Millner - Classical Studies

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Latin Grammar

Over the course of putting my Latinum course together, I noted a few things about textbooks that teach grammar - the material is not usually structured for optimal memorisation. Material is presented in grammatical categories that have been chosen for good philological reasons, not for ease of learning.

For example, playing around with the ordering of the declensions makes for a system that can be learned very quickly indeed:

SINGULARS

CASE	I	II	III	IIII	V
NOMINATIVE	A	US	CLONES TRAX	US	ES
VOCATIVE	A	E	CLONES TRAX	US	ES
ACCUSATIVE	AM	UM	EM	UM	EM
ABLATIVE	A	O	E	U	E
DATIVE	AE	O	I	UI	EI
GENITIVE	AE	I	IS	US	EI

MEMORISE:
AH-AH-UM-A-AE-AE;                ( AH AH UM A AE)
US-E-UM-OO-I                          ( MUSEUM OOEE)
CLONE'S TRAX EM-E-I-IS       ( CLONE'S TRAX AMAZE)
US-UM- U- UI- US                    (USE 'EM YOU USE)
ES-ES-EM-E-EI-E                     (S & M E HEY!)
Some notes: Just say these one after the other, and then write them down. The words in brackets are rough equivalents that help with memorisation.

PLURALS

CASE	I	II	III	IIII	V
NOMINATIVE	AE	I	ES	US	ES
VOCATIVE	AE	I	ES	US	ES
ACCUSATIVE	AS	OS	ES	US	ES
ABLATIVE	IS	IS	IBUS	IBUS	EBUS
DATIVE	IS	IS	IBUS	IBUS	EBUS
GENITIVE	ARUM	ORUM	UM	UUM	ERUM

MEMORISE:
AE-AE-AS-IS-ARUM ( I 'AS 'IS ARM           I.E. "I HAVE HIS ARM")
I-I-OS-IS-ORUM      ( EE -OS-'IS-ORM        I.E. "HE HAS HIS ARM")
ES-IBUS-UM          (EASY BOSOM)
US -IBUS -UUM     ( USE 'E BOSOM    I.E. "USE YE BOSOM")
ES - EBUS -ERUM (EASY BOSERUM)

Note the 'rule of two' the first two declensions have the first two cases the same.
The 'rule of three' - the next three have the first three cases the same.
Neuters always follow the 'rule of three'

ADJECTIVES:

Learn your adjectives in the order Feminine, Masculine, Neuter, NOT masc, fem,neuter, as in all grammar books.

Then, the adjective will follow the order of the declensions, and will give clearer patterns for memorising. Here are the endings for adjectives that are declined like BONUS.

CASE	FEMININE (follows 1st declension form)	MASCULINE (follows 2nd declension form)	NEUTER (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	A	US	UM
VOCATIVE	A	E	UM
ACCUSATIVE	AM	UM	UM
ABLATIVE	A	O	O
DATIVE	AE	O	O
GENITIVE	AE	I	I

Note the neuter of the adjective is a neutered masculine. Thus, it follows the form of the masculine, except if has the 'rule of three' for the first three cases. Putting it next to the masculine makes it easier to memorise.

CASE	FEMININE plural (follows 1st declension form)	MASCULINE plural (follows 2nd declension form)	NEUTER plural (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	AE	I	A
VOCATIVE	AE	I	A
ACCUSATIVE	AS	OS	A
ABLATIVE	IS	IS	IS
DATIVE	IS	IS	IS
GENITIVE	ARUM	ORUM	ORUM

A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO FIRST DECLENSION FEMININE SINGULAR. THERE IS SOME IRREGULARITY, BUT EVEN HERE THERE ARE PATTERNS.

CASE	FEMININE SING
NOMINATIVE	HAEC	MUSA	BONA	MEA	ILLA	IPSA	ISTA	EA
VOCATIVE	O	MUSA	BONA	MEA
ACCUSATIVE	HANC	MUSAM	BONAM	MEAM	ILLAM	IPSAM	ISTAM	EAM
ABLATIVE	HAC	MUSA	BONA	MEA	ILLA	IPSA	ISTA	EA
DATIVE	HUIC	MUSAE	BONAE	MEAE	ILLI	IPSI	ISTI	EI
GENITIVE	HUJUS	MUSAE	BONAE	MEAE	ILLIUS	IPSIUS	ISTIUS	EJUS

A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO FIRST DECLENSION FEMININE PLURAL. NOTE THE REGULARILY OF THE FORMS. MASCULINE PLURAL FORMS ALSO SHOW REGULARITY.

CASE	FEM. PLURAL
NOMINATIVE	HAE	MUSAE	BONAE	MEAE	ILLAE	IPSAE	ISTAE	EAE	QUAE	NOSTRAE
VOCATIVE		MUSAE	BONAE	MEAE						NOSTRAE
ACCUSATIVE	HAS	MUSAS	BONAS	MEAS	ILLAS	IPSAS	ISTAS	EAS	QUAS	NOSTRAS
ABLATIVE	HIS	MUSIS	BONIS	MEIS	ILLIS	IPSIS	ISTIS	EIS	QUEIS	NOSTRIS
DATIVE	HIS	MUSIS	BONIS	MEIS	ILLIS	IPSIS	ISTIS	EIS	QUEIS	NOSTRIS
GENITIVE	HARUM	MUSARUM	BONARUM	MEARUM	ILLARUM	IPSARUM	ISTARUM	EARUM	QUARUM	NOSTRARUM

A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO SECOND DECLENSION MASCULINE SINGULAR. THERE IS SOME IRREGULARITY, BUT EVEN HERE THERE ARE PATTERNS.

CASE	MASC SING.
NOMINATIVE	HIC	DOMINUS	BONUS	MEUS	ILLE	IPSE	IS	QUIS
VOCATIVE	O	DOMINE	BONE	MI
ACCUSATIVE	HUNC	DOMINUM	BONUM	MEUM	ILLUM	IPSUM	EUM	QUEM
ABLATIVE	HOC	DOMINO	BONO	MEO	ILLO	IPSO	EO	QUO
DATIVE	HUIC	DOMINO	BONO	MEO	ILLI	IPSI	EI	CUI
GENITIVE	HUJUS	DOMINI	BONI	MEI	ILLIUS	IPSIUS	EJUS	CUJUS

A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO SECOND DECLENSION MASCULINE PLURAL. NOTE THE REGULARILY OF THE FORMS. FEMININE PLURAL FORMS ALSO SHOW REGULARITY.

CASE	MASC PLURAL
NOMINATIVE	HI	DOMINI	BONI	MEI	ILLI	IPSI	ISTI	II	QUI
VOCATIVE	O	DOMINI	BONI	MEI
ACCUSATIVE	HOS	DOMINOS	BONOS	MEOS	ILLOS	IPSOS	ISTOS	EOS	QUOS
ABLATIVE	HIS	DOMINIS	BONIS	MEIS	ILLIS	IPSIS	ISTIS	EIS	QUEIS [quibus]
DATIVE	HIS	DOMINIS	BONIS	MEIS	ILLIS	IPSIS	ISTIS	EIS	QUEIS [quibus]
GENITIVE	HORUM	DOMINORUM	BONORUM	MEORUM	ILLORUM	IPSORUM	ISTORUM	EORUM	QUORUM

MORE PATTERNS IN ADJECTIVES (in the singular)

OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE BONUS, USE THE ACCUSATIVE ENDING FOR THE FIRST THREE CASES OF THE NEUTER IN THE SINGULAR.

CASE	FEMININE (follows 1st declension form)	MASCULINE (follows 2nd declension form)	NEUTER (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	A	US	UM
VOCATIVE	A	E	UM
ACCUSATIVE	AM	UM	UM
ABLATIVE	A	O	O
DATIVE	AE	O	O
GENITIVE	AE	I	I

OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE PULCHER FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: NEUTER ENDING IS THE SAME AS THE MASC. ACCUSATIVE ENDING. Note - the exception (marked in red) is in the name of the adjective, so is easy to remember.

CASE	FEMININE (roughly follows 1st declension form)	MASCULINE (roughly follows 2nd declension form)	NEUTER (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	RA	ER	UM
VOCATIVE	RA	ER	UM
ACCUSATIVE	AM	UM	UM
ABLATIVE	A	O	O
DATIVE	AE	O	O
GENITIVE	AE	I	I

OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE TURPIS FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: FEMININE AND MASCULINE ARE THE SAME, THE NEUTER REMAINS AS A NEUTER OF THE MASCULINE (& FEM. ). NOTE THE SIMILARITY OF THE NEUTER ENDINGS TO THE ACCUSATIVE ENDING.

CASE	FEMININE (roughly follows 3ND declension form)	MASCULINE (roughly follows 3ND declension form)	NEUTER (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	IS	IS	E
VOCATIVE	IS	IS	E
ACCUSATIVE	EM	EM	E
ABLATIVE	I	I	I
DATIVE	I	I	I
GENITIVE	IS	IS	IS

OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE ACER ( SIMILAR TO TURPIS ABOVE) FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: NOTE THE SIMILARITY OF THE NEUTER ENDING TO THE ACCUSATIVE ENDINGS. Note, the exception (marked in red) is in the name of the adjective, making it easier to recall.

CASE	FEMININE (roughly follows 3RD declension form)	MASCULINE (roughly follows 3RD declension form)	NEUTER (follows masculine)
NOMINATIVE	IS	ER [IS]	E
VOCATIVE	IS	ER [IS]	E
ACCUSATIVE	EM	EM	E
ABLATIVE	I	I	I
DATIVE	I	I	I
GENITIVE	IS	IS	IS

Latinum Journal

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LATINUM, the name of the Latin language learning podcast offered on mypodcast.com . The Free Online Language Course.

Latin Grammar

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