun's declension
- 0:49 - endings of the 3rd declension
- 2:08 - review of translation of cases
- 2:42 - ambiguity of nominative and accusative plural forms resolved by context; review of typical Latin word order
- 4:32 - 3rd declension and 1st & 2nd declension endings compared
12. Third Declension - Neuter
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 9, Language Fact II (p. 142)
- 1:01 - review of Neuter Rules #1 & #2
- 2:42 - i-stem neuter nouns of the 3rd declension
13. Fourth Declension - Masculine and Feminine
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 17, Language Fact III (pp. 294-296)
- focuses on masculine and feminine 4th declension nouns
- 2:43 - irregular declension of domus, domūs, f.
14. Fourth Declension - Neuter
- 0:29 - 4th Declension dictionary entries
- 1:11 - Review of the Neuter Rules
- 2:00 - Full declension of 4th Neuter endings
- 3:10 - a brief rundown of some very rare 4th declension neuter words.
- 3:55 - distinguishing all those -ū endings. (Hint: noun-adjective agreement is very useful)
- 4:58 - neat fact about cornū copiae
15. Fifth Declension
- cf. LNM, Book I, Ch. 18, Language Fact III (pp. 309-310)
- 1:41 - 5th declension endings and 1st--4th declension endings compared
- 2:54 - diēs, diēī, m.
- 3:21 - alternate endings