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 noun’s 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 noun’s 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^st Declension masculine singular nouns ending in -us or –ius. Examples:

 

Nominative	Vocative
puer (boy)	puer! (“Boy!”)
puella (girl)	puella! (“Girl!”)
servus (slave)	serve! (“Slave!”)
Julius	Juli! (“Julius!”)

 

c)    Genitive:

The Genitive case denotes ownership, and has the same meaning as (-‘s) in English:

pueri liber

(The boy’s book)

puellae liber

(The girl’s 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)

 

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 noun’s 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	1st declension (almost all feminine)	2nd declension			3rd declension (masc/fem/neut)	4th declension (usually masculine)	5th declension (feminine)
		Masculine		Neuter
Nom /Voc.	puella (girl)	servus/ serve (slave)	puer (boy)	templum (temple)	mercator (merchant)	gradus (step)	dies (day)
Acc.	puellam	servum	puerum	templum	mercatorem	gradum	diem
Gen.	puellae	servi	pueri	templi	mercatoris	gradūs	diei
Dat.	puellae	servo	puero	templo	mercatori	gradui	diei
Abl.	puellā	servo	puero	templo	mercatore	gruadu	die

 

Plural

 

Case	1st decl.	2nd declension			3rd decl.	4th decl.	5th decl.
		Masculine		Neuter
Nom /Voc.	puellae	servi	pueri	templa	mercatores	gradūs	dies
Acc.	puellas	servos	pueros	templa	mercatores	gradūs	dies
Gen.	puellarum	servorum	puerorum	templorum	mercatorum	graduum	dierum
Dat.	puellis	servis	pueris	templis	mercatoribus	gradibus	diebus
Abl.	puellis	servis	pueris	templis	mercatoribus	gruadibus	diebus

 

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 doesn’t 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 adjective’s 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^st/2^nd Declension Adjectives - Singular

 

	Nominative in –us/-a/-um			Nominative in –er/-a/-um
Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut
Nom./Voc.	bonus/ bone (good)	bona	bonum	pulcher (beautiful)	pulchra	pulchrum
Acc.	bonum	bonam	bonum	pulchrum	pulchram	pulchrum
Gen.	boni	bonae	boni	pulchri	pulchrae	pulchri
Dat.	bono	bonae	bono	pulchro	pulchrae	pulchro
Abl.	bono	bonā	bono	pulchro	pulchrā	pulchro

 

Plural 

 

	Nominative in –us/-a/-um			Nominative in –er/-a/-um
Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut
Nom./Voc.	boni	bonae	bona	pulchri	pulchrae	pulchra
Acc.	bonos	bonas	bona	pulchros	pulchras	pulchra
Gen.	bonorum	bonarum	bonorum	pulchrorum	pulchrarum	pulchrorum
Dat.	bonis	bonis	bonis	pulchris	pulchris	pulchris
Abl.	bonis	bonis	bonis	pulchris	pulchris	pulchris

                                   

3^rd Declension Adjectives – Singular

 

	Nominative in -ns		Nom. in -x		Nom. in -is/-e		Nom. in –er/-is/-e
	M/F	Neut	M/F	Neut	M/F	Neut	Masc.	Fem	Neut
N/V	amans (loving)	amans	felix (lucky)	felix	levis (light)	leve	acer (sharp)	acris	acre
Acc	amantem	amans	felicem	felix	levem	leve	acrem	acrem	acre
Gen	amantis	amantis	felicis	felicis	levis	levis	acris	acris	acre
Dat.	amanti	amanti	felici	felici	levi	levi	acri	acri	acri
Abl.	amanti/e	amanti/e	felici/e	felici/e	levi/e	levi/e	acri/e	acri/e	acri/e

 

3^rd Declension Adjectives – Plural

 

	Nominative in -ns		Nom. in -x		Nom. in -is/-e		Nom. in –er/-is/-e
	M/F	Neut	M/F	Neut	M/F	Neut	M/F	Neut
N/V	amantes	amantia	felices	felicia	leves	levia	acres	acria
Acc	amantes	amantia	felices	feliia	leves	levia	acres	acria
Gen	amantium	amantium	felicium	felicium	levium	levium	acrium	acrium
Dat.	amantibus	amantibus	felicibus	felicibus	levibus	levibus	acribus	acribus
Abl.	amantibus	amantibus	felicibus	felicibus	levibus	levibus	acribus	acribus

 

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

 

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^st/2^nd declension adjectives this is done by changing the ending to ‘-e’. Examples:

tardus (slow) becomes tarde (slowly)

verus (true) becomes vere (truly)

 

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, that’s not always the case, as miser (wretched) is 3^rd declension but takes the ‘-e’ ending 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)

 

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^st/2^nd declension adjective (e.g. bonus) and tres declines like a 3^rd declension adjective (e.g. amans):

 

Singular

 

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

 

Plural

 

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc./Fem.	Neut.
Nom./Voc.	uni	unae	una	duo	duae	dua	tres	tria
Acc.	unos	unas	una	duos	duas	dua	tres	tria
Gen.	unorum	unarum	unorum	duorum	duarum	duorum	trium	trium
Dat.	unis	unis	unis	duis	duis	duis	tribus	tribus
Abl.	unis	unis	unis	duis	duis	duis	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^st declension feminine and castra is 2^nd declension neuter) and thus require their number to be in the plural.

 

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	2nd conj	3rd conj	4th conj	Irregular
Singular
1st person	amo* (I love)	moneo (I warn)	sumo (I take)	audio (I hear/listen)	sum (I am)	eo (I go)
2nd person	amas	mones	sumis	audis	es	is
3rd person	amat	monet	sumit	audit	est	it
Plural
1st person	amamus	monemus	sumimus	audimus	sumus	imus
2nd person	amatis	monetis	sumitis	auditis	estis	itis
3rd person	amant	monent	sumunt	audiunt	sunt	eunt

 

Present tense – Passive voice

 

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

 

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

 

Future tense – Passive voice

 

	1st conj	2nd conj	3rd conj	4th 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 person	amaberis	moneris	sumeris	audieris
3rd person	amabitur	monetur	sumetur	audietur
Plural
1st person	amabimur	monemur	sumemur	audiemur
2nd person	amabimini	monemini	sumemini	audiemini
3rd person	amabuntur	monentur	sumentur	audientur

 

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

 

Imperfect tense – Passive voice

 

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

 

b)    Perfect:

The perfect tense in Latin corresponds to the simple past tense in English (‘-ed’) in that it describes a 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	2nd conj	3rd conj	4th conj	Irregular
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	amavisti	monuisti	sumpsisti	audivisti	fuistis	iisti
3rd person	amavit	monuit	sumpsit	audivit	fuerit	iit
Plural
1st person	amavimus	monuimus	sumpsimus	audivimus	fuimus	iimus
2nd person	amavistis	monuistis	sumpsistis	audivistis	fuistis	iistis
3rd person	amaverunt	monerunt	sumpserunt	audiverunt	fuerunt	ierunt

 

Perfect tense – Passive voice

 

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

 

Perfect Passive and Pluperfect Passive verb endings match the subject of the sentence in gender, number and case and decline like 1^st/2^nd declension adjectives such as bonus/bona/bonum (see Adjectives Lesson). 

 

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 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)

 

Pluperfect tense – Active voice

 

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

 

Pluperfect tense – Passive voice

 

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

 

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 speaker’s 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:

 

Present Infinitive:	dico te errare	I say that you are making a mistake [Lit]: I say you [acc.] to make a mistake
Perfect Infinitive:	dico te erravisse	I say that you (have) made a mistake
Future Infinitive:	dico te erraturum esse	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:	dixi te errare	I said that you were making a mistake
Perfect Infinitive:	dixi te erravisse	I said that you had made a mistake
Future Infinitive:	dixi te erraturum esse	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

	1st conj.	2nd conj.	3rd conj.	4th conj.	Irregular
Present	amare (to love)	monere (to warn)	sumere (to take)	audire (to hear)	esse (to be)	ire (to go)
Perfect	amavisse (to have loved)	monuisse (to have warned)	sumpsisse (to have taken)	audivisse (to have heard)	fuisse (to have been)	i(v)isse (to have gone)
Future	amaturus esse (to be about to love)	moniturus esse        (to be about to warn)	sumpturus esse        (to be about to take)	auditurus esse        (to be about to hear)	futurus esse (to be about to be)	iturus esse (to be about to go)

 

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

 

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)

 

Infinitives - Passive voice

 

	1st conj.	2nd conj.	3rd conj.	4th conj.
Present	amari (to be loved)	moneri (to be warned)	sumeri (to be taken)	audiri (to be heard)
Perfect	amatus esse (to have been loved)	monitus esse (to have been warned)	sumptus esse (to have been taken)	auditus esse (to have been heard)
Future	amatus iri (to be about to be loved)	monitus iri (to be about to be warned)	sumptus iri (to be about to be taken)	auditus iri      (to be about to be heard)

 

Passive perfect and future infinitive endings agree with their subjects, and decline like 1^st/2^nd declension adjectives:

 

Plutarchus scribit Antonium amatum esse Cleopatrā

(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)

 

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, isn’t it?)

 

Thirdly, if you expect a ‘no’ answer, begin the sentence with num:

 

num putas barbaros victuros esse?

(Surely you don’t think the barbarians will win? / You don’t 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.

 

quis - Singular

 

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

 

quis - Plural

 

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
N/V AccGenDat. Abl	qui (who?) quos (whom?) quorum (whose?/of whom?) quibus (to whom?) quibus (by/from whom?)	quae (who?) quas (whom?) quarum (whose?/of whom?) quibus (to whom?) quibus (by/from whom?)	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) neque…neque…(neither…nor…), nec…nec…(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	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Nom./Voc.	nullus/	nulla	nullum
Acc.	nullum	nullam	nullum
Gen.	nullius	nullius	nulli
Dat.	nulli	nulli	nullo
Abl.	nullo	nullā	nullo

 

nullus - Plural

 

Case	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Nom./Voc.	nulli	nullae	nulla
Acc.	nullos	nullas	nulla
Gen.	nullorum	nullarum	nullorum
Dat.	nullis	nullis	nullis
Abl.	nullis	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.	nemo
Acc.	neminem
Gen.	neminis
Dat.	nemini
Abl	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	Masc/Fem	Masc	Fem	Neut
N/V	ego (I)	tu (you)	is(he)	ea  (she)	id (it)
Acc	me (me)	te (you)	eum (him)	eam (her)	id (it)
Gen	mei (of me)	tui (of you)	eius (of him)	eius (of her)	eius (of it)
Dat	mihi (to me)	tibi (to you)	ei (to him)	ei (to her)	ei (to it)
Abl	me (by/with/ from me)	te (by/with/ from you)	eo (by/with/ from him)	eā (by/with/ from her)	eo (by/with/ from it)

 

 

Personal Pronouns - Plural

 

	Masc/Fem	Masc/Fem	Masc	Fem	Neut
N/V	nos (we)	vos (you)	ei (they)	eae  (they)	ea (they)
Acc	nos (us)	vos (you)	eos (them)	eas (them)	ea (them)
Gen	nostri/nostrum (of us)	vestri/vestrum (of you)	eorum (of them)	earum (of them)	eorum (of them)
Dat	nobis (to us)	vobis (to you)	eis (to them)	eis (to them)	eis (to them)
Abl	nobis (by/with/ from us)	vobis (by/with/ from you)	eis (by/with/ from them)	eis (by/with/ from 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