Latin Level 1: nouns and cases: cheat sheet

The summary, key terms and the trap to avoid for every lesson, in order. Print it, or read it, cover it, and say it back.

Saying Latin out loud Beginning Latin · Sounds

c and g are always hard: k and g.
v is w; i before a vowel is y.
ae is ai, au is ou.
Two syllables: stress the first. Longer: stress the second-to-last if long (long vowel, or vowel before two consonants), else the one before.
Church Latin is a different, also valid, tradition.

classical pronunciation: how Latin was spoken in the 1st century BC
macron: the line over a long vowel: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū
diphthong: two vowels said in one syllable, like ae or au
penult: the second-to-last syllable of a word

Watch out: Saying v and c the English way: "VEE-nye, VYE-dye, VYE-sye" or "SISS-er-oh". In classical Latin, v is always w and c is always k.

Endings do the work Beginning Latin · How sentences work

Latin shows each noun's job with its ending, not its position.
First-declension subject: -a. Object: -am.
Word order can change for emphasis without changing who does what.
Read endings first, then put the English in order.

subject: who does the action; ending -a here
object: who receives the action; ending -am here
ending: the last letters of a word, which show its job
inflection: changing a word's ending to show its job

Watch out: Translating in the order the words appear: reading Nautam puella vocat as "the sailor calls the girl". Find the subject by its ending first, then the verb, then the object.

The five cases Beginning Latin · How sentences work

Five main cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative.
Each case is a job: subject, owner, to/for, object, by/with/from.
puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puellā in the singular.
Genitive and dative share puellae: let the sentence decide.

case: the form a noun takes for its job in the sentence
nominative: subject case
genitive: owner case: of …, …'s
dative: indirect object: to / for …
accusative: direct object case
ablative: by, with, from, in …

Watch out: Mixing up genitive and dative, because both are puellae in the singular. Use the sentence to decide: rosa puellae (the girl's rose) is genitive; puellae dat (gives to the girl) is dative.

The first declension Beginning Latin · Nouns

First declension: nouns with nominative -a.
Singular: -a, -ae, -ae, -am, -ā. Plural: -ae, -ārum, -īs, -ās, -īs.
Find the stem by dropping -a, then add the endings.
Most are feminine; nauta, agricola and poēta are masculine.

declension: a group of nouns that share one set of endings
stem: the part that stays the same: puell-
singular / plural: one / more than one
feminine / masculine: the grammatical gender of a noun

Watch out: Assuming every -a noun is feminine. Most are, but a few words for men's jobs are masculine: nauta (sailor), agricola (farmer), poēta (poet). They still use the first-declension endings.

Adjectives agree with their nouns Beginning Latin · Nouns

An adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number and case.
Feminine: bona, pulchra. Masculine: bonus, pulcher.
Masculine -a nouns (nauta, agricola) take masculine adjectives.
Adjectives often follow their noun, but can come first for emphasis.

agree: match the noun in gender, number and case
bona: good (feminine)
bonus: good (masculine)
pulchra: beautiful (feminine)

Watch out: Making the adjective's ending look like the noun's: agricola bona. Agricola ends in -a but is masculine, so the adjective takes its masculine form: agricola bonus. Agreement is about gender, number and case, not about matching letters.

The second declension Beginning Latin · The second declension

Second declension: genitive singular -ī.
-us nouns are mostly masculine; -um nouns are neuter.
dominus: -us, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō; plural -ī, -ōrum, -īs, -ōs, -īs.
Neuter: nominative and accusative plural in -a (pīla).
Vocative of -us nouns ends in -e (domine).

second declension: nouns with genitive singular in -ī
neuter: neither masculine nor feminine; nouns in -um
vocative: the case for calling someone: Domine!
dominus, -ī, m.: master
pīlum, -ī, n.: spear

Watch out: Giving a neuter plural the ending -ī: ~~wrong: pīlī~~ for "spears" as a subject or object. Neuter nouns end in -a in the nominative and accusative plural: pīla, oppida, bella.

Predicate nouns and apposition Beginning Latin · The second declension

After est / sunt, a noun that says what the subject is takes the subject's case.
A noun in apposition copies the case of the noun it explains.
A predicate noun is nominative when the subject is; an appositive can be in any case.

predicate noun: a noun after est / sunt that says what the subject is
apposition: a noun placed beside another to explain it, in the same case
lēgātus, -ī, m.: lieutenant, envoy
agricola, -ae, m.: farmer

Watch out: Leaving the appositive in the nominative: ~~wrong: Mārcum lēgātus laudant~~. The explaining noun copies the case of the noun it explains: Mārcum lēgātum.

Adjectives in all three genders Beginning Latin · The second declension

bonus, bona, bonum: masculine like dominus, feminine like puella, neuter like pīlum.
Choose the adjective by the noun's gender, number and case.
nauta bonus, agricola bonus: masculine nouns of the first declension take masculine adjectives.

bonus, -a, -um: good
magnus, -a, -um: big, great
parvus, -a, -um: small
malus, -a, -um: bad, wicked

Watch out: Copying the noun's ending instead of choosing by gender: ~~wrong: agricolārum bonārum~~ for "of the good farmers". Agricola is masculine: agricolārum bonōrum.

Nouns in -ius, -er and -ir Beginning Latin · The second declension

-ius / -ium nouns: genitive singular in -ī (fīlī, praesidī).
fīlius and names in -ius: vocative in -ī (fīlī, Vergilī).
puer keeps its e (puerī); ager drops it (agrī); vir is regular (virī).
Learn the genitive with every noun.

fīlius, fīlī, m.: son
puer, puerī, m.: boy
ager, agrī, m.: field
vir, virī, m.: man
līberī, -ōrum, m. pl.: children (literally "the free-born")

Watch out: Guessing whether the e stays. Puer keeps it (puerī), but ager drops it, so ~~wrong: agerī~~ is wrong: agrī. Always learn the genitive with the noun.

My, your, his, our Beginning Latin · Pronouns and adjectives

meus, tuus, suus, noster, vester are declined like adjectives.
They agree with the thing possessed in gender, number and case.
tuus for one owner, vester for more than one.
suus refers back to the subject: his / her / their own.
The vocative of meus is mī: mī fīlī.

meus, -a, -um: my
tuus, -a, -um: your (one owner)
suus, -a, -um: his / her / its / their own (the subject's)
noster, -tra, -trum: our
vester, -tra, -trum: your (more than one owner)

Watch out: Choosing tuus or vester by politeness, as in French tu and vous. In Latin it depends only on the number of owners: one owner tuus, more than one vester.

Four ways to say "with" Beginning Latin · The ablative

Cause and means: plain ablative, normally no cum.
Accompaniment: cum + ablative.
Manner: cum + ablative; cum may drop when there's an adjective.
Ask: because of what, with what, with whom, how?

ablative of cause: because of what; no cum
ablative of means: with what, by means of what; no cum
ablative of accompaniment: with whom; cum
ablative of manner: how; cum, which may be left out with an adjective

Watch out: Putting cum before a tool or a cause: ~~wrong: cum pīlīs pugnant~~ for "they fight with spears". The rule to learn now: cum for company and manner, the plain ablative for means and cause. (Later you will meet cum with weapons meaning "armed with".)

The nine irregular adjectives Beginning Latin · Pronouns and adjectives

UNUS NAUTA: ūnus, nūllus, ūllus, sōlus, neuter, alius, uter, tōtus, alter.
Genitive singular -īus, dative singular -ī, in all genders.
Otherwise like bonus; plural regular; alius has neuter aliud.
alter … alter = the one … the other; aliī … aliī = some … others.

ūnus, -a, -um: one
tōtus, -a, -um: whole, entire
alius, -a, -ud: another (of several)
alter, -era, -erum: the other (of two)
uter, utra, utrum: which? (of two)

Watch out: Using the regular endings in the genitive and dative singular: ~~wrong: nūllae puellae~~ for "of no girl". The nine use nūllīus puellae, and the dative nūllī puellae.

is, ea, id: this, that, he, she, it Beginning Latin · Pronouns and adjectives

is, ea, id = this / that, and he / she / it.
Genitive eius, dative eī, accusative eum, eam, id.
suus = the subject's own; eius / eōrum / eārum = someone else's.

is, ea, id: this, that; he, she, it
eius: his, her, its (not the subject's)
eōrum / eārum: their (not the subject's)
suus, -a, -um: his / her / their own (the subject's)

Watch out: Using eius for the subject's own things: ~~wrong: Mārcus eius equum cūrat~~ for "Marcus looks after his own horse". That eius would mean someone else's horse. Use suum: Mārcus suum equum cūrat.