Latin Help Sheet for BigBook1 of Lively Latin

NOUNS
The names of different endings are called cases. A case is how a noun is used in a sentence.
To find the base of a noun, take the genitive singular form and take off the ending.
When we add all the other endings to a noun, its called declining. Declining is putting a noun into all its possible cases.
1st Declension Most of the nouns in this declension are feminine. Some that are not feminine are: agricola, pirata
and nauta.
Case name
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative

Singular (one)
a
ae
ae
am

Plural (more than one)

ae
rum
s
s
s

We put subject nouns in the

NOMINATIVE case.

2nd Declension - Most of the nouns in this declension are either masculine or neuter.
Case name
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative

Singular (one)
us

Plural (more than one)

rum
s
s
s

A quick way to find out which

declension a noun is in: Look at
the genitive ending! If its an

nd

then its in the 2 declension!

2nd Declension neuter nouns have their own endings. The yellow highlights show which ones are different from the
nd
2 declension masculine nouns.
Case name
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative

Singular (one)
um

um

No Articles!
Latin doesnt use an a, an
or the.
Puella laborat can be
translated 2 ways: The girl
works. OR A girl works.

Plural (more than one)

a
rum
s
a
s

VERBS
The endings of verbs
or m
s
t

I
you
he, she, it

mus
tis
nt

we
you all
they

A conjugation is a group of Latin verbs which share the same endings. There are four conjugations in Latin.
st

1 Conjugation example:
am

amre

amvi

nd

st

amtum The long a in each of the 2 principle parts tells you they belong to the 1 conjugation.
nd
So always look at the 2 principle part, before the re to find the vowel and that will
tell you what conjugation the verb is in.

To find the base of a verb, look at the 2nd principle part, take off the re , whats left is the base of the verb!
When you conjugate a verb, the VERY FIRST FORM will not have an . Just drop that and put an . The Romans probably did
that to make pronouncing the words easier.

The imperfect tense (tells about an action that was happening continually in the past)
bam
bas
bat

I was
you were
he, she, it was

bamus
batis
bant

we were
you all were
they were

The future tense (tells about an action that will happen later)
b
bis
bit

I shall
you will
he, she, it will

bimus
bitis
bunt

we shall
you all will
they will

We can break down verbs into their parts to tell 3 things about them:
parbam =
Action
par
to prepare

Time
ba
continuing past action

Who
m (see the endings of verbs chart)
I

Sum, esse, fui, futurum = to be

sum
es
est

I am
you are
he, she, it is

sumus
estis
sunt

we are
you all are
they are

Est at the beginning of a sentence = There is

Casa est = It is a house.
Est casa = There is a house.

Imperfect tense of sum

eram
eras
erat

Sunt at the beginning of a sentence= There are

I was
you were
he, she, it was

eramus
eratis
erant

We were
you all were
they were

Casae sunt = They are houses.

Sunt casae = There are houses.
Erat at the beginning of a sentence = There was
Erant at the beginning of a sentence = There

Future tense of sum

were
er
eris
erit

I will be
You will be
he, she, it will
be

erimus
eritis
erunt

we will be
you all will be
they will be

Erat bestia in silv. = There was a beast in the

forest.
Erant bestiae in silv. = There were beasts in the
forest.
Erit or Erunt at the beginning of a sentence =
There will be

Erit periculum in proeli. = There will be danger

in the battle.

ADJECTIVES
An adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in

GENDER (masculine, feminine, or neuter)

NUMBER (singular or plural)

CASE (genitive, dative, accusative, or ablative)

Thats why adjectives are listed in 3 forms! These three forms are nominative singular.

Bellus (masculine)

Oceanus bellus

Bella (feminine)
Bellum (neuter)

Silva bella

Oceanus is masculine, so we use the masculine form of novus.

Oppidum bellum

In Latin, adjectives come AFTER the nouns they describe, unless its telling the size or quantity.
Unda ferra (the fierce wave)
Magna unda (the big wave)

VOCABULARY
Adjectives
albus, alba, album
antiquus, antiqua, antiquum

white
old

bellus, bella, bellum

bonus, bona, bonum

beautiful, handsome
good

caeruleus, caerulea, caeruleum

candidus, candida, candidum
clarus, clara, clarum
croceus, crocea, croceum

blue
light (in color)
shining, bright, famous, well-known
orange

ferus, fera, ferum fierce,

fidus, fida, fidum
flavus, flava, flavum
foedus, foeda, foedum
fuscus, fusca, fuscum

wild
faithful
yellow
ugly, filthy, foul
brown

laetus, laeta, laetum

latus, lata, latum
longus, longa, longum

happy
wide
long

maestus, maesta, maestum

magnus, magna, magnum
malus, mala, malum

sad
big, large, great
bad

niger, nigra, nigrum

novus, nova, novum

black
new

obscurus, obscura, obscurum

dark (in color)

parvus, parva, parvum

pinceus, pincea, pinceum
primus, prima, primum
purpureus, purpurea, purpureum

small
pink
first
purple

quietus, quieta, quietum

quiet

raucus, rauca, raucum

ruber, rubra, rubrum

noisy, loud
red

ultimus, ultima, ultimum

last

Adverbs

cras
heri
nn

tomorrow
yesterday
not

Conjunctions
et

and

Nouns
aedificium, aedifici, n.
agricola, agricolae, m.
amica, amicae, f.
amicus, amic, m.
ancilla, ancillae, f.
aqua, aquae, f.
aquila, aquilae, f.

building
farmer
friend (female)
friend (male)
maid
water
eagle

bestia, bestiae, f.

beast

caelum, cael, n.
carrus, carr, m.
casa, casae, f.
cena, cenae, f.

sky, heavens
cart
cottage, house
dinner

dominus, domin, m.
donum, don, n.

lord, master
gift

equus, equ, m.

horse

fabula, fabulae, f.
story
familia, familiae, f.
family, household
femina, feminae, f.
woman
fenestra, fenestrae, f. window
filius, fili, m.
son
fluvius, fluvi, m.
river
frumentum, frument, n. grain
gallina, gallinae, f.
gladius, gladi, m.

hen
sword

hortus, hort, m.

garden

insula, insulae, f.

island

lectus, lect, m.
luna, lunae, f.
lupus, lup, m.

bed
moon
wolf

magistra, magistrae, f. teacher

mensa, mensae, f.
table
nauta, nautae, m.
navicula, naviculae, f.
nimbus, nimb, m.
numerus, numer, m.

sailor
small boat
cloud
number

oceanus, ocean, m.
oppidum, oppid, n.
ora, orae, f.

ocean
town
shore

pecunia, pecuniae, f.
periculum, pericul, n.
pirata, piratae, m.
pomum, pom, n.
porcus, porc, m.
porta, portae, f.
proelium, proeli, n.
puella, puellae, f.
puer, puer, m.

money
danger
pirate
fruit, apple
pig
door
battle
girl
boy

regina, reginae, f.
regnum, regn, n.

queen
kingdom

saxum, sax, n.
scutum, scut, n.
sella, sellae, f.
servus, serv, m.
silva, silvae, f.
stella, stellae, f.

rock
shield
chair
servant (male)
forest
star

taurus, taur, m.
templum, templ, n.
terra, terrae, f.

bull
temple
land, earth

unda, undae, f.
ursa, ursae, f.

wave
bear

via, viae, f.
ventus, vent, m.
verbum, verb, n.
vir, vir, m.

road, way
wind
word
man

Numbers
I

unus, una, unum

II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
C
M

duo, duae, dua

trs, tria
quattuor
quinque
sex
septem
octo
novem
decem
centum
mille

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
100
1000

Phrases
Quid nomen tibi est?
Nomen mihi ______ est.
Quid agis hodi?
Optim!
Nn bene.
Bene!
Pessim!
Satis Bene.

What is your name?

My name is _____.
How are you doing today?
Great!
Not well.
Well! or Fine!
Terrible!
Well enough.

Quot?

How many?

Prepositions
in
sub
pr

in or on
under
in front of

Verbs
ambul, ambulre, ambulv, ambultum
to walk
am, amre, amv, amtum
to love
appropinqu, appropinqure, appropinquv, appropinqutum to approach
cant, cantre, cantav, canttum
cel, celre, celv, celtum
cen, cenre, cenv, centum
comput, computre, computv, computtum
clam, clamre, clamv, clamtum

to sing
to hide
to dine (eat dinner)
to calculate
to shout

expect, expectre, expectv, expecttum

explor, explorre, explorv, explortum

to wait for, to expect

to explore

habit, habitre, habitv, habittum

to live in

iuv, iuvre, iv, itum

to help

labor, laborre, laborv, labortum

laud, laudre, laudv, laudtum

to work
to praise

nat, natre, natv, nattum

navig, navigre, navigv, navigtum
nec, necre, necvi, nectum
numer, numerre, numerv, numertum

to swim
to sail
to kill
to count

oppugn, oppugnre, oppugnv, oppugntum to attack

par, parre, parv, partum
plor, plorre, plorv, plortum
port, portre, portvi, porttum
pugn, pugnre, pugnv, pugntum

to prepare
to cry
to carry
to fight

spect, spectre, spectv, specttum

to look at

ulul, ululre, ululvi, ulultum

to howl

visit, visitre, visitv, visittum

voc, vocre, vocv, voctum

to visit
to call