Latin declension

Latin grammar
Declension Uses of the ablative Uses of the dative Conjugation Numerals Syntax Word order Subjunctive by attraction Clausula (rhetoric) Hyperbaton

Latin declension is the set of patterns according to which Latin words are declined, or have their endings altered to show grammatical case and gender. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are declined (verbs are conjugated), and a given pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and grammatical gender. For simple declension paradigms, visit the Wiktionary appendices: first declension, second declension, third declension, fourth declension, fifth declension. Each noun follows one of the five declensions, but some irregular nouns have exceptions.

Adjectives are of two kinds: those like bonus, bona, bonum 'good' belong to the first and second declensions, using first-declension endings for the feminine, and second-declension for masculine and neuter. Other adjectives such as celer, celeris, celere belong to the third declension. There are no fourth- or fifth-declension adjectives.

Pronouns are also of two kinds, the personal pronouns such as ego 'I' and tū 'you (sg.)', which have their own irregular declension, and the third-person pronouns such as hic 'this' and ille 'that' which can generally be used either as pronouns or adjectivally. These latter decline in a similar way to the first and second noun declensions, but there are differences; for example the genitive singular ends in -īus or -ius instead of -ī or -ae.

The cardinal numbers ūnus 'one', duo 'two', and trēs 'three' also have their own declensions (ūnus has genitive -īus like a pronoun), and there are also numeral adjectives such as bīnī 'a pair, two each', which decline like ordinary adjectives.

Grammatical cases

A complete Latin noun declension consists of up to seven grammatical cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and locative. However, the locative is limited to few nouns: generally names of cities, small islands and a few other words.

The case names are often abbreviated to the first three letters.

The Latin cases have usually been given in the order Nom–Voc–Acc–Gen–Dat–Abl(–Loc) in Britain and many Commonwealth countries since the publication of Benjamin Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). This order reflects the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings (see below). For a discussion of other sequences taught elsewhere, see below.

However, some didactic approaches or schools teach it in the order Nom–Acc–Gen–Dat–Voc–Abl or Nom–Acc–Gen–Dat–Abl–Voc, the order also used before the Latin Primer by Benjamin Hall Kennedy. This order is used in The School and University Eton Latin Grammar (1861), with the ablative case always cited last, and a similar one is used in grammars of Ancient Greek (except without the ablative case, which does not occur in Greek), and has been retained by some modern didactic approaches to allow comparison of Latin and Greek.

Meanings and functions of the various cases

Nominative

It generally marks the sentence subject, or its attributes.

Augustus imperātōr Imperiī Rōmānī fuit.

'Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of the Roman Empire'.

However, there are other uses within the nominative case:

Urbs Rōma caput mundī vōcātur.

'The city of Rome is called the capital of the world'.

On this sentence, there is a denomination clause (Rōma), and a subject predicative clause (caput).

Vocative

It is used to address someone or something in direct speech. In English, this function is expressed by intonation or punctuation: "Mary, are you going to the store?" or "Mary!" In most declensions, the vocative singular form is identical to the nominative singular form; for example, to say "sailor!" the noun nauta has the vocative form nauta. There are a few exceptions. For the masculine singular second declension nouns, -us and -ius become -e and -ī, respectively. For example, Brutus becomes Brute (English "Brutus!"). Similarly, Vergilius becomes Vergilī (English "Virgil!"). However, nouns may preserve as -us and -ius in presence of imperative verbs (Venī huc, Brutus; or Dīc nōbīs fabulam, Virgilius) Finally, in Greek masculine first declension names Aenēās becomes Aenēā (English "Aeneas!"). In the plural the vocative is always identical to the nominative. In this article, it is assumed the nominative and vocative cases always merge, unless if mentioned on the paradigm tables.

Accusative

It generally marks the direct object of a transitive verb, that is, the object produced on the verb action.

Scīpiōnis Āfricānī exercitus incurret hostem.

Scipio Africanus's army attacks the enemy.

However, the accusative case may also have other functions:

• accusative of extent: indicates the period of time during which the action of the verb is prolonged:

trecentōs annōs Rōmanī tōtum Mare Mediterrāneum imperāvērunt.

"the Romans controlled the whole Mediterranean Sea for three hundred years".

• accusative of direction: indicates direction of movement. Towns and small islands do not use any prepositions, while most other nouns use the preposition in (movement into a place) or ad (movement to a place).

Rōmam rediit

"he returned to Rome"

Lēgātus in Hispāniam missus est

"The Legatus was sent to Spain"

Mīlitēs ad oppīdum appropinquant

"The soldiers approach the fortress"

• in infinitive completive sentences: the subject of a dependent clause is declined in accusative, while the verb appears in infinitive. This is because the whole subordinate sentence is a direct complement of the verb, called as the "main". It is widespread with verbs like to seem and to say.

Dīcō tē priōre nocte vēnisse in M. Laecae domum

"I say that you, last night, went to Marcus Laeca's house"

• with certain prepositions:

Fretum Gādītānum partem maris inter Hispāniam et Āfricam est

"The Strait of Gibraltar is the part of the sea between Spain and Africa"

• as a predicative clause of the direct clause: words complementing the direct object are also accusative.

Pauperēs existimant dīvitēs fēlīcēs

"Poor people consider rich people to be happy"

• Exclamatory accusative:

Mē miseram!

"Poor me!"

Genitive case

It generally marks the noun name complement. In most of cases, there is a relation in which the noun is the possessor and the genitive case is the possessed object. The use of the genitive case can be divided between the adjectival and adverbial uses.

Adjectival uses

• possessive genitive: indicates a possessive relationship:

castra hostium or hostium castra

"The camp of the enemy"

• subjective genitive: indicates a relation between genitive and noun similar to that between subject and verb:

Caesaris mors

"Caesar's death" (compare the sentence "Caesar died")

• objective genitive: indicates a relation between noun and genitive similar to that between verb and object:

rēctor deum

"ruler of the gods" (compare the sentence "he rules the gods")

• partitive genitive: indicates that the noun is part of the thing referred to by the genitive:

pars Galliae

"part of Gaul"

• genitive of definition: where the genitive defines the noun:

virtūs iūstitiae

"the virtue justice"

• descriptive genitive: describes an object or person in terms of its quality:

vir magnī ingeniī

"a man of great ingenuity"

• genitive of price: describes the value or the price of something:

quantī ēmit?

"For how much did he buy it?"

Adverbial uses

• with certain memory related verbs ("to forget", "remember", etc.):

Dominus oblītus est meī.

"God has forgotten about me."

• with certain verbs such as potior, vescor and opus est ("to possess", "to eat" and "to be necessary", respectively):

totīus Galliae sēsē potīrī posse sperant

"they hope to be able to gain possession of the whole of Gaul"

• with verbs meaning "to fill", or adjectives with the meaning of "full".

hic saccus plēnus est pirōrum.

"this bag is full of pears".

• with verbs having the meaning "to shame", "to bore":

Taedet mē huius quotīdiānī mundī

"I am tired of this everyday world"

• with verbs referring a legal process, like "to accuse":

patrem accusāvit adulteriī occultī

"he accused the father of secret adultery"

Dative case

It generally marks indirect object.

Pater puerō librum dōnat

"The father gives the book to the child"

• verbal regime dative: Makes up part of some adjectives, being thus, the regime object. Related to verbs like "to obey", "to pass" or adjectives with meanings like "similar".

Quam similis sōli est, Naevia, noster amor!

"How similar to the Sun is, oh Naevia, our love!"

• possessive dative: it denotes possession by part of the dative noun.

Caesarī multī inimīcī erant.

"Caesar had many enemies". (literallly "There were many enemies for Caesar")

• purpose dative: indicates the purpose of the action:

Non omnes mīlitēs glōriae pugnant.

"Not all soldiers fight for glory".

• double dative: a mixture of possessive and purpose datives.

Ipsum bellum est mihi cūrae

"This war is a concern for me"

• origin dative: indicates a point of view.

Vir bonus regī vidētur.

"This man seems good to the king".

• agent object dative: in combination with the gerundive, it is used to indicate the action doer:

Haec nōbīs agenda sunt

"These things must be done by us"

• beneficial dative: indicates for whom the action is:

Graecīs terrās colimus

"We till the lands for the Greeks"

• ethical dative: it emphasizes the person interested in the action, usually with affective implications:

Quid mihi Celsus agit?

"What is Celsus doing to me?" (indicating there is a special interest)

Ablative case

In Latin, the ablative case is the most flexible of all cases. It could be summarized as being a complement of circumstances, either of place, time, etc. Several uses of the ablative case can be translated as adverbs: cum celeritate ("quickly", literally "with speed"). The ablative case merges three Proto-indoeuropean cases: the separative case, the instrumental case and the locative case.

• place ablative: indicates the action from and/or where the action was done (note: the accusative case is used to indicate to where the action is done)

Hannibal, fīlius Hamilcaris, Carthāgine nātus est.

"Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, was born in Carthage".

Ex Graeciā ad Ītaliam nāvigāvērunt.

"They navigated from Greece to Italy".

• separation ablative: indicates a physical separation.

Cicerō hostēs ab urbe prohibuit.

"Cicero kept the [enemy] armies away from the city".

• instrumental ablative: indicates the instrument with which the action is done.

Mārcus pēde vexābat Corneliam quae dormīre volebat.

"Mark annoyed with his foot to Cornelia, who wanted to sleep".

• manner ablative: indicates how the action is done.

Allobroges crebris ad Rhodanum dispositis praesidiīs cum magna cūrā et dīligentiā suōs finās tuentur.

"The Allobroges, positioning guards around the Rhône, defend their borders with vigilance and energy"

• time ablative: indicates the time frame when the action is done.

Nē quis tamen īgnōrāret, quibus in locīs Caesar exercitusque eō tempore fuissent [...]

"For no one ignore where Cesar and his army were in that time [...]"

• absolute ablative: indicates the circunstances the action is produced.

Urbe captā, Aenēas fugit

"[One] the city [is] captured, Aeneas flees out"

• expecting circunstances ablative: just like the absolute ablative, but the circunstances "wait" for the action.

Cum magnō clāmōre cīvium ad urbem perveniunt.

"With a great clamour, they arrive to the city by part of the population".

• accompanying ablative: always preceded by cum ("with"), and indicates with whom the action is done.

Egō et Iūlia cum nostris amīcis de amīcitia dicebamus.

"Julia and I were talking about friendship with our friends".

• separation ablative: indicates the whole making up part of a number, preceded by ē/ex ("from").

Centum ex viris mortem dice timēbant et nihil clementiae exspectābant.

"One hundred of our men feared death for a long time, and the did not expect any clemency".

• agent ablative: indicates the action doer within a passive voice sentence. If the agent is a person, it should be preceded by ā/ab ("by")

Atticus adoptātus est ā Caeciliō.

"Atticus was adopted by Caecilius".

Populus mīlitiā atque inopiā urgēbātur.

"The people were overwhelmed by the military and misery".

• comparison ablative: the second part of a comparison is declined in ablative.

Vīlius argentum est aurō, virtūtibus aurum.

"Silver is less valious than gold, and gold [is less valious] than virtue".

• cause ablative: indicates the action cause.

Clāmāre gaudiō coepit.

"He started shouting of joy".

• difference degree ablative: indicates the degree two or more things are different.

Puella multō prudentior est puerō.

"The girl is much more prudent than the boy".

• description ablative: similar to description genitive; indicates a noun quality.

Philosophus magnā sapientiā.

"A greatly wise philosopher". (literally "with a great wisdom")

• specification ablative: gives more specific information about the latter word.

Corpore senex esse poterit, animō numquam erit.

"He may be old in body, but he will never be old in spirit".

• price ablative: similar to price genitive, which indicates a thing's price.

Antōnius rienda addixit pecūniā.

"Marcus Antonius sold thrones for money".

Locative

It expresses the place where an action is performed. In early Latin the locative case had extensive use, but in Classical Latin the locative case was very rarely used, applying only to the names of cities and small islands and to a few other isolated words. For this purpose, the Romans considered all the islands they would know (in most of cases, European islands) to be small except for Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Britain and Ireland; in general, small island cities like Ithaca and Thēra would be the only ones using the locative case. Much of the case's function had been absorbed into the ablative. In the first and second declension singular, the locative is identical to the genitive singular, and in the third declension singular it is identical to the dative singular. For plural nouns of all declensions, the locative is also identical to the ablative. The few fourth- and fifth-declension place names would also use the ablative form for the locative case. However, a few nouns use the locative instead of a preposition: bellum → bellī 'at war'; domus → domī 'at home'; rūs → rūrī 'in the country'; humus → humī 'on the ground'; mīlitia → mīlitiae 'in military service, in the field'; focus → focī 'at the hearth', 'at the center of the community'. In archaic times, the locative singular of third declension nouns was interchangeable between the ablative and dative but, in the Augustan period, the use of the dative became fixed. The locative cannot express being located at multiple locations; plural forms only exist because certain proper names such as Athēnae happen to be plural (pluralia tantum). "[He/She/It] is at home" can be expressed by "Est domī" using the locative, but "They are at their (individual and separate) homes" cannot be expressed by the locative (Sunt in domibus suī). Adjenctives do not have the locative form case.

	Locative case by declension				Comments
	Singular		Plural
1st declension	Rōmae	-ae	Athēnīs	-īs	In singular same as genitive. In plural, same as ablative.
2nd declension	Corinthī	-ī	Delphīs
3rd declension	Carthāgine Carthāginī	-ī, -e	Trallibus	-ibus	Same as dative and ablative.
4th declension	portū senātī	-ū -ī
5th declension	diē	-ē
Special nouns	domī humī rūrī, rūre	-ī, -e

Syncretism

Syncretism, where one form in a paradigm shares the ending of another form in the paradigm, is common in Latin. The following are the most notable patterns of syncretism:

Gender-specific

• For pure Latin neuter nouns, the nominative singular, vocative singular, and accusative singular are identical; and the nominative plural, vocative plural, and accusative plural all end in -a (both of these features are inherited from Proto-Indo-European, and so are not true syncretism as the case endings were never attested as separate in the first place).

Case-specific

• The vocative form is always the same as the nominative in the plural, and usually the same as the nominative in the singular except for second-declension masculine nouns ending in -us and a few nouns of Greek origin. For example, the vocative of the first-declension Aenēās is Aenēā.
• The genitive singular is the same as the nominative plural in first-, second-, and fourth-declension masculine and feminine pure Latin nouns.
• The dative singular is the same as the genitive singular in first- and fifth-declension pure Latin nouns.
• The dative is always the same as the ablative in the plural, and in the singular in the second declension, the third-declension full i-stems (i.e. neuter i-stems, adjectives), and fourth-declension neuters.
• The dative, ablative, and locative are always identical in the plural.
• The locative is identical to the ablative in the fourth and fifth declensions.

History of cases

Old Latin had essentially two patterns of endings. One pattern was shared by the first and second declensions, which derived from the Proto-Indo-European thematic declension. The other pattern was used by the third, fourth and fifth declensions, and derived from the athematic PIE declension.

Nouns

There are two principal parts for Latin nouns: the nominative singular and the genitive singular. Each declension can be unequivocally identified by the ending of the genitive singular (-ae, -i, -is, -ūs, -ei). The stem of the noun can be identified by the form of the genitive singular as well.

There are five declensions for Latin nouns:

First declension (a stems)

Nouns of this declension usually end in -a in the nominative singular and are mostly feminine, e.g. via, viae f. ('road') and aqua, aquae f. ('water'). There is a small class of masculine exceptions generally referring to occupations, e.g. poēta, poētae m. ('poet'), agricola, agricolae m. ('farmer') and nauta, nautae m. ('sailor').

The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a. The nominative singular form consists of the stem and the ending -a, and the genitive singular form is the stem plus -ae.

	First declension paradigm
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-a	-ae
Accusative	-am	-ās
Genitive	-ae	-ārum
Dative		-īs
Ablative	-ā

	familia, familiae family, household f.		poēta, poētae poet m.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	familia	familiae	poēta	poētae
Accusative	familiam	familiās	poētam	poētās
Genitive	familiae	familiārum	poētae	poētārum
Dative		familiīs		poētīs
Ablative	familiā		poētā

The locative endings for the first declension are -ae (singular) and -īs (plural), similar to the genitive singular and ablative plural, as in mīlitiae 'in war' and Athēnīs 'at Athens'.

First declension Greek nouns

Main article: Declension of Greek nouns in Latin

The first declension also includes three types of Greek loanwords, derived from Ancient Greek's Alpha Declension. They are declined irregularly in the singular, but sometimes treated as native Latin nouns, e.g. nominative athlēta ('athlete') instead of the original athlētēs. Archaic (Homeric) first declension Greek nouns and adjectives had been formed in exactly the same way as in Latin: nephelēgeréta Zeus ('Zeus the cloud-gatherer') had in classical Greek become nephelēgerétēs.

For full paradigm tables and more detailed information, see the Wiktionary appendix First declension.

Second declension (o stems)

The second declension is a large group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine nouns like equus, equī ('horse') and puer, puerī ('boy') and neuter nouns like castellum, castellī ('fort'). There are several small groups of feminine exceptions, including names of gemstones, plants, trees, and some towns and cities.

In the nominative singular, most masculine nouns consist of the stem and the ending -us, although some end in -er, which is not necessarily attached to the complete stem. Neuter nouns generally have a nominative singular consisting of the stem and the ending -um. However, every second-declension noun has the ending -ī attached as a suffix to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is o.

	Second declension paradigm
	Masculine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-ī	-um	-a
Vocative	-e
Accusative	-um	-ōs
Genitive	-ī	-ōrum	-ī	-ōrum
Dative	-ō	-īs	-ō	-īs
Ablative

Masculine

	dominus, dominī master m.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dominus	dominī
Vocative	domine
Accusative	dominum	dominōs
Genitive	dominī	dominōrum
Dative	dominō	dominīs
Ablative

Neuter

	bellum, bellī war n.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bellum	bella
Accusative
Genitive	bellī	bellōrum
Dative	bellō	bellīs
Ablative

The locative endings for the second declension are -ī (singular) and -īs (plural); Corinthī "at Corinth", Mediōlānī "at Milan", and Philippīs "at Philippi".

Second-declension -ius and -ium nouns

Nouns ending in -ius and -ium have a genitive singular in -ī in earlier Latin, which was regularized to -iī in the later language. Masculine nouns in -ius have a vocative singular in -ī at all stages. These forms in -ī are stressed on the same syllable as the nominative singular, sometimes in violation of the usual Latin stress rule. For example, the genitive and vocative singular Vergilī (from Vergilius) is pronounced Vergílī, with stress on the penult, even though it is short. In Old Latin, however, the vocative was declined regularly, using -ie instead, e.g. fīlie "[Oh] son", archaic vocative of fīlius.

There is no contraction of -iī(s) in plural forms and in the locative.

	fīlius, filiī son m.		auxilium, auxiliī aid, help n.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fīlius	fīliī	auxilium	auxilia
Vocative	fīlī
Accusative	fīlium	fīliōs
Genitive	fīliī	fīliōrum	auxiliī	auxiliōrum
Dative	fīliō	fīliīs	auxiliō	auxiliīs
Ablative

In the older language, nouns ending with -vus, -quus and -vum take o rather than u in the nominative and accusative singular. For example, servus, servī ('slave') could be servos, accusative servom.

Second-declension -r nouns

Some masculine nouns of the second declension end in -er or -ir in the nominative singular. For such nouns, the genitive singular must be learned to see if the e is dropped. For example, socer, socerī ('father-in-law') keeps its e. However, the noun magister, magistrī ('teacher') drops its e in the genitive singular. Nouns with -ir in the nominative singular, such as triumvir, never drop the i.

The declension of second-declension -r nouns is identical to that of the regular second declension, being the vocative suffix -e optional.

For declension tables of second-declension nouns, see the corresponding Wiktionary appendix.

	puer, puerī boy m.		ager, agrī field m.		vir, virī man m.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puer	puerī	ager	agrī	vir	virī
Vocative	puer puere		ager agre		vir vire
Accusative	puerum	puerōs	agrum	agrōs	virum	virōs
Genitive	puerī	puerōrum	agrī	agrōrum	virī	virōrum
Dative	puerō	puerīs	agrō	agrīs	virō	virīs
Ablative

Second-declension Greek nouns

Main article: Declension of Greek nouns in Latin

The second declension contains two types of masculine Greek nouns and one form of neuter Greek noun. These nouns are irregular only in the singular, as are their first-declension counterparts. Greek nouns in the second declension are derived from the Omicron declension.

Some Greek nouns may also be declined as normal Latin nouns. For example, theātron can appear as theātrum.

Irregular forms

Deus

The inflection of deus, deī ('god') is irregular. The vocative singular of deus is not attested in Classical Latin. In Ecclesiastical Latin the vocative of Deus ('God') is Deus.

In poetry, -um may substitute -ōrum as the genitive plural ending.

	deus, deī god m.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	deus	deī diī dī
Accusative	deum	deōs
Genitive	deī	deōrum deum
Dative	deō	deīs diīs dīs
Ablative

Virus

The Latin word vīrus (the ī indicates a long i) means "1. slimy liquid, slime; 2. poison, venom", denoting the venom of a snake. This Latin word is probably related to the Greek ῑ̓ός (ios) meaning "venom" or "rust" and the Sanskrit word विष viṣa meaning "toxic, poison".

Since vīrus in antiquity denoted something uncountable, it was a mass noun. Mass nouns pluralize only under special circumstances, hence the non-existence of plural forms in the texts.

In Neo-Latin, a plural form is necessary in order to express the modern concept of ‘viruses’, which leads to the following declension:

	vīrus, vīrī poison, venom, virus n.
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vīrus	vīra
Accusative
Genitive	vīrī	vīrōrum
Dative	vīrō	vīrīs
Ablative

Third declension (i and consonant stems)

The third declension is the largest group of nouns. The nominative singular of these nouns may end in -a,-e, -ī, -ō, -y, -c, -l, -n, -r, -s, -t, or -x. This group of nouns includes masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns. Examples are flūmen, flūminis n. ('river'), flōs, flōris m. ('flower'), and pāx, pācis f. ('peace'). Each noun has the ending -is as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns each have their own special nominative singular endings. For instance, many masculine nouns end in -or (amor, amōris, 'love'). Many feminine nouns end in -īx (phoenīx, phoenīcis, 'phoenix'), and many neuter nouns end in -us with an r stem in the oblique cases (onus, oneris 'burden'; tempus, temporis 'time').

	Third declension paradigm (i and consonant stems)
	Masculine & feminine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	—	-ēs	—	-a
Accusative	-em
Genitive	-is	-um	-is	-um
Dative	-ī	-ibus	-ī	-ibus
Ablative	-e		-e

	dux, ducis leader m.				virtūs, virtūtis virtue f.				nōmen, nōminis name n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	dux	-s	ducēs	-ēs	virtūs	-s	virtūtēs	-ēs	nōmen	—	nōmina	-a
Accusative	ducem	-em			virtūtem	-em
Genitive	ducis	-is	ducum	-um	virtūtis	-is	virtūtum	-um	nōminis	-is	nōminum	-um
Dative	ducī	-ī	ducibus	-ibus	virtūtī	-ī	virtūtibus	-ibus	nōminī	-ī	nōminibus	-ibus
Ablative	duce	-e			virtūte	-e			nōmine	-e

The locative endings for the third declension are -ī or -e (singular) and -ibus (plural), as in rūrī 'in the country' and Trallibus 'at Tralles'.

Third declension i-stem nouns

The third declension also has a set of nouns that are declined differently. They are called i-stems. i-stems are broken into two subcategories: pure and mixed. Pure i-stems are indicated by the parisyllabic rule or special neuter endings. Mixed i-stems are indicated by the double consonant rule.

Masculine and feminine

Parisyllabic rule: Some masculine and feminine third-declension i-stem nouns have the same number of syllables in the genitive as they do in the nominative. For example: amnis, amnis ('stream'). The nominative ends in -is.

Double consonant rule: The rest of the masculine and feminine third-declension i-stem nouns have two consonants before the -is in the genitive singular. For example: pars, partis ('part').

Neuter

Special neuter ending: Neuter third-declension i-stems have no rule. However, all of them end in -al, -ar or -e. For example: animal, animālis ('animal'); cochlear, cochleāris ('spoon'); mare, maris ('sea').

Pure i-stems may exhibit peculiar endings in both singular and plural. Mixed i-stems employ normal (consonant) 3rd declension endings in the singular but i-stem endings in the plural.

	Third declension paradigm (i-stem nouns)
	Masculine & Feminine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	—	-ēs	—	-ia
Accusative	-em -im	-ēs -īs
Genitive	-is	-um (-ium)	-is	-um (-ium)
Dative	-ī	-ibus	-ī	-ibus
Ablative	-e -ī

	amnis, amnis stream, torrent m. (pure)		pars, partis part, piece f. (mixed)		animal, animālis animal, living being n. (pure)
	Parisyllabic rule		Double consonant rule		Special neuter ending
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	amnis	amnēs	pars	partēs	animal	animālia
Accusative	amnem amnim	amnēs amnīs	partem partim	partēs partīs
Genitive	amnis	amnium	partis	partium	animālis	animālium
Dative	amnī	amnibus	partī	partibus	animālī	animālibus
Ablative	amne amnī		parte partī

The rules for determining i-stems from non-i-stems and mixed i-stems should be thought of more as guidelines than rules: even among the Romans themselves, the categorization of a third-declension word as an i-stem or non-i-stem was quite fluid. The result is that many words that should be i-stems according to the parisyllabic and consonant stem rules actually are not, such as canis ('dog') or iuvenis ('youth'). By the parisyllabic rule, canis should be a masculine i-stem and thus differ from the non-i-stems by having an extra -i- in the plural genitive form: *canium. In reality, the plural genitive of canis is canum, the form of a non-i-stem. This fluidity even in Roman times results in much more uncertainty in Medieval Latin, as scholars were trying to imitate what was fluid to begin with.

Peculiarities

In the third declension, there are four irregular nouns.

Case	vīs, vīs force, power f.		sūs, suis swine, pig, hog m.f.		bōs, bovis ox, bullock m.f.		Iuppiter, Iovis Jupiter m.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular
Nominative	vīs	vīrēs	sūs	suēs	bōs	bovēs	Iuppiter Iūpiter
Accusative	vim	vīrēs vīrīs	suem		bovem		Iovem
Genitive	vīs	vīrium	suis	suum	bovis	boum bovum	Iovis
Dative	vī	vīribus	suī	suibus sūbus	bovī	bōbus būbus	Iovī
Ablative			sue		bove		Iove

Fourth declension (u stems)

The fourth declension is a group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine words such as fluctus, fluctūs m. ('wave') and portus, portūs m. ('port') with a few feminine exceptions, including manus, manūs f. ('hand'). The fourth declension also includes several neuter nouns including genū, genūs n. ('knee'). Each noun has the ending -ūs as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is u, but the declension is otherwise very similar to the third-declension i stems.

	Fourth declension paradigm
	-us ending nouns		-ū ending nouns
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-ūs	-ū	-ua
Accusative	-um
Genitive	-ūs	-uum	-ūs -ū	-uum
Dative	-uī	-ibus	-uī -ū	-ibus
Ablative	-ū		-ū

	portus, portūs port, haven, harbor m.		cornū, cornūs horn n.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	portus	portūs	cornū	cornua
Accusative	portum
Genitive	portūs	portuum	cornūs cornū	cornuum
Dative	portuī	portibus	cornuī cornū	cornibus
Ablative	portū		cornū

In the dative and ablative plural, -ibus is sometimes replaced with -ubus. This is so for only a few nouns, such as artūs pl., ('limbs').

The locative endings for the fourth declension are -ī (singular), and probably -ū (singular) as well; senātī "at [the] senate", domī "at home".

Domus ('house, dwelling, building, home, native place, family, household, race') is an irregular noun, mixing fourth and second declension nouns at the same time (especially in literature). However, in practice, it is generally declined as a regular -us stem fourth declension noun (except by the ablative singular and accusative plural, using -ō and -ōs instead).

	domus, domūs/domī f.
	All possible declensions
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	domus	domūs
Accusative	domum	domūs domōs
Genitive	domūs domī	domuum domōrum
Dative	domuī domū domō	domibus
Ablative	domū domō

	domus, domūs f.
	Most common paradigm
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	domus	domūs
Accusative	domum	domōs
Genitive	domūs	domuum
Dative	domuī	domibus
Ablative	domō

Fifth declension (e stems)

The fifth declension is a small group of nouns consisting of mostly feminine nouns like rēs, reī f. ('affair, matter, thing') and diēs, diēī m. ('day'; but f. in names of days). Each noun has either the ending -ēī or -eī as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form.

	Fifth declension paradigm
	-iēs ending nouns		-ēs ending nouns
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-iēs	-iēs	-ēs	-ēs
Accusative	-iem		-em
Genitive	-iēī	-iērum	-eī	-ērum
Dative		-iēbus		-ēbus
Ablative	-iē		-ē

	diēs, diēī day m., f.		rēs, reī thing f.
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	diēs	diēs	rēs	rēs
Accusative	diem		rem
Genitive	diēī	diērum	reī	rērum
Dative		diēbus		rēbus
Ablative	diē		rē

Nouns ending in -iēs have long ēī in the dative and genitive, while nouns ending in a consonant + -ēs have short eī in these cases.

The locative ending of the fifth declension was -ē (singular only), identical to the ablative singular, as in hodiē ('today').

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

The first and second persons are irregular, and both pronouns are indeclinable for gender; and the third person reflexive pronoun sē, suī always refers back to the subject, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.

	First Person		Second Person		Third Person
	ego, nōs I, we		tū, vōs you		sē, suī himself, herself, itself, oneself, themselves
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ego egō	nōs	tū	vōs	—
Accusative	mē		tē		sē sēsē
Genitive	meī	nostrī, nostrum	tuī	vestrī, vestrum	suī
Dative	mihi	nōbīs	tibi	vōbīs	sibi
Ablative	mē		tē		sē sēsē

The genitive forms meī, tuī, nostrī, vestrī, suī are used as complements in certain grammatical constructions, whereas nostrum, vestrum are used with a partitive meaning ('[one] of us', '[one] of you'). To express possession, the possessive pronouns (essentially adjectives) meus, tuus, noster, vester are used, declined in the first and second declensions to agree in number and case with the thing possessed, e.g. pater meus 'my father', māter mea 'my mother'. The vocative singular masculine of meus is mī: mī Attice 'my dear Atticus'.

Possessive pronouns declensions

	meus, mea, meum my, mine
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	meus	mea	meum	meī	meae	mea
Vocative	mī
Accusative	meum	meam		meōs	meās
Genitive	meī	meae	meī	meōrum	meārum	meōrum
Dative	meō		meō	meīs
Ablative		meā

	tuus, tua, tuum your, yours (for singular possessor)
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tuus	tua	tuum	tuī	tuae	tua
Vocative	tue
Accusative	tuum	tuam		tuōs	tuās
Genitive	tuī	tuae	tuī	tuōrum	tuārum	tuōrum
Dative	tuō		tuō	tuīs
Ablative		tuā

	suus, sua, suum his, her, its, theirs (reflexive)
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	suus	sua	suum	suī	suae	sua
Vocative	sue
Accusative	suum	suam		suōs	suās
Genitive	suī	suae	suī	suōrum	suārum	suōrum
Dative	suō		suō	suīs
Ablative		suā

	noster, nostra, nostrum our, ours
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	noster	nostra	nostrum	nostrī	nostrae	nostra
Accusative	nostrum	nostram		nostrōs	nostrās
Genitive	nostrī	nostrae	nostrī	nostrōrum	nostrārum	nostrōrum
Dative	nostrō		nostrō	nostrīs
Ablative		nostrā

The possessive adjective vester has an archaic variant, voster; similar to noster.

	vester, vestra, vestrum voster, vostra, vostrum your, yours (for plural possessor)
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	vester voster	vestra vostra	vestrum vostrum	vestrī vostrī	vestrae vostrae	vestra vostra
Accusative	vestrum vostrum	vestram vostram		vestrōs vostrōs	vestrās vostrās
Genitive	vestrī vostrī	vestrae vostrae	vestrī vostrī	vestrōrum vostrōrum	vestrārum vostrārum	vestrōrum vostrōrum
Dative	vestrō vostrō		vestrō vostrō	vestrīs vostrīs
Ablative		vestrā vostrā

Usually, to show the ablative of accompaniment, cum would be added to the ablative form. However, with personal pronouns (first and second person), the reflexive and the interrogative, -cum is added onto the end of the ablative form. That is: mēcum 'with me', nōbīscum 'with us', tēcum 'with you', vōbīscum, sēcum and quōcum (sometimes quīcum).

Pronouns have also an emphatic form bi using the suffix -met (egomet, tūte/tūtemet, nosmet, vosmet), used in all cases, except by the genitive plural forms.

In accusative case, the forms mēmē and tētē exist as emphatic, but they are not widely used.

Sē, suī has a possessive adjective: suus, sua, suum, meaning 'his/her/its/their own':

Patrem suum numquam vīderat. (Cicero)

"He had never seen his [own] father."

When 'his' or 'her' refers to someone else, not the subject, the genitive pronoun eius (as well as eōrum and eārum) 'of him' is used instead of suus:

Fit obviam Clodiō ante fundum eius. (Cicero)

"He met Clodius in front of the latter's farm."

When one sentence is embedded inside another with a different subject, sē and suus can refer to either subject:

Patrēs conscrīptī ... lēgātōs in Bīthȳniam miserunt quī ab rēge peterent, nē inimīcissimum suum secum haberet sibique dēderet. (Nepos)

"The senators ... sent ambassadors to Bithynia, who were to ask the king not to keep their greatest enemy with him but hand him over to them."

For the third-person pronoun is 'he', see below.

Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives

Relative, demonstrative and indefinite pronouns are generally declined like first and second declension adjectives, with the following differences:

• the nominatives are often irregular
• the genitive singular ends in -īus rather than -ae or -ī.
• the dative singular ends in -ī: rather than -ae or -ō.

These differences characterize the pronominal declension, and a few special adjectives (tōtus 'whole', sōlus 'alone', ūnus 'one', nūllus 'no', alius 'another', alter 'another [of two]', etc.) are also declined according to this pattern.

All demonstrative, relative, and indefinite pronouns in Latin can also be used adjectivally, with some small differences; for example in the interrogative pronoun, quis 'who?' and quid 'what?' are usually used for the pronominal form, quī and quod 'which?' for the adjectival form.

Third person pronoun

The weak demonstrative pronoun is, ea, id 'that' also serves as the third person pronoun 'he, she, it':

	Third person
	is, ea, id he, she, it
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	is	ea	id	eī iī	eae	ea
Accusative	eum	eam		eōs	eās
Genitive	eius			eōrum	eārum	eōrum
Dative	eī			eīs iīs
Ablative	eō	eā	eō

This pronoun is also often used adjectivally, e.g. is homo 'that man', ea pecunia 'that money'. It has no possessive adjective; the genitive is used instead: pater eius 'his/her father'; pater eōrum 'their father'.

Declension of īdem

The pronoun or pronominal adjective īdem, eadem, idem means 'the same'. It is derived from is with the suffix -dem. However, some forms have been assimilated.

	īdem, eadem, idem the same, same as
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	īdem	eadem	idem	eīdem īdem iīdem	eaedem	eadem
Accusative	eundem	eandem		eōsdem	eāsdem
Genitive	eiusdem			eōrundem	eārundem	eōrundem
Dative	eīdem			eīsdem īsdem iīsdem
Ablative	eōdem	eādem	eōdem

Other demonstrative pronouns

	hic, haec, hoc this, this one (proximal)						ille, illa, illud that, that one (distal)						iste, ista, istud that of yours (medial)
	Singular			Plural			Singular			Plural			Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	hic	haec	hoc	hī	hae	haec	ille	illa	illud	illī	illae	illa	iste	ista	istud	istī	istae	ista
Accusative	hunc	hanc		hōs	hās		illum	illam		illōs	illās		istum	istam		istōs	istās
Genitive	huius			hōrum	hārum	hōrum	illīus			illōrum	illārum	illōrum	istīus			istōrum	istārum	istōrum
Dative	huic			hīs			illī			illīs			istī			istīs
Ablative	hōc	hāc	hōc				illō	illā	illō				istō	istā	istō

Similar in declension is alius, alia, aliud 'another'.

Intensive pronoun

	ipse, ipsa, ipsum himself, herself, itself
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ipse	ipsa	ipsum	ipsi	ipsae	ipsa
Accusative	ipsum	ipsam		ipsōs	ipsās
Genitive	ipsīus			ipsōrum	ipsārum	ipsōrum
Dative	ipsī			ipsīs
Ablative	ipsō	ipsā	ipsō

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns are used strictly for asking questions. They are distinct from the relative pronoun and the interrogative adjective (which is declined like the relative pronoun). Interrogative pronouns rarely occur in the plural. The plural interrogative pronouns are the same as the plural relative pronouns.

Singular

	quis? quid? who?, what?
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	quis?	quid?
Accusative	quem?
Genitive	cuius?
Dative	cuī?
Ablative	quō?

Relative pronouns

	quī, quae, quod who, which, that
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	quī	quae	quod	quī	quae	quae
Accusative	quem	quam		quōs	quās
Genitive	cuius			quōrum	quārum	quōrum
Dative	cuī			quibus
Ablative	quō	quā	quō

Correlatives

Correlatives are the corresponding demonstrative, relative, interrogative, and indefinite forms of pronouns, pronominal adjectives, and adverbs. These are shown below:

	Demonstrative	Relative	Interrogative	Indefinite relative	Indefinite
	vowel or t-	qu-, c-, u-		reduplicated or -cumque	ali-
basic	is	quī	quis	quisquis	aliquis
number	tantus	quantus		quantuscumque	aliquantus
type	tālis	quālis		quāliscumque	(aliquālis)
place where	ibi	ubi		ubiubi	alicubi
place to, whither	eō	quō		quōquō	aliquō
manner	eā	quā		quāquā	aliquā
place from, whence	inde	unde		undecumque	alicunde
time	tum	cum	quandō	quandōcumque	aliquandō
counting	tot	quot		quotquot	aliquot
repetition	totiēns	quotiēns		quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns

Adjectives

First- and second-declension adjectives

First- and second-declension adjective are inflected in the masculine, the feminine and the neuter; the masculine form typically ends in -us (although some end in -er, see below), the feminine form ends in -a, and the neuter form ends in -um. Therefore, some adjectives are given like altus, alta, altum.

It is important noticing that -ius ending adjectives use the vocative -ie (ebrie, "[Oh] drunk man", vocative of ebrius), just as in Old Latin all -ius nouns did (fīlie, "[Oh] son", archaic vocative of fīlius).

	altus, alta, altum high, long, tall
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	altus	alta	altum	altī	altae	alta
Vocative	alte
Accusative	altum	altam		altōs	altās
Genitive	altī	altae	altī	altōrum	altārum	altōrum
Dative	altō		altō	altīs
Ablative		altā

	sōlitārius, sōlitāria, sōlitārium solitary, lonely
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sōlitārius	sōlitāria	sōlitārium	sōlitāriī	sōlitāriae	sōlitāria
Vocative	sōlitārie
Accusative	sōlitārium	sōlitāriam		sōlitāriōs	sōlitāriās
Genitive	sōlitāriī	sōlitāriae	sōlitāriī	sōlitāriōrum	sōlitāriārum	sōlitāriōrum
Dative	sōlitāriō		sōlitāriō	sōlitāriīs
Ablative		sōlitāriā

First- and second-declension -r adjectives

Some first- and second-declension adjectives' masculine form end in -er. As with second-declension -r nouns, some adjectives retain the e throughout inflection, and some omit it. Sacer, sacra, sacrum omits its e while miser, misera, miserum keeps it.

	miser, misera, miserum sad, poor, unhappy
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	miser	misera	miserum	miserī	miserae	misera
Accusative	miserum	miseram		miserōs	miserās
Genitive	miserī	miserae	miserī	miserōrum	miserārum	miserōrum
Dative	miserō		miserō	miserīs
Ablative		miserā

	sacer, sacra, sacrum sacred, holy
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sacer	sacra	sacrum	sacrī	sacrae	sacra
Accusative	sacrum	sacram		sacrōs	sacrās
Genitive	sacrī	sacrae	sacrī	sacrōrum	sacrārum	sacrōrum
Dative	sacrō		sacrō	sacrīs
Ablative		sacrā

First and second declension pronominal adjectives

Nine first and second declension pronominal adjectives are irregular in the genitive and the dative in all genders. They can be remembered by using the mnemonic acronym ūnus nauta. They are:

• ūllus, ūlla, ūllum 'any';
• nūllus, nūlla, nūllum 'no, none';
• uter, utra, utrum 'which [of two], either';
• sōlus, sōla, sōlum 'sole, alone';
• neuter, neutra, neutrum 'neither';
• alius, alia, aliud (the genitive singular alīus is often replaced by aliēnus 'of another');
• ūnus, ūna, ūnum 'one';
• tōtus, tōta, tōtum 'whole';
• alter, altera, alterum 'other [of two]'.

	ūllus, ūlla, ūllum any
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ūllus	ūlla	ūllum	ūllī	ūllae	ūlla
Accusative	ūllum	ūllam		ūllōs	ūllās
Genitive	ūllīus			ūllōrum	ūllārum	ūllōrum
Dative	ūllī			ūllīs
Ablative	ūllō	ūllā	ūllō

Third-declension adjectives

Third-declension adjectives are normally declined like third-declension i-stem nouns, except for the fact they usually have -ī rather than -e in the ablative singular (unlike i-stem nouns, in which only pure i-stems have -ī). Some adjectives, however, like the one-ending vetus, veteris ('old, aged'), have -e in the ablative singular, -um in the genitive plural, and -a in the nominative and accusative neuter plural.

Third-declension adjectives with one ending

These have a single nominative ending for all genders, although as usual the endings for the other cases vary. As with nouns, a genitive is given for the purpose of showing the inflection.

	atrōx, atrōx terrible, mean, cruel
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	atrōx	atrōx	atrōcēs	atrōcia
Accusative	atrōcem		atrōcēs atrōcīs
Genitive	atrōcis		atrōcium
Dative	atrōcī		atrōcibus
Ablative

Non-i-stem variant

	vetus, vetus old, aged
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	vetus	vetus	veterēs	vetera
Accusative	veterem
Genitive	veteris		veterum
Dative	veterī		veteribus
Ablative	vetere

Third-declension adjectives with two endings

Third-declension adjectives that have two endings have one form for the masculine and feminine, and a separate form for the neuter. The ending for the masculine and feminine is -is, and the ending for the neuter is -e. It is not necessary to give the genitive, as it is the same as the nominative masculine singular.

	agilis, agile nimble, swift
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	agilis	agile	agilēs	agilia
Accusative	agilem		agilēs agilīs
Genitive	agilis		agilium
Dative	agilī		agilibus
Ablative

Third-declension adjectives with three endings

Third-declension adjectives with three endings have three separate nominative forms for all three genders. Like third and second declension -r nouns, the masculine ends in -er. The feminine ends in -ris, and the neuter ends in -re. The genitive is the same as the nominative feminine singular.

	celer, celeris, celere swift, rapid, brash
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	celer	celeris	celere	celerēs	celeria
Accusative	celerem	celerēs celerīs
Genitive	celeris			celerium
Dative	celerī			celeribus
Ablative
	alacer, alacris, alacre lively, jovial, animated
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	alacer	alacris	alacre	alacrēs	alacria
Accusative	alacrem	alacrem		alacrēs alacrīs
Genitive	alacris			alacrium
Dative	alacrī			alacribus
Ablative

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives

As in English, adjectives have superlative and comparative forms. For regular first and second declension and third declension adjectives with one or two endings, the comparative is formed by adding -ior for the masculine and feminine, and -ius for the neuter to the stem. The genitives for both are formed by adding -iōris. Therefore, they are declined in the third declension, but they are not declined as i-stems. Superlatives are formed by adding -issimus, -issima, -issimum to the stem and are thus declined like first and second declension adjectives.

General pattern for comparatives

	altior, altius higher, deeper (comparative of altus)
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	altior	altius	altiōrēs	altiōra
Accusative	altiōrem
Genitive	altiōris		altiōrum
Dative	altiōrī		altiōribus
Ablative	altiōre

	altissimus, altissima, altissimum highest, deepest (superlative of altus)
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	altissimus	altissima	altissimum	altissimī	altissimae	altissima
Vocative	altissime
Accusative	altissimum	altissimam		altissimōs	altissimās
Genitive	altissimī	altissimae	altissimī	altissimōrum	altissimārum	altissimōrum
Dative	altissimō		altissimō	altissimīs
Ablative		altissimā

Comparatives and superlatives with normal endings

Adjective	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
	clārus, clāra, clārum ('clear, bright, famous')	clārior, clārius	clārissimus, clārissima, clārissimum
	frīgidus, frīgida, frīgidum ('cold, chilly')	frīgidior, frīgidius	frīgidissimus, frīgidissima, frīgidissimum
	pugnāx, pugnāx (pugnācis) ('pugnacious')	pugnācior, pugnācius	pugnācissimus, pugnācissima, pugnācissimum
	benevolēns, benevolēns (benevolentis) ('kind, benevolent')	benevolentior, benevolentius	benevolentissimus, benevolentissima, benevolentissium
	fortis, forte ('strong, robust')	fortior, fortius	fortissimus, fortissima, fortissimum
	aequālis, aequāle ('equal, even')	aequālior, aequālius	aequālissimus, aequālissima, aequālissimum

Comparatives and superlatives of -er adjectives

Adjectives (in the first and second as well as third declensions) that have masculine nominative singular forms ending in -er are slightly different. As with normal adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding -ior to the stem, but for the superlative, -rimus is added to the nominative masculine singular.

Adjective	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
	pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum ('pretty, beautiful')	pulchrior, pulchrius	pulcherrimus, pulcherrima, pulcherrimum
	sacer, sacra, sacrum ('sacred, holy')	sacrior, sacrius	sacerrimus, sacerrima, sacerrimum
	tener, tenera, tenerum ('delicate, tender')	tenerior, tenerius	tenerrimus, tenerrima, tenerrimum
	ācer, ācris, ācre ('valliant, fierce')	ācrior, ācrius	ācerrimus, ācerrima, ācerrimum
	celeber, celebris, celebre ('celebrated, famous')	celebrior, celebrius	celeberrimus, celeberrima, celeberrimum
	celer, celeris, celere ('quick, fast')	celerior, celerius	celerrimus, celerrima, celerrimum

Comparatives and superlatives of -lis adjectives

Some third declension adjectives with two endings in -lis in the masculine–feminine nominative singular have irregular superlative forms. The following are the only adjectives that do.

Adjective	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
	facilis, facile ('easy')	facilior, facilius	facillimus, facillima, facillimum
	difficilis, difficile ('hard, difficult')	difficilior, difficilius	difficillimus, difficillima, difficillimum
	similis, simile ('similar, like)	similior, similius	simillimus, simillima, simillimum
	dissimilis, dissimile ('unlike, dissimilar')	dissimilior, dissimilius	dissimillimus, dissimillima, dissimillimum
	gracilis, gracile ('slender, slim')	gracilior, gracilius	gracillimus, gracillima, gracillimum
	humilis, humile ('low, humble')	humilior, humilius	humillimus, humillima, humillimum

Comparatives and superlatives of -eus/-ius adjectives

First and second declension adjectives that end in -eus or -ius are unusual in that they do not form the comparative and superlative by taking endings at all. Instead, magis ('more') and maximē ('most'), the comparative and superlative degrees of magnoperē ('much, greatly'), respectively, are used.

Many adjectives in -uus, except those in -quus or -guus, also follow this rule.

Adjective	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
	idōneus, idōnea, idōneum ('suitable, fitting, proper')	magis idōneus	maximē idōneus
	sōlitārius, sōlitāria, sōlitārium ('solitary, lonely')	magis sōlitārius	maximē sōlitārius
	ebrius, ebria, ebrium ('drunk')	magis ebrius	maximē ebrius
	meritōrius, meritōria, meritōrium ('meritorious')	magis meritōrius	maximē meritōrius
	grāmineus, grāminea, grāmineum ('grassy')	magis grāmineus	maximē grāmineus
	bellātōrius, bellātōria, bellātōrium ('warlike, bellicose')	magis bellātōrius	maximē bellātōrius
	arduus, ardua, arduum ('lofty, steep')	magis arduus	maximē arduus

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

As in most languages, Latin has adjectives that have irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Adjective	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
	bonus, bona, bonum ('good')	melior, melius ('better')	optimus, optima, optimum ('best')
	malus, mala, malum ('bad, evil')	pēior, pēius ('worse')	pessimus, pessima, pessimum ('worst')
	magnus, magna, magnum ('great, large')	māior, māius ('greater')	maximus, maxima, maximum ('greatest')
	parvus, parva, parvum ('small, slight')	minor, minus ('lesser')	minimus, minima, minimum ('least')
	multus, multa, multum ('much, many')	plūs ('more')	plūrimus, plūrima, plūrimum ('most')
	propinquus, propinqua, propinquum ('near, close')	propior, propius ('nearer')	proximus, proxima, proximum ('nearest, next')
	mātūrus, mātūra, mātūrum ('ripe, mature')	mātūrior, mātūrius ('riper')	mātūrrimus, mātūrrima, mātūrrimum ('ripest')
	nēquam ('worthless')	nēquior, nēquius ('more worthless')	nēquissimus, nēquissima, nēquissimum ('most worthless')
	posterus, postera, posterum ('next, future')	posterior, posterius ('later')	postrēmus, postrēma, postrēmum ('last, latest') postumus, postuma, postumum
	superus, supera, superum ('above')	superior, superius ('upper')	suprēmus, suprēma, suprēmum ('uppermost') summus, summa, summum
	exterus, extera, exterum ('outward')	exterior, exterius ('outer')	extrēmus, extrēma, extrēmum ('outermost') extimus, extima, extimum
	īnferus, īnfera, īnferum ('below')	īnferior, īnferius ('lower')	īnfimus, īnfima, īnfimum ('lowest') īmus, īma, īmum
	senex, senis ('old, aged')	senior, senius ('older, elder')	senissimus, senissima, senissimum ('oldest, eldest')
	iuvenis, iuvenis ('young, youthful')	iuvenior, iuvenius ('younger') iūnior, iūnius	iuvenissimus, iuvenissima, iuvenissimum ('youngest') iūnissimus, iūnissima, iūnissimum

Declension of numerals

See also: Roman numerals and Latin numerals (linguistics)

There are several different kinds of numeral words in Latin: the two most common are cardinal numerals and ordinal numerals. There are also several more rare numerals, e.g., distributive numerals and adverbial numerals.

Cardinal numerals

All cardinal numerals are indeclinable, except ūnus ('one'), duo ('two'), trēs ('three'), plural hundreds ducentī ('two hundred'), trecentī ('three hundred') etc., and mīlle ('thousand'), which have cases and genders like adjectives. Ūnus, ūna, ūnum is declined like a first- and second-declension pronoun with -īus in the genitive, and -ī in the dative. Duo is declined irregularly, trēs is declined like a third-declension plural adjective, -centī ('hundred') numerals decline like first- and second-declension adjectives, and mille is invariable in the singular and declined like a third-declension i-stem neuter noun in the plural:

The existence of plural endings for ūnus might seem unnecessary; however, they are used with pluralia tantum nouns, e. g. ūna castra (one [military] camp), ūnae scālae (one ladder).

	ūnus, ūna, ūnum one
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ūnus	ūna	ūnum	ūnī	ūnae	ūna
Vocative	ūne
Accusative	ūnum	ūnam		ūnōs	ūnās
Genitive	ūnīus			ūnōrum	ūnārum	ūnōrum
Dative	ūnī			ūnīs
Ablative	ūnō	ūnā	ūnō

The word ambō ('both'), is declined like duo except that its o is long. Both declensions derive from the Indo-European dual number, otherwise defunct in Latin, rather than the plural.

	duo, duae, duo two
	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	duo	duae	duo
Accusative	duōs duo	duās
Genitive	duōrum	duārum	duōrum
Dative	duōbus	duābus	duōbus
Ablative

	ambō, ambae, ambō both
	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ambō	ambae	ambō
Accusative	ambōs ambō	ambās
Genitive	ambōrum	ambārum	ambōrum
Dative	ambōbus	ambābus	ambōbus
Ablative

	trēs, tria three
	Plural
	Masculine & Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	trēs	tria
Accusative	trēs trīs
Genitive	trium
Dative	tribus
Ablative

The numeral centum ('one hundred') is indeclinable, but all the other hundred numerals are declinable.

	ducentī, ducentae, ducenta two hundred
	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ducentī	ducentae	ducenta
Accusative	ducentōs	ducentās
Genitive	ducentōrum	ducentārum	ducentōrum
Dative	ducentīs
Ablative

The word mīlle 'thousand' is a singular indeclinable adjective. However, its plural, mīlia, is a plural third-declension i-stem neuter noun. To write the phrase "four thousand horses" in Latin, the genitive is used: quattuor mīlia equōrum, literally, "four thousands of horses".

	mīlle (one) thousand	mīlia, mīlium x thousand, thousands
Nominative	mīlle	mīlia mīllia	-ia
Accusative
Genitive		mīlium mīllium	-ium
Dative		mīlibus mīllibus	-ibus
Ablative

The rest of the numbers are indeclinable whether used as adjectives or as nouns.

For further information on the different sets of Latin numerals, see Latin numerals (linguistics).

Adverbs and their comparatives and superlatives

Adverbs are not declined. However, adverbs must be formed if one wants to make an adjective into an adverb.

Adverbs from first- and second-declension adjectives

First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding -ē onto their stems.

Adjective	Adverb
clārus, clāra, clārum ('clear, famous')	clārē ('clearly, famously')
validus, valida, validum ('strong, robust')	validē ('strongly, robustly')
īnfīrmus, īnfīrma, īnfīrmum ('weak')	īnfīrmē ('weakly')
solidus, solida, solidum ('complete, firm')	solidē ('completely, firmly')
integer, integra, integrum ('whole, fresh')	integrē ('wholly, freshly')
līber, lībera, līberum ('free')	līberē ('freely')

Adverbs from third declension adjectives

Typically, third declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding -iter to the stem. However, most third declension adjectives with one ending simply add -er to the stem.

Adjective	Adverb
prūdēns, prūdēns (prūdentis) ('prudent')	prūdenter ('prudently')
audāx, audāx (audācis) ('bold')	audācter ('boldly')
virilis, virile ('courageous, spirited')	viriliter ('courageously, spiritedly')
salūbris, salūbre ('wholesome')	salūbriter ('wholesomely')

Comparative and superlative of adverbs

Adverbs' comparative forms are identical to the nominative neuter singular of the corresponding comparative adjective. Adverbs' superlative forms are simply formed by attaching the regular ending -ē to the corresponding superlative adjective. As with their corresponding adjectival forms, first and second declensions adjectives ending in -eus or -ius use magis and maximē as opposed to distinct endings.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
clārē ('clearly, famously')	clārius	clārissimē
solidē ('completely, firmly')	solidius	solidissimē
idōneē ('suitably, properly')	magis idōneē	maximē idōneē
prudenter ('prudently')	prudentius	prudentissimē
salūbriter ('wholesomely')	salūbrius	salūbrissimē

Irregular adverbs and their comparative and superlative forms

As with adjectives, there are irregular adverbs with peculiar comparative and superlative forms.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
bene ('well')	melius ('better')	optimē ('best')
male ('badly, ill')	peius ('worse')	pessimē ('worst')
magnopere ('greatly')	magis ('more')	maximē ('most')
multum ('much, a lot')	plūs ('more')	plūrimum ('most')
parvum ('little')	minus ('less')	minimē ('least')
nēquiter ('worthlessly')	nēquius ('more worthlessly')	nēquissimē ('most worthlessly')
saepe ('often')	saepius ('more often')	saepissimē ('most often')
mātūrē ('seasonably, betimes')	mātūrius ('more seasonably')	māturrimē ('most seasonably')
prope ('near')	propius ('nearer')	proximē ('nearest, next')
nūper ('recently')	—	nūperrimē ('most recently, previously')
potis ('possible')	potius ('rather')	potissimē ('especially')
—	prius ('before, previously')	prīmō ('first')
secus ('otherwise')	sētius sequius ('less')	—

Peculiarities within declension

Irregularity in number

Some nouns are only used in the singular (singulare tantum) such as:

• materials, such as aurum ('gold') and aes ('copper, bronze')
• abstract nouns, such as celeritās ('speed') and scientia ('knowledge)

Some nouns are only used in the plural (plurale tantum) such as:

• many festivals, such as Saturnālia ('Saturnalia')
• castra ('camp') and arma ('arms')
• a few geographical names are plural such as Thēbae ('Thebes', both the Greek and the Egyptian cities)

Indeclinable nouns

Indeclinable nouns are nouns which only have one form in all cases (of the singular).

• fās ('fate, divine law')
• īnstar ('likeness')
• māne ('morning')
• nefās ('sin, abomination')
• nihil, nīl ('nothing, none')
• secus ('sex')

Heterogeneous nouns

Heterogeneous nouns are nouns which vary in respect to gender.

• A few nouns in the second declension occur in both the neuter and masculine. However, their meanings remain the same.
• Some nouns are one gender in the singular, but become another gender in the plural. They may also change in meaning.

Singular	Plural
balneum n. ('bath')	balneae f. or balnea n. ('bathhouse')
epulum n. ('feast, banquet')	epulae f. ('feast, banquet')
frēnum n. ('bridle, curb')	frēnī m. bridle, curb
iocus m. ('joke, jest')	ioca n. or ioci m. ('jokes, fun')
locus m. ('place, location')	loca n. ('region'); locī m. ('places in books, arguments')
rāstrum n. ('hoe, rake')	rāstrī m. ('hoes, rakes')

Plurals with alternative meanings

Singular	Plural
aedēs, aedis f. ('building, temple')	aedēs, aedium ('rooms, house')
auxilium, auxiliī n. ('help, aid')	auxilia, auxiliōrum ('auxiliary troops')
carcer, carceris m. ('prison, cell')	carcerēs, carcerum ('starting traps')
castrum, castrī n. ('fort, castle, fortress')	castra, castrōrum ('military camp, encampment')
cōpia, copiae f. ('plenty, much, abundance')	cōpiae, copiārum ('troops')
fortūna, fortūnae f. ('luck, chance')	fortūnae, fortūnārum ('wealth, fortune')
grātia, grātiae f. ('charm, favor')	grātiae, grātiārum ('thanks')
impedīmentum, impedīmentī m. ('impediment, hindrance')	impedīmenta, impedīmentōrum ('baggage, baggage train')
littera, litterae f. ('letter [alphabet]')	litterae, litterārum ('letter [message], epistle, scholarship, literature')
mōs, mōris m. ('habit, inclination')	mōrēs, mōrum m. ('morals, character')
opera, operae f. ('trouble, pains')	operae, operārum m. ('workmen')
*ops, opis f. ('help')	opēs, opium ('resources, wealth')
pars, partis f. ('part, piece')	partēs, partium ('office, function')

Order of the cases

In modern textbooks of Latin, there is no single international standard for the sequence of cases.

Nom–(Voc)–Acc–Gen–Dat–Abl–(Loc)

This order reflects the syncretic trends of different cases to share similar endings. Usually the vocative and locative cases are omitted because they appear in the paradigm of only a few word classes and are dealt with separately. This makes the paradigm appear normally in the format Nom–Acc–Gen–Dat–Abl, which is also roughly the order of how frequently the cases appear in Latin text, meaning that the cases are introduced in teaching in this order. This paradigm has been the usual order in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries since the publication of Benjamin Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). It is the only method nowadays used in Hungary and Finland. It is also usual in France, Spain, and Portugal.

Nom–Gen–Dat–Acc–(Voc)–Abl–(Loc)

This alternative sequence arose from Byzantine grammarians who were originally writing about Greek. It is standard in the United States, although modern texts increasingly move the vocative at the end to minimize disruption to the declensions in which it is identical to the nominative; some introductory texts such as Wheelock's Latin almost entirely ignore the vocative and locative except for a few brief notes, giving the format Nom–Gen–Dat–Acc–Abl–(Voc). This paradigm is also used in Poland, as it closely corresponds to the conventional case order in the Polish language, except for the latter's use of an instrumental case instead of an ablative. The same sequence is predominant in the Netherlands, although the modern Dutch language has largely lost its case system; instead, the rationale is that this general order is convenient for the consistent teaching of three different commonly studied declensional languages: Latin, Ancient Greek, and modern German. The order Nom–Gen–Dat–Acc–(Voc)–Abl is also used in Germany itself to echo the conventional order of German cases (Nom–Gen–Dat–Acc), and also in Lithuania because the conventional order of Lithuanian noun cases is the same. The locative is dealt with separately as it is seldom used in Latin and might be considered to be on the verge of extinction in Classical Latin.

The order Nom–Gen–Dat–Acc–Voc–Abl is the standard order used in Greece (both for the teaching of Ancient and Modern Greek as well as Latin) and Italy (with the vocative case before the ablative). Here again, the locative is dealt with separately.

Others

Brazilian grammarian Napoleão Mendes used the unusual sequence Nom–Voc–Gen–Dat–Acc–Abl. The Latinum podcast uses Nom–Voc–Acc–Abl–Dat–Gen, as this facilitates memorisation. Latinum deals with the locative separately.

See also

• Declension of Greek nouns in Latin
• Latin conjugation
• Latin mnemonics
• William Whitaker's Words
• Greek declension

References

• Latin declensor (in Spanish)
• New Latin Grammar, an eBook, originally written by Charles Edwin Bennett, at the Project Gutenberg
• Interactive Latin Word Endings
• A Student's Latin Grammar, by Cambridge Latin Course's Robin m. Griffin, Third Edition
• Gildersleeve, B. L.; Gonzalez Lodge (1895). Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (3rd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-09215-5.
• Greenough, J. B.; G. L. Kittredge; A. A. Howard; Benj. L. D'Ooge (1903). Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. Ginn and Company.