First Declension Nouns

6 September 2006

Case• A characteristic of Latin nouns is case.• Case indicates the role of the noun in a

sentence.• There are five major cases:

–Nominative–Genitive–Dative–Accusative–Ablative

Nominative Case

•Used for subjects•Used for predicate nominatives

Genitive Case

•for possession (the possessor—rather than what is possessed—is in the genitive case

•For other grammatical constructs that can be translated with “of,” e.g., “one of you,” “love of God”

Dative Case

•Used chiefly for indirect objects–I sent my friend a letter.–You showed me the book.–She gave the customer a receipt.

–He told the students about the author.

Accusative Case

•Used for direct objects

•Used for the objects of certain prepositions

Ablative Case

•Used for the objects of certain prepositions

1st Declension Nouns

sg. plural

•N. –a –ae•G. –ae –ārum•D. –ae –īs•Acc. –am –ās•Abl. –ā –īs

You must memorize the first-declension case

endings

•aqua, aquae, f.•fēmina, fēminae, f.•lūna, lūnae, f.•paenīnsula, paenīnsulae, f.

•pīrāta, pīrātae, m.•stella, stellae, f.•vita, vitae, f.

Practice with the Cases

1. Dō fēminīs aquam vitae.2. Dō nōn pīrātīs aquam vitae.3. Fēmina videt stellās et lūnam.4. Fēminae paenīnsulae terrent

pīrātās.5. Piratae terrent fēminās

paenīnsulae.6. Stellae et lūna vident fēminam.7. Vidēmus pīrātās in aquā.

1. Dō fēminīs aquam vitae.Dō 1st sg. pres. dō, dare I

givefēminīs dat. pl. fēmina, -ae to/for

womenaquam acc. sg. aqua, aquae water

vitae gen. sg. vita, vitae of life

I give the water of life to the women.

2. Dō nōn pīrātīs aquam vitae.

Dō 1st sg. pres. dō, dare I givenōn adv. notpīrātīs dat. pl. pīrāta, -ae to piratesaquam acc. sg. aqua, aquae watervitae gen. sg. vita, vitae of life

I do not give the water of life to the pirates.

3. Fēmina videt stellās et lūnam.Fēmina nom. sg.

womanvidet 3d sg. videō, vidēre seesstellāsacc. pl. stella, stella, f. starset conj. andlūnam acc. sg. lūna, lūnae, f. moon

The woman sees the stars and moon.

4. Fēminae paenīnsulae terrent pīrātās.Fēminae gen. sg. of the woman

dat. sg. to the womannom. pl the women

paenīnsulae gen. sg. of the peninsuladat. sg. to the peninsulanom. pl. the peninsulas

terrent 3d pl. terreō, -ēre (they) scare

pīrātās acc. pl. the pirates

4. Fēminae paenīnsulae terrent pīrātās.

Fēminae nom. pl the womenpaenīnsulae gen. sg. of the

peninsulaterrent 3d pl. terreō, -ēre (they)

scarepīrātās acc. pl. the

pirates

• The women of the peninsula frighten the pirates.

• The women of the peninsula frighten pirates.

• The women of the peninsula do frighten pirates.

• The women of the peninsula are frightening pirates.

5. Pīrātae terrent fēminās paenīnsulae.

nom. pl. The pirates3d pl. frightenacc. pl. the womengen. sg. of the peninsula