Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Latin Grammar
Home
Learn Latin Latin Grammar Latin Alphabet Latin Adjectives Latin Adverbs Latin Numbers Latin Nouns Latin Articles Latin Pronouns Latin Plural Latin Feminine Latin Verbs Latin Prepositions Latin Negation Latin Questions Latin Vocabulary Latin Phrases Latin Videos Latin Reading Latin Translation Latin Dictionary Audio Lessons Transliteration Latin Keyboard Latin Radio Language Quiz Learning Tips Easiest Languages Hardest Languages Learn Latin Latin Lessons
MORE LANGUAGES:

Lessons

Translation Dictionary Keyboard

Audio

Vocabulary

Phrases

Tools

Quiz

Live Radio

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 Lessons
Learning 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 nouns 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 nouns 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 1 Declension masculine singular nouns ending in -us or ius. Examples: Nominative puer (boy) puella (girl) servus (slave) Julius c) Genitive: Vocative puer! (Boy!) puella! (Girl!) serve! (Slave!) Juli! (Julius!)
st

All Languages Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Bengali Bulgarian Cantonese Chinese Croatian Danish Dutch

1 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

English Esperanto Finnish French Georgian German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Latin Malagasy Malay Mandarin Norwegian Persian Pashto Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swahili Swedish Tagalog Tamil Thai Turkish Urdu Vietnamese Zulu More Languages

The Genitive case denotes ownership, and has the same meaning as (-s) in English: pueri liber (The boys book) puellae liber (The girls 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)

2 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

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 nouns 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 1 declension (almost all feminine) Masculine Nom /Voc. puella (girl) servus/ serve (slave) Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl. puellam puellae puellae puell servum servi servo servo puerum pueri puero puero templum templi templo templo mercatorem mercatoris mercatori mercatore gradum grads gradui gruadu diem diei diei die puer (boy) Neuter templum (temple)
st

nd

declension

rd

th

th

declension (masc/fem /neut) mercator (merchant)

declension (usually masculine) gradus (step)

declension (feminine)

dies (day)

Plural Case 1 decl.

st

nd

declension Neuter pueri templa

rd

decl.

th

decl.

th

decl. Masculine Nom /Voc. Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl. puellas puellarum puellis puellis servos servorum servis servis pueros puerorum pueris pueris templa templorum templis templis mercatores mercatorum mercatoribus mercatoribus grads graduum gradibus gruadibus dies dierum diebus diebus puellae servi

mercatores

grads

dies

3 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

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 doesnt 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 adjectives 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:

1 /2

st

nd

Declension Adjectives - Singular Nominative in us/-a/-um Nominative in er/-a/-um Neut. bonum Masc. pulcher (beautiful) bonam bonae bonae bon bonum boni bono bono pulchrum pulchri pulchro pulchro pulchram pulchrae pulchrae pulchr pulchrum pulchri pulchro pulchro Fem. pulchra Neut pulchrum

Case Nom./Voc.

Masc. bonus/ bone (good)

Fem. bona

Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl.

bonum boni bono bono

Plural Nominative in us/-a/-um Case Nom./Voc. Masc. boni Fem. bonae Neut. bona Nominative in er/-a/-um Masc. pulchri Fem. pulchrae Neut pulchra

Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl.

bonos bonorum bonis bonis

bonas bonarum bonis bonis

bona bonorum bonis bonis

pulchros pulchrorum pulchris pulchris

pulchras pulchrarum pulchris pulchris

pulchra pulchrorum pulchris pulchris

4 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

rd

Declension Adjectives Singular Nominative in -ns M/F Neut amans Nom. in -x M/F felix (lucky) amans amantis amanti amanti/e felicem felicis felici felici/e felix felicis felici felici/e Neut felix Nom. in -is/-e M/F levis (light) levem levis levi levi/e leve levis levi levi/e Neut leve Nom. in er/-is/-e Masc. acer (sharp) acrem acris acri acri/e acrem acris acri acri/e acre acre acri acri/e Fem acris Neut acre

N/V

amans (loving)

Acc Gen Dat. Abl.

amantem amantis amanti amanti/e

rd

Declension Adjectives Plural Nominative in -ns M/F Neut amantia amantia amantium amantibus amantibus Nom. in -x M/F felices felices felicium felicibus felicibus Neut felicia feliia felicium felicibus felicibus Nom. in -is/-e M/F leves leves levium levibus levibus Neut levia levia levium levibus levibus Nom. in er/-is/-e M/F acres acres acrium acribus acribus Neut acria acria acrium acribus acribus

N/V Acc Gen Dat. Abl.

amantes amantes amantium amantibus amantibus

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 3
rd

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 tuus suus noster vester My/mine Your/yours (sing.) His/her/hers or Their/theirs Our/ours 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 1 /2 Adjectives, above).
st nd

Declension

4- Adverbs Lesson In English adverbs are usually formed by adding (-ly) to adjectives. In Latin too many adverbs are formed from adjectives. With 1 /2 Examples: tardus (slow) becomes tarde (slowly) verus (true) becomes vere (truly)
st nd

declension adjectives this is done by changing the ending to -e.

5 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

With 3

rd

declension adjectives, the ending is -(i)ter:

prudens (wise) becomes prudenter (wisely) felix (lucky) becomes feliciter (luckily) levis (light) becomes leviter (lightly) However, thats not always the case, as miser (wretched) is 3 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)
rd

declension but takes the -e ending

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 1 /2
st nd

declension adjective (e.g. bonus) and tres declines like a 3 declension adjective (e.g. amans):

rd

Singular Masc. Nom./ Voc. Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl. unus/ une unum uni uno uno unam unae unae un unum uni uno uno Fem. una Neut. unum

Plural

6 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Masc. Nom./Voc. Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl. uni unos unorum unis unis

Fem. unae unas unarum unis unis

Neut. una una unorum unis unis

Masc. duo duos duorum duis duis

Fem. duae duas duarum duis duis

Neut. dua dua duorum duis duis

Masc./Fem. tres tres trium tribus tribus

Neut. tria tria trium 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 1 declension feminine and castra is 2 number to be in the plural.
st nd

declension neuter) and thus require their

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 Singular 1st person amo* (I love) 2nd person 3rd person Plural amas amat moneo (I warn) mones monet sumo (I take) sumis sumit audio (I hear/listen) audis audit sum (I am) es est eo (I go) is it 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

7 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

1st person 2nd person 3rd person

amamus amatis amant

monemus monetis monent

sumimus sumitis sumunt

audimus auditis audiunt

sumus estis sunt

imus itis eunt

8 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Present tense Passive voice 1st conj Singular 1st person amor (I am loved) 2nd person 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person amamur amamini amantur monemur monemini monentur sumimur sumimini sumuntur audimur audimini audiuntur amaris amatur moneor (I am warned) moneris monetur sumor (I am taken) sumeris sumitur audior (I am heard) audiris auditur 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

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 1st conj 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 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person amabimus amabitis amabunt monebimus monebitis monebunt sumemus sumetis sument audimus audietis audient erimus eritis erunt ibimus ibitis ibunt amabis amabit monebis monebit sumes sumet audies audiet eris erit ibis ibit 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

Future tense Passive voice 1st conj Singular 1st person amabor (I shall be loved) moneor (I shall be warned) sumar (I shall be taken) audiar (I shall be heard) 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

9 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

2nd person 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person

amaberis amabitur

moneris monetur

sumeris sumetur

audieris audietur

amabimur amabimini amabuntur

monemur monemini monentur

sumemur sumemini sumentur

audiemur audiemini audientur

10 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

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 1st conj Singular 1st person amabam (I was loving) monebam (I was warning) 2nd person 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person amabamus amabatis amabant monebamus monebatis monebant sumebamus sumebatis sumebant audiebamus audiebatis audiebant eramus eratis erant ibamus ibatis ibant amabas amabat monebas monebat sumebas sumebant sumebam (I was taking) audiebam (I was hearing) audiebas audiebat eras erat eram (I was) ibam (I was going) ibas ibat 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

Imperfect tense Passive voice 1st conj Singular 1st person amabar (I was being loved) 2nd person 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person amabamur amabamini amabant monebamur monebamini monebantur sumebamur sumebamini sumebantur audiebamur audiebamini audiebantur amabaris amabatur monebar (I was being warned) monebaris monebatur sumebar (I was being taken) sumebaris sumebantur audiebar (I was being heard) audiebaris audiebatur 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

b) Perfect: The perfect tense in Latin corresponds to the simple past tense in English (-ed) in that it describes a

11 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

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 1st conj 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 3rd person Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person amavimus amavistis amaverunt monuimus monuistis monerunt sumpsimus sumpsistis sumpserunt audivimus audivistis audiverunt fuimus fuistis fuerunt iimus iistis ierunt amavisti amavit monuisti monuit sumpsisti sumpsit audivisti audivit fuistis fuerit iisti iit 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

Perfect tense Passive voice 1st conj Singular 1st pers amatus sum (I was/have been loved) 2nd pers 3rd pers Plural 1st pers 2nd pers 3rd pers amati sumus amati estis amati sunt moniti sumus moniti estis moniti sunt sumpti sumus sumpti estis sumpti sunt auditi sumus auditi estis auditi sunt amatus es amatus est monitus sum (I was/have been warned) monitus es monitus est sumptus sum (I was/have been taken) sumptus es sumptus est auditus sum (I was/have been heard) auditus es auditus est 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

Perfect Passive and Pluperfect Passive verb endings match the subject of the sentence in gender, number and case and decline like 1 /2 Lesson).
st nd

declension adjectives such as bonus/bona/bonum (see Adjectives

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

12 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

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)

13 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Pluperfect tense Active voice 1st conj Singular 1st pers amaveram (I had loved) monueram (I had warned) sumpseram (I had taken) audieram (I had heard) fueram (I had been) 2nd pers 3rd pers Plural 1st pers 2nd pers 3rd pers amaveramus amaveratis amaverant monueramus monueratis monuerant sumpseramus sumpseratis sumpserant audieramus audieratis audierant fueramus fueratis fuerant iveramus iveratis iverant amaveras amaverat monueras monuerat sumpseras sumpserat audieras audierat fueras fuerat iveram (I had gone) iveras iverat 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj Irregular

Pluperfect tense Passive voice 1st conj Singular 1st pers amatus eram (I had been loved) 2nd pers 3rd pers Plural 1st pers 2nd pers 3rd pers amati eramus amati eratis amati erant moniti eramus moniti eratis moniti erant sumpti eramus sumpti eratis sumpti erant auditi eramus auditi eratis auditi erant amatus eras amatus erat monitus erm (I had been warned) monitus eras monitus erat sumptus eras sumptus erat sumptus eram (I had been taken) auditus eram (I had been heard) auditus eras auditus erat 2nd conj 3rd conj 4th conj

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 speakers 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:

14 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Present Infinitive:

dico te errare

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

Perfect Infinitive: Future Infinitive:

dico te erravisse dico te erraturum esse

I say that you (have) made a mistake 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: Perfect Infinitive: Future Infinitive: dixi te errare dixi te erravisse dixi te erraturum esse I said that you were making a mistake I said that you had made a mistake 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 1 conj. Present amare (to love) Perfect amavisse (to have loved) Future amaturus esse (to be about to love)
st

2nd conj. monere (to warn) monuisse (to have warned) moniturus esse warn) (to

rd

conj.

th

conj. esse (to be) fuisse (to have been) futurus (to esse (to be

Irregular ire (to go) i(v)isse (to have gone) iturus esse (to be about to go)

sumere (to take) sumpsisse (to have taken) sumpturus esse take) (to be about to

audire (to hear) audivisse (to have heard) auditurus esse hear) be about to

be about to

about to be)

Future infinitive endings agree with their subjects in gender, number and case (the case always being accusative). They decline like 1 /2 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)
st nd

declension adjectives:

Infinitives - Passive voice

15 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

1 conj. Present amari (to be loved) Perfect amatus esse (to have been loved) Future amatus iri (to be about to be loved)

st

2nd conj. moneri (to be warned) monitus esse (to have been warned) monitus iri (to be about to be warned)

rd

conj.

th

conj.

sumeri (to be taken) sumptus esse (to have been taken) sumptus iri (to be about to be taken)

audiri (to be heard) auditus esse (to have been heard) auditus iri heard) (to

be about to be

Passive perfect and future infinitive endings agree with their subjects, and decline like 1 /2 declension adjectives: Plutarchus scribit Antonium amatum esse Cleopatr (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)

st

nd

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, isnt it?)

16 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Thirdly, if you expect a no answer, begin the sentence with num: num putas barbaros victuros esse? (Surely you dont think the barbarians will win? / You dont 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.

17 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

quis - Singular Masculine N/V Acc Gen Dat. Abl. quis (who?) quem (whom?) cuius (whose?/of whom?) cui (to whom?) quo (by/from whom?) Feminine quis/quae (who?) quam (whom?) cuius (whose?/of whom?) cui (to whom?) quo (by/from whom?) Neuter quid (what?) quid (what?) cuius (of what?) cui (to what?) quo (by/from what?)

quis - Plural Masculine N/V AccGenDat. Abl qui (who?) quos (whom?) quorum (whose?/of whom?) quibus (to whom?) quibus (by/from whom?) Feminine quae (who?) quas (whom?) quarum (whose?/of whom?) quibus (to whom?) quibus (by/from whom?) Neuter 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) nequeneque (neithernor), necnec(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 Nom./Voc. Masc. nullus/ Fem. nulla Neut. nullum

Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl.

nullum nullius nulli nullo

nullam nullius nulli null

nullum nulli nullo nullo

18 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

19 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

nullus - Plural Case Nom./Voc. Masc. nulli Fem. nullae Neut. nulla

Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl.

nullos nullorum nullis nullis

nullas nullarum nullis nullis

nulla nullorum 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. Acc. Gen. Dat. Abl nemo neminem neminis nemini 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 N/V ego (I) Masc/Fem tu (you) Masc is(he) Fem ea (she) Neut id (it)

20 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM

Latin Grammar

http://mylanguages.org/latin_grammar.php

Acc Gen Dat Abl

me (me) mei (of me) mihi (to me) me (by/with/ from me)

te (you) tui (of you) tibi (to you) te (by/with/ from you)

eum (him) eius (of him) ei (to him) eo (by/with/ from him)

eam (her) eius (of her) ei (to her) e (by/with/ from her)

id (it) eius (of it) ei (to it) eo (by/with/ from it)

Personal Pronouns - Plural Masc/Fem N/V Acc Gen nos (we) nos (us) nostri/nostrum (of us) Dat Abl nobis (to us) nobis (by/with/ from us) Masc/Fem vos (you) vos (you) vestri/vestrum (of you) vobis (to you) vobis (by/with/ from you) Masc ei (they) eos (them) eorum (of them) eis (to them) eis (by/with/ from them) Fem eae (they) eas (them) earum (of them) eis (to them) eis (by/with/ from them) Neut ea (they) ea (them) eorum (of them) eis (to 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 adjectives derived 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 first person singular present active. For example, love would be listed as amo (I love) rather than amare. We hope the lessons above helped you learn Latin. To learn other topics please check our homepage here: Learn Latin. Don't forget to bookmark this page.

Copyright 2011 MYLANGUAGES.ORG All Rights Reserved

About | Link | Contact |Volunteer | Copyright - Disclaimer

21 of 21

10/16/2013 1:04 PM