Declensions and Conjugations in Latin

Latin uses declensions and conjugations to reflect the different relationships between words.
Declensions are a set of rules that apply to nouns (girl, apple, house), pronouns (he, she,
they), and adjectives (beautiful, smart, lazy, rich). There are five declensions in Latin in total.
Conjugations are a set of rules that apply to verbs, which are words that show some activity
(to run, to sing, to write). Conjugations in Latin help us with the tenses, that is, to decide
when the action in our text happened (I am running, she had been singing, they will write).

What do nouns and verbs have in common?

1. Both nouns and verbs will have number: singular (for one) and plural (for 2+).
Example: Puella cantat (The girl is singing) and Puellae cantant (The girls are singing).
In English, we have plural and singular forms for nouns, but not for verbs.

Where do they differ?

2. Since verbs denote action, we want as much information as possible on who is doing
the action. Therefore, verbs match the subject (the one doing the action) in persons.
In Latin, same as in English, we have three persons for each of the numbers.

● First-person: Used for the speaker(s). It changes based on whether the

subject is singular or plural.
○ Ego amo (I love), Nos amamus (We love).
● Second-person: Used when addressing someone directly. It changes based
on whether you're addressing one person or more.
○ Tu amas (you love), Vos amātis (You all, Ye love). In English, you is
used for both the singular and the plural form of the second person.
To make the distinction when translating, we shall translate tu (the
singular) as you and Vos (the plural) as you all or ye.
● Used when talking about someone or something else. It changes for singular
and plural subjects. The third person has a separate form for each gender in
both numbers
○ Is/ea/id (he/she/it) amat. Note that the personal pronoun changes, but
the verb stays the same
■ Is amat (He loves)
■ Ea amat (she loves)
○ Ei/eae/ea (they masc/fem/neuter) amant. Same as the singular, the
pronouns change, but not the verb form
■ Ei amant (They, the men, love). When we have two or more
men, we shall use ei for they. If we have mixed genders, lets
say a man and a woman, we shall also use ei. Example: Iulius
and Rufilla sunt nupti. Ei amant. (Iulius and Rufilla are married.
They love)

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 3. Gender in Latin (Masculine, Feminine, Neuter):
In Latin, every noun has a grammatical gender. There are three genders: masculine,
feminine, and neuter. The gender of a noun does not always align with its meaning
and must often be memorised (we shall use a dictionary, so no need to learn them by
heart). Examples include:
● puella (girl) — feminine.
● puer (boy) — masculine.
● templum (temple) — neuter.

Think of gender as "categories" or "teams" to which nouns belong. Gender affects how
nouns interact with adjectives and pronouns in a sentence. Sometimes, the gender will be
obvious, as in the example above with puella and puer. Remember, that each word will have
a gender and sometimes it is not very obvious; therefore in each teaching material, I will
indicate the gender or we shall use a dictionary to find it.

2. Declensions: Noun Families with Shared Patterns

Latin nouns are grouped into categories called declensions. A declension is a "family" of
nouns that share similar patterns of endings. Latin has five main declensions. For example:

● puella (girl) belongs to the First Declension.

● puer (boy) belongs to the Second Declension.

Each declension has its unique paradigm, or set of rules, for how nouns change their
endings to reflect their role in a sentence.

3. Cases: Indicating the Role of a Noun

In Latin, the endings of nouns change depending on their grammatical role in the sentence.
These roles are shown through cases. There are six main cases in Latin:

● Nominative: Subject of the sentence. (Puella cantat. — The girl sings.)

● Genitive: Shows possession. (Liber puellae. — The book of the girl.)
● Dative: Indirect object. (Puellae librum do. — I give the book to the girl.)
● Accusative: Direct object. (Puellam video. — I see the girl.)
● Ablative: Used with prepositions or to express means. (Cum puella ambulo. — I walk
with the girl.)
● Vocative: Used for directly addressing someone. (O puella! — O girl!)

Each declension has a unique set of endings for these cases.

4. Adjectives and Pronouns Match Nouns

Adjectives and pronouns also change according to gender and number using
declension. Adjectives and pronouns in Latin must agree with the noun they
describe in three ways: gender, number (singular or plural), and case. For example:

● puella bona (the good girl): both are feminine, singular, and nominative. We cannot
have puella bonus (bonus is the masculine form of the adjective)

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 ● puellae bonae (to the good girl): both change to match the dative case. We cannot
use puellae bonam (bonam is the singular accusative form of the female adjective;
here they do not match in number and case).

This agreement ensures clarity and structure in Latin sentences. This is something that
comes with some experience in learning Latin, so do not be too worried at the beginning.

5. Declensions and Paradigms Explained

6. Declensions can be compared to sports teams, with each team having its own
uniform—a specific set of endings. For example:
● The First Declension (puella) uses one type of "uniform" or pattern.
● The Second Declension (puer) uses another pattern.

When using a noun in a sentence, it is important to apply the correct pattern of endings for
its declension and case. In this course, we shall learn only the first three declensions. We
shall not memorise the ending by heart, I will provide you with charts that you will always
have at hand and use when we translate and analyse

7. Parts of a sentence in Latin:

Usually, the same parts we find in a sentence in English, we shall find them in Latin, as well.

● Most simple sentences have a subject (someone who does an action, answers the
question Who?) and a verb (the action)
○ Puella currit (The girl runs). Puella is the subject (she does the action) and
currit is the verb.
○ Magister docet (The male teacher is teaching). Magister: subject, docet: verb.

Important: the subject of a sentence will usually be in the Nominative case (different form for
singular or plural, or the three genders)

● A more complex sentence will also have subject, verb and direct object: the direct
object receives the action of the verb; it answers with the question What? or Whom?
○ Puella librum legit (The girl reads the book): Puella: subject (Who reads? The
girl), legit: verb (what's the action? reading) and librum: direct object (What
does the girl read? The book)
○ Puer ballum iactat (The boy throws the ball). Subject: puer, verb: iactat, direct
object: ballum

Important: the direct object of a sentence will usually be in the Accusative case (different
form for singular or plural, or the three genders)

● A tad more complex sentence will also have an indirect object. An indirect object is a
noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of the verb is
performed. It typically answers the questions "To whom?" or "For whom?" and often
comes before the direct object in a sentence.
○ Femina puero librum dat (Thewoman gave the book to the boy)
■ Femina: subject (WHO gave the book?)

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 ■ Dat: verb (action)
■ Librum: direct object (WHAT did the woman give to the boy)
■ Puero: indirect object (TO WHOM did the woman give the book)

Important: the indirect object of a sentence will usually be in the Dative case (different form
for singular or plural, or the three genders)

● The complex sentences in Latin will also provide us with extra information on the
circumstances in which the actions happen. We call this part of grammar “ablative
expressions” or “ablative phrases” because usually the words that express location,
time, manner, cause or means will be in the ablative case. . They are formed by
using an adverb (quickly, late, often, close) or a preposition (in, at, by)
○ Femina puero librum dat in horto (The woman gave the book to the boy in
the garden):
■ Femina: subject (WHO gave the book?)
■ Dat: verb (action)
■ Librum: direct object (WHAT did the woman give to the boy)
■ Puero: indirect object (TO WHOM did the woman give the book)
■ In horto: In (prepostion) horto (place)