Kennedy’s New Latin Primer Online

This primer is designed to help you understand the fundamentals of Latin grammar. Navigate through the sections to start learning.

Flexion

Flexion is a change made in the form of a word to show differences of meaning and use.

The Stem is the simplest form of a word in any language before it undergoes changes of Flexion.

The Character is the final letter of the Stem.

The Root is the primitive element which the word has in common with kindred words in the same or in other languages.

Every word has a Stem and a Root. They may be the same, but more often the Stem is formed from the Root. Thus in agitare, agita- is the Stem and a the Stem-Character, but ag is the Root, as shown by other words, agere, agmen, agilis.

Note 1: A language which expresses changes of meaning chiefly by Flexion, and makes little use of help-words, is called synthetic. Latin is a synthetic language. A language which has little Flexion and uses many help-words is called analytic. English as now spoken is an analytic language. In analytic languages the place of the flexional endings is often supplied by prepositions used with nouns: Caesaris, of Caesar; by auxiliaries used with verbs: agitur, it is being done. Analytic languages also use the article: rex, a king, or the king; and they use pronouns with verbs: ago, I do.

Note 2: Flexion sometimes takes place by letter-change in the Root-syllable, ag1-mus, eg1-mus, or by an addition before it, which is called a Prefix, as ce-cin-i from cano. Most frequently, however, it consists in an addition made after the Stem, which is called a Suffix. In agitare, –re is a Suffix, and is also the ending; in agitarcmus, a second Suffix, –mus, is added and becomes the ending.

Parts of Speech

Words are divided into:

• Nouns: which are of three kinds:

  • Substantives: names of persons, places, or things: Caesar, Caesar; Roma, Rome; sol, sun; virtus, virtue.

  • Adjectives, which express the qualities of Substantives: Roma antiqua, ancient Rome; sol clarus, the bright sun.

  • Pronouns, which stand for a Substantive or Adjective: ego, I; ille, that, he; meus, my, mine.

• Verbs: which express an action or state: Sol dat lucem, the sun gives light; Roma manet, Rome remains.

• Particles: which are of four kinds:

  • Adverbs, which qualify and limit Verbs, Adjectives, and sometimes other Adverbs: Roma diu floruit; nunc minus potens est. Rome flourished long; now it is less powerful.

  • Prepositions, which denote the relation of a Noun to other words in the sentence: Per Romam erro, I wander through Rome.

  • Conjunctions, which connect words, phrases, and sentences: Caelum suspicio ut lunam et sidera videam. I look up to the sky that I may see the moon and stars.

  • Interjections: words of exclamation: heu, alas!

Declension

Declension is the change of form which Nouns undergo to show changes of Number and Case.

The NUMBERS are two:

• Singular for one person or thing: mensa, a table; gens, a nation.

• Plural for more than one: mensae, tables; gentes, nations.

Case is the form which a Noun takes to show its relation to other words in the sentence. The CASES are six:

• Nominative, the Subject Case, answering the question Who? or What?

• Vocative, the Case of one addressed.

• Accusative, the Object Case, answering the question Whom? or What?

• Genitive, answering the question Of whom? or Of what?

• Dative, answering the question To whom? or To what?

• Ablative, answering the question From whom? or From what?

Examples of the cases:

• Nominative: Sol lucet, the sun shines.

• Vocative: Sol or o sol, o sun.

• Accusative: Solem lucere video, I see the sun shine.

• Genitive: Solis lux, the sun’s light, or the light of the sun.

• Dative: Soli lux additur, light is added to the sun.

• Ablative: Sole lux editur, light issues from the sun.

Note 1: The dative is also rendered for in English: Senatus urbi consulit, the Senate consults for the city.

Note 2: The ablative is rendered by many English prepositions besides from: in, by, with. To express the person by whom an action is done, the ablative is used with the preposition a, ab: Remus a Romulo interfectus est, Remus was slain by Romulus. To express the instrument with which an action is done, the ablative is used alone: Remus gladio interfectus est, Remus was slain with (or by) a sword.

Note 3: In ancient Latin there were two more cases, the Instrumental answering the question With what? and the Locative answering the question Where? The use of the Instrumental passed entirely to the ablative. But the Locative is often found in classical literature: humi, on the ground; Romae, at Rome; Athenis, at Athens.

Rules of Gender

The Genders are three:

• Masculine

• Feminine

• Neuter (neutrum, neither of the two)

Gender is shown by the form of a word and by its meaning.

(A) Form:

• Masculine are most Substantives in -us of the Second and Fourth Declensions, and those in -er of the Second Declension.

• Feminine are nearly all Substantives in -a of the First Declension and in -es of the Fifth Declension.

• Neuter are Substantives in -um of the Second Declension, in -u of the Fourth Declension, and indeclinable nouns, including the infinitive verb-noun.

• For the third declension no general rule can be given.

(B) Meaning:

• Masculine are all names of men, gods, months, and winds; also of most rivers and mountains: Romulus, Mars, October, Boreas, north wind, Tiberis, Olympus.

• Feminine are all names of women, goddesses, islands; and of most countries, cities, and trees: Cornelia, Juno, Lesbos, Asia, Roma, pinus, pine.

• Exceptions: Countries ending in -um, neuter; Latium; Pontus, masculine. Cities with plur. form in -i are masc.: Corioli, Delphi; those in -um, -on, -a (plur.) are neuter: Tarentum, Ilion, Arbela.

Note 1: In the early ages people imagined natural objects as living beings, and made them masculine or feminine, according to their notions of their qualities: ventus, wind, fluvius, river, mons, mountain, masculine; regio, country, urbs, city, arbor, tree, feminine; and words belonging to these classes took the same genders.

Note 2: Many o- Stems masc. (called Mobilia) have a corresponding form in -a feminine: fIlius, son; deus, god; arbiter, umpire. fllia, daughter; dea, goddess; arbitra, umpire.

Other corresponding forms are used: rex, king, regina, queen; victor, victrix, conqueror; nepos, grandson, neptis, granddaughter; socer, socrus, father-, mother-in-law.

Note 3: Nouns which include both masculine and feminine are said to be of common gender: sacerdos, priest or priestess, vates, seer, parens, parent, dux, leader, comes, companion, civis, citizen, custos, guardian, iudex, judge, heres, heir, ales, bird, canis, dog, serpens, serpent, tigris, tiger.

Many names of animals, though used of both sexes, have (in grammar) only one gender; they are called Epicene: aquila, eagle, fem.; lepus, hare, masc.; passer, sparrow, masc.

(For Memorial Lines on Gender, see Appendix IV.)

Declension of Substantives

Substantives are grouped in Declensions according to the Character or final letter of the Stem as follows:

• FIRST DECLENSION: A- Stems.

• SECOND DECLENSION: O- Stems.

• THIRD DECLENSION: Consonant Stems and I- Stems.

• FOURTH DECLENSION: U – Stems.

• FIFTH DECLENSION: E- Stems.

Table of Case-Endings

Declension of Substantives (Continued)

The Character of the Stem is most clearly seen before the ending -um or -rum of the Genitive Plural.

The Nominative, masculine and feminine, takes s, except in a- Stems, some Stems in ro- of the Second Declension, and Stems in s, l, r, n, of the Third. The Vocative (which is not a true case) is like the Nominative, except in the singular of Nouns in -us of the Second Declension.

Neuters have the Accusative like the Nominative in both singular and plural; the plural always ends in a.

First Declension

A- Stems

The Nominative Singular is the same as the Stem.

Stem mensa- (table, f.)

Decline like mensa: aquila, eagle; luna, moon; regina, queen; stella, star.

Stems in a are mostly feminine. A few are masculine, as scriba, a notary; Hadria, the Adriatic sea.

Note 1: An old form of the gen. sing. -ai for -ae is sometimes used by poets, as aulaï. Also an old genitive of familia remains in compounds: pater- (mater-) familias, father (mother) of a family.

Note 2: The locative sing. ends in -ae; the plur. in -is; Romae, at Rome; militiae, at the war; Athenis, at Athens.

Note 3: The gen. plur. is sometimes formed in -um instead of -arum, by compounds with -cola, -gena: agricola, a farmer; and in some words borrowed from Greek: amphora, drachma.

Note 4: Dea and filia have dat. and abl. plural -abus, in order to distinguish them from the dat. and abl. plural of deus and filius.

Second Declension

O- Stems

The Nominative is formed from the Stem by adding s; in neuter nouns, m; the Character o being weakened to u.

In the greater number of nouns whose Stem ends in ero, or in ro preceded by a mute, the o is dropped, and the Nom. ends in -er.

Stem anno- (year, m.), puero- (boy, m.), magistro- (master, m.), bello- (war, n.)

Decline like annus: amicus, friend; dominus, lord; servus, slave.

Decline like puer: gener, son-in-law; socer, father-in-law; liberi (plur.), children; lucifer, light-bringer; armiger, armour-bearer.

Decline like magister: ager, field; cancer, crab; liber, book.

Decline like bellum: regnum, kingdom; verbum, word.

Nouns in us, er are masculine; in um neuter. The following in us are feminine besides words feminine by meaning: alvus, paunch; colus, distaff; humus, ground; vannus, winnowing-fan; also several from the Greek: arctus, the bear constellation; carbasus, linen; plur. carbasa, n., sails. Neuter in us (and used in the sing. only) are pelagus, sea; virus, venom.

Note: Vulgus, crowd, is generally neuter, rarely masculine.

Exceptional Forms

Stem filio- (son, m.), viro- (man, m.), deo- (god, m.)

Note 1: Like filius are declined genius, guardian spirit, and many proper names in -ius: Claudius, Vergilius; like vir, its compounds, decemvir, triumvir, etc. The contracted gen. sing. in -i, as fili, ingenii, is used by writers of the best age, especially poets.

Note 2: The locative singular ends in -i; the plural in -is: humi, on the ground; belli, at the war; Mileti, at Miletus; Philippis, at Philippi.

Note 3: The genitive plural in -um is often found; especially in words denoting coins, sums, weights, and measures: nummus, coin; talentum, talent. Some nouns have genitive plural in -um or -orum: socius, ally; faber, smith; liberi, children. Also superi, the gods, from adj. superus.

Third Declension

Consonant and I- Stems

The Third Declension contains:

A. Consonant Stems

• Mutes:

  • (1) Gutturals, c, g.

  • (2) Dentals, t, d.

  • (3) Labials, p, b.

• Spirants

• Nasals, n, m.

• Liquids, l, r.

B. I- Stems

Syllabus of Consonant Substantives, showing Stem-ending with Nominative and Genitive Singular

The following have exceptional forms:

1. Juppiter (for Dies-piter) and bos (for bous), ox.

Case	Juppiter	Bos
Nom.	Juppiter	bos
Voc.	Juppiter	bos
Acc.	Jovem	bovem
Gen.	Jovis	bovis
Dat.	Jovi	bovi
Abl.	Jove	bove
Nom. Pl.		boves
Voc. Pl.		boves
Acc. Pl.		boves
Gen. Pl.		boum
Dat. Pl.		bobus or bubus
Abl. Pl.		bobus or bubus

2. Two stems in -u, declined like consonant nouns: grus, crane, sus, pig. These are the only uncontracted u- nouns.

Case	Grus	Sus
Nom.	grus	sus
Voc.	grus	sus
Acc.	gruem	suem
Gen.	gruis	suis
Dat.	grui	sui
Abl.	grue	sue
Nom. Pl.	grues	sues
Voc. Pl.	grues	sues
Acc. Pl.	grues	sues
Gen. Pl.	gruum	suum
Dat. Pl.	gruibus	suibus (subus)
Abl. Pl.	gruibus	suibus (subus)

Iter, journey, has gen. sing. itineris (and rarely iteris). Jecur, liver, jecoris, and jecinoris. Senex, old man, has Sing. Acc. senem, Gen. senis, Dat. seni, Abl. sene; Plur. N. Acc. senes, Gen. senum, Dat. Abl. senibus. Supellex, furniture, forms the other cases from stem supellectili-. Jusjurandum, oath, is declined in both parts: N. V. Acc. jusjurandum; Gen. jurisjurandi; Dat. jurijurando; Abl. jurejurando. No plural. Paterfamilias, materfamilias, father, mother of a family, have pater, mater fully declined in the sing. cases, but familias remains unaltered. The plur. patresfamiliarum is sometimes found.

Note: The locative sing. of the third declension ends in -i or -e; the plural in -ibus: ruri, rure, in the country; vesperi, vespere, in the evening; Carthagini, Carthagine, at Carthage; Gadibus, at Gades (Cadiz).

Gender in Third Declension

Consonant Stems

Masculine are nouns which end in -os, -o (except -do, -go, -io), -or, -er, and Imparisyllabic nouns in -is or -es.

Exceptions:

• cos, whetstone, dos, dowry, f.; os, ossis, bone, os, oris, mouth, n. echo, echo, caro, flesh, f. arbor, tree, f.; aequor, sea, marmor, marble, cor, heart, n. ver, spring, cadaver, corpse, iter, journey, tuber, hump, uber, udder, verber, lash, n.; also some names of plants, as papaver, poppy. compes, fetter, merces, hire, merges, sheaf, quies, rest, requies, rest, seges, corn, teges, mat, f.

Feminine

Feminine are nouns which end in -x, -as, -ps, -do, -go, -io, and nouns in -is of more than one syllable.

Exceptions:

• Nouns in -ex are masculine or common, but lex, law, nex, death, forfex, shears, supellex, furniture, ilex, oak, f.

• calix, cup, fornix, arch, m.; dux, leader, c. as, coin, vas, surety, m.; fas, right, nefas, wrong, vas, vessel, n. manceps, buyer, m.; municeps, burgess, c.; princeps, chief, c. cardo, hinge; ordo, order, m. ligo, hoe, m.; margo, brink, c.

• Concrete nouns in -io are masculine: pugio, dagger; papilio, butterfly. Abstract nouns in -io are feminine: ratio, reason; regio, region.

Neuter

Neuter are nouns in -us, -is (in words of one syllable), -en, -al, -ar, -ur.

Exceptions:

• lepus, hare, m.; pecus, pecudis, single head of cattle, f. mus, mouse, m.; grus, crane, sus, pig, c. pecten, comb, ren, kidney, splen, spleen, tibicen, flute-player, m. mugil, mullet, sal, salt, sol, sun, m. lar, god of the hearth, m. furfur, bran, lemur, goblin, turtur, turtle dove, vultur, vulture, m.

• Praes, bondsman, is masc.; laus, praise, fraus, deceit, are fem.; lac, milk, caput, head, aes, copper, are neuter.

I-Stems

Most Parisyllabic nouns in -is and -es are feminine.

Exceptions:

• The following nouns in -is are masculine: amnis, river; axis, axle; canalis, canal; caulis, cabbage; clunis, haunch; collis, hill; crinis, hair; ensis, sword; fascis, bundle; follis, bag; fustis, cudgel; ignis, fire; mensis, month; orbis, circle; panis, bread; piscis, fish; postis, post; torris, firebrand; unguis, nail; vectis, lever; vermis, worm; cassis, net; manes, shades (plur.).

• Generally masculine are callis, path; finis, end; funis, rope; sentis, thorn; torquis, necklace. Acinaces, scimitar, and verres, boar, are masculine.

Nouns in -al, -ar, and -e are neuter. Nouns in -x, -bs, -ls, -ns, -rs are feminine; but fons, fountain, mons, mountain, dens, tooth, bidens, fork, rudens, rope, torrens, torrent, oriens, east, occidens, west, masculine; infans, infant, parens, parent, c.

31. Fifth Declension

E- Stems

The Nominative Singular is formed by adding s to the Stem.

Stem: re- (thing)

Singular

Plural

Decline like res: dies, day (gen. dat., diei); acies, line of battle; facies, face; series, series; species, form; spes, hope; fides, faith; glacies, ice; meridies, noon.

Res and dies are the only nouns which occur in the Gen., Dat., and Abl. Plural. Fides, meridies, are Singular only.

All nouns of this declension are feminine except dies and meridies. Dies also is feminine when it means ‘an appointed day’ or ‘a period of time.’

Note 1: The greater number of nouns of this declension were originally ia- Stems, and have forms both of e- and a- Stems. They are declined like materies, matter, singular only.

Note 2: The contracted gen. and dat. sing. in -e, as fide for fidei, is found in Virgil and Horace. An old gen. in -i occurs in tribunus plebi, tribune of the people. The locative ends in -e.

Note 3: Respublica, the public interest, the republic, the State, is declined in both its parts: Sing. Acc. rempublicam, Gen. reipublicae, Dat. reipublicae, Abl. republica. Plur. Nom. respublicae, Acc. respublicas, Gen. rerumpublicarum, Dat. Abl. rebuspublicis.

32. Defective and Variable Substantives

Many nouns are found only in the Singular; these are chiefly proper names and words of general meaning:

• humus, ground

• justitia, justice

• laetitia, joy

• ver, spring

• letum, death

• saeculum, an age

• aurum, gold

• argentum, silver

• caelum, heaven

Note: In poetry some words take plural form with singular meaning: mella, honey; nives, snow; silentia, silence; rura, country.

Many nouns are used only in the Plural:

• arma, arms

• artus, limbs

• cunae, cradle

• divitiae, riches

• fasti, annals

• feriae, holidays

• indutiae, truce

• insidiae, ambush

• liberi, children

• manes, departed spirits

• moenia, town walls

• nugae, trifles

• penates, household gods

• tenebrae, darkness

And names of towns, days, festivals: Athenae, Delphi, Kalendae (Calends); Bacchanalia, festival of Bacchus.

Some words have a different meaning in Singular and Plural:

62. Some nouns have two or more forms of Declension:

Quies, f., rest, -etis, is a t-Stem only; but its compound requies takes also the e- forms: requiem, requie.

63. Some o- Stems vary between masc. and neut. in Sing. or Plur.:

• baculus, m., baculum, n., a stick

• pileus, m., pileum, n., a hat

• locus, m., place, loca, n., places

• jocus, m., jest, joca, n., jests

• frenum, n., bit, frena, n., bits

• rastrum, n., rake, rastra, n., rakes

64. In many nouns some of the cases are wanting:

These have full plural -es, -um, -ibus, except Gen. vicium.

65. Many are used in the Abl. Sing. only:

• coactu, by force

• concessu, by permission

• (diu) interdiu, by day

• jussu, by command

• injussu, without command

• natu, by birth

• noctu, by night

• rogatu, by request

• sponte, by choice

66. Some have only Nom. Acc. S.:

• fas, right

• nefas, wrong

• instar, likeness, size

• opus, need

• nihil, nothing

67. Declension of Greek Nouns

First Declension, a- Stems

At an early time many Greek nouns were used in Latin, in an almost or entirely Latin form. Masc. nouns ending in -as, -es, and fem. nouns in -a, -e, all alike took the ending -a in the nom., and were declined throughout like mensa. Such words are nauta, sailor; poeta, poet.

Afterwards the Greek forms, especially of proper names, were brought in by the poets, and thus in many instances both Greek and Latin forms of the same words are found, while of some words, used chiefly in poetry, the Greek forms alone occur.

Patronymics (race-names) are usually in the Greek form, as Atrides (son of Atreus), Pelides (son of Peleus); and though they sometimes have -a for -es in the nom. they always retain the Greek acc. in -en.

Names of people ending in -ates, -ites, or -otes, as Eleiites (inhabitant of Elea), generally have -em or -am in acc., being nearer to Latin words.

All these usually follow the Latin declension in the plural, even when they have the Greek form in the singular.

Masculine nouns in -as, -es, and Feminine nouns in -e

Plural in all cases like that of mensa.

Decline also: Boreas, the north wind; Persa (-es), a Persian; Epirus (-ota), native of Epirus; Helene, f.

68. Second Declension, o- Stems

Greek nouns of the Second Declension, especially names of persons and places, often keep their Greek forms in the nom. and acc., but the other cases generally take the Latin forms.

The fem. words of this Declension are chiefly names of towns, islands, plants, and precious stones.

Nouns ending in -ros sometimes take the Latin ending -er in the nom., as Evander (-dros).

Decline also: scorpios, m., scorpion; lotos, f., lotus; Samos, Ilion.

The Greek plural forms are rare, but plural nom. in -oe, as Canephorae, and plur. gen. in -on, as Bucolicon, are sometimes found.

69. Third Declension

Consonant Stems and Stems in e, i, o, eu, y. These nouns are very numerous, having many different endings in the Nom. Sing.

Singular

Plural

Decline also: f. lampas, gen. lampadis, torch; m. gigas, gigantis, giant; aer, aeris, air; aether, aetheris, the upper air.

Names of this class are found in different forms, from the tendency to latinise Greek words. Thus Perseus is called Perseus by Livy, but by Cicero latinised to Perses in the nom., with the other cases like Greek names of the First Declension, as Atrides.

71. Declension of Adjectives

Adjectives are declined by Gender, Number and Case.

A. Adjectives of three endings in -us, -a, -um or -er, -a, -um

These are declined like Substantives of the Second and First Declension, O- and A- Stems.

Stem: bono- (good)

Singular

Plural

Decline also: carus, dear; durus, hard; malus, bad; magnus, great; parvus, small; dubius, doubtful.

Stem: tenero- (tender)

Singular

Plural

Decline also: asper, rough; lacer, torn; liber, free; miser, wretched; prosper, prosperous; frugifer, fruit-bearing; plumiger, feathered; and other compounds of fero and gero; also satur, full; satura, saturum.

Stem: nigro- (black)

Singular

Plural

Decline also: aeger, sick; ater, jet-black; pulcher, beautiful; ruber, red; sacer, sacred.

Note: Dexter, on the right hand, may be declined like tener or like niger.

B. Adjectives of two endings and of one ending in the Nominative Singular are declined like Substantives of the Third Declension.

(1) Adjectives with Nominative Singular in -is, Masc. and Fem.; in -e Neuter: I- Stems.

Stem: tristi- (sad)

Singular

Plural

Decline also: brevis, short; omnis, all; aequalis, equal; hostilis, hostile; facilis, easy; illustris, illustrious; lugubris, mournful.

Some stems in ri- form the Masc. Nom. Sing. in -er:

Stem: acri- (keen)

Singular

Plural

Decline like acer the following: celeber, famous; saluber, healthy; alacer, brisk; volucris, winged; campester, level; equester, equestrian; pedester, pedestrian; paluster, marshy; puter, crumbling; with September, October, November, December, masculine only.

Note: In celer, celeris, celere, swift, the Stem ends in -eri- and the e is kept throughout.

74. Declension of Adjectives

(2) Adjectives with Nom. Sing. the same for all genders:

(a) I- Stems

Stem: felici- (happy)

Singular

Plural

Stem: ingenti- (huge)

Singular

Plural

Decline also: audax, audaci-, bold; simplex, simplici-, simple; duplex, duplici-, double; velox, veloci-, swift; amans, amanti-, loving; sapiens, sapienti-, wise; concors, concordi-, agreeing; par, pari-, like.

Note 1: Some adjectives with stems in -t have genitive plural in -um as well as -ium: recens, recentum or recentium; consors, consortum or consortium. In Participles, however, the gen. plur. is almost always in -ium.

Note 2: The abl. sing. generally ends in -i when an adjective is used with a substantive: a milite vigili, by a watchful soldier; and in -e when an adjective stands for a substantive: a vigile, by a watchman, but a few have abl. sing. always in -i. The same rule applies to present participles; but in the ablative absolute construction the ablative always ends in -e: viridanti quercu cinctus, wreathed with green oak; viridante quercu, when the oak is green.

(b) Consonant Stems

Stem: diviti- (rich)

Singular

Plural

Decline like dives: pauper, pauper-, poor; degener, degener-, degenerate; sospes, sospit-, safe; superstes, superstit-, surviving; deses, desid-, slothful; compos, compot-, possessing; caelebs, caelib-, unmarried; vetus, veter-, old.

Note: Dives has a contracted form dis, acc. ditem, etc.; with abl. sing. diti and neut. plur. ditia; gen. plur. ditium. Dives and vetus are used as neut. acc. sing. Vetus has neut. plur. vetera. The rest have no neuter forms.

76. Comparison of Adjectives

Adjectives are compared in three degrees:

• Positive: durus, hard; tristis, sad.

• Comparative: durior, harder; tristior, sadder.

• Superlative: durissimus, hardest; tristissimus, saddest.

The Positive is the adjective itself expressing the quality; the Comparative expresses a greater degree; the Superlative expresses a very great, or the greatest, degree of the quality.

The Comparative is formed from the Positive by adding the suffix -ior to the last consonant of the Stem; the Superlative generally by adding -issimus to the last consonant of the Stem.

77. The Comparative is declined as follows:

Singular

Plural

Note: The Ablative in -i of the Comparative is rare, and only used by late writers.

78. The Superlative is declined from o- and a- Stems, like bonus.

Adjectives with Stems in ro-, ri-, form the Superlative by doubling the last consonant of the Stem and adding -imus. Words like niger insert e before r in the Superlative.

Six adjectives with Stems in ill- also form the Superlative by doubling the last consonant of the Stem and adding -imus:

• facilis, easy

• difficilis, difficult

• similis, like

• dissimilis, unlike

• gracilis, slender

• humilis, lowly

79. Many Participles are compared like adjectives:

• amans, loving

• paratus, ready

Comparative: amantior; paratior

Superlative: amantissimus; paratissimus

80. Irregular Comparison

(1) Some Comparatives and Superlatives are formed from Stems distinct from that of the Positive:

Note 1: Senior, junior are not used as true comparatives of senex, juvenis, but with the meaning old rather than young, and young rather than old.

Note 2: Dives has both uncontracted and contracted forms: dives (rich), divitior, divitissimus or dis, ditior, ditissimus. Vetus (old) has vetustior, veterrimus (sometimes vetustior).

81. Comparison of Adjectives

Plus in the Singular is neuter only:

Singular

Plural

82. Adjectives compounded with -dicus, -ficus, -volus (from dico, facio, volo), form the Comparative and Superlative as if from participles in -ens.

83. Adjectives in -eus, -ius, -uus are generally compared with the adverbs magis, maxime

dubius, doubtful; magis dubius, more doubtful; maxime dubius, most doubtful.

Note: Adjectives in -quus are compared regularly, the first u being consonantal: aequus, level; aequior, more level; aequissimus, most level; so, antiquus, ancient. Egregius, excellent, has comparative egregior; strenuus, vigorous, sometimes has strenuior.

91. Pronouns

Pronouns either stand in the place of Substantives or stand in the place of Adjectives, to define or point out Substantives.

92. There are three Persons:

• First: The person speaking: I or we.

• Second: The person spoken to: thou or ye (you).

• Third: The person or thing spoken of: he, she, it, they.

Personal Pronouns stand only in place of Substantives. Possessive Pronouns, as meus, my, stand only for Adjectives. Most of the others can stand for Substantives or Adjectives.

93. Personal and Reflexive

Singular

Plural

Reflexive Pronoun

For the Personal Pronoun of the 3rd Person, he, she, it, the Demonstrative is, ea, id is used.

Note: Nostri, vestri, are called Objective Genitives: memor nostri, mindful of us (264). Nostrum, vestrum, are called Partitive Genitives, because they are used after words which express a part: unus nostrum, one of us (259).

94. Possessive

Singular

• 1st Person: meus, mea, meum, my.

• 2nd Person: tuus, tua, tuum, thy.

Plural

• 1st Person: noster, nostra, nostrum, our.

• 2nd Person: vester, vestra, vestrum, your.

Suus, sua, suum, his, her, its, their, is the Possessive Pronoun of the Reflexive.

Note: Meus, tuus, suus are declined like bonus: noster, vester, like niger. Meus has voc. sing. masc. mi. The other possessives, except noster, have no vocative.

95. Demonstrative

Is, that, or he, she, it

Hic, this (near me), or he, she, it

Ille, that (yonder), or he, she, it

Iste, that (near you), is declined like ille.

98. Definitive

Idem, same

Ipse, self

Note: The suffixes -met, -te, -pte or -pse, -ce are added to some cases of pronouns for emphasis:

• (a) met may be joined (1) to ego and its cases, except gen. plur.: egomet, I myself; (2) to the cases of tu, except nom. sing.: vosmet, ye yourselves; (3) to se and its cases, except sui: sibimet; (4) to the cases of suus: suamet facta.

• (b) te is joined to tu: tute; also tutemet, thou thyself.

• (c) pte is joined especially to the abl. sing. of the possessive pronouns: meopte consilio, by my advice.

• (d) ce is joined to the demonstrative: hunce, huiusce. For istece, illece, are written istic, illic:

Idem (for is-dem), and ipse (for is-pse), are emphatic forms of is.

99. Relative

Qui, who, which

100. Interrogative

Quis, who? what?

In all other cases singular and plural quis Interrogative is like the Relative.

101. Indefinite

Quis, anyone or anything

In the other cases singular and plural the Indefinite is like the Relative, except that qua or quae may be used in neut. nom. and acc. plural.

Quis, both Interrogative and Indefinite, and its compounds, are used chiefly as Substantives; qui and its compounds chiefly as Adjectives. Quid and its compounds are used only as Substantives; quod and its compounds only as Adjectives.

Examples:

• Homo qui venit, The man who comes. (qui, relative.)

• Quis venit?, Who comes? (quis, interrogative.)

• Qui homo venit?, What man comes? (qui, interrogative.)

• Aliquid amari, Some bitterness.

• Aliquod verbum, Some word.

102. Compound Pronouns

Note 1: Quisquis is found only in nom. acc. and abl.

Note 2: Quisquam is used as a substantive, sing. only, chiefly in negative sentences and the adjective which corresponds to it is ullus: haud quisquam, not anyone.

Note 3: In the Compound Pronouns qui, quis, and uter follow their own declension in the oblique cases; the prefix or suffix is unaltered: alicuius, cuiusque, cuivis, utroque, quamlibet. In unusquisque both unus and quisque are declined.

103. The following Pronominal Adjectives form the Gen. Sing. in -ius and the Dat. Sing. in -i like ille:

• alius, other, another;

• ullus, any;

• nullus, none;

• solus, sole;

• totus, whole;

• uter, which of two;

• alter, one of two, the other;

• neuter, neither.

Note: In alius the i of the Gen. Sing. is always long. In the Gen. of words declined like it the quantity of the i is doubtful; also in the Gen. of uter, neuter.

Like alius, but with Neuter Singular in -um, are declined ullus, nullus, solus, totus.

Like alter, but casting out e before r in all cases except the Nom. Sing. Masculine, are declined:

uter, utra, utrum, which (of two); neuter, neutra, neutrum, neither. These are seldom used in the plural.

Note 1: Uter forms compounds by taking nearly all the same suffixes as quis and qui: utercumque, whichever of two; utervis, uterlibet. Alteruter, one or the other, is usually declined only as uter, but sometimes both parts are declined.

Note 2: The genitive and ablative singular of nullus are used for the genitive and ablative of the substantive nemo, nobody, which are very rarely found.

104. Table of Correlative Pronouns and Adverbs

105. The Verb has:

• The Three Persons – First, Second, Third.

• The Two Numbers – Singular and Plural.

• Six Tenses:

  1. Present

  2. Future Simple

  3. Past Imperfect

  4. Perfect or Aorist

  5. Future Perfect

  6. Pluperfect

• Three Moods:

  1. Indicative

  2. Imperative

  3. Conjunctive

• The Infinitive (Verbal Substantive).

• Three Participles (Verbal Adjectives).

• The Gerund and Gerundive (Verbal Substantive and Adjective).

• Two Supines (Verbal Substantives).

• Two Voices:

  1. Active

  2. Passive

The Verb Finite is so called because it is limited by Mood and Persons; while the Verb Infinite is not so limited.

106. Person and Number

In English, Pronouns are used with Verbs to express the three Persons Singular and Plural: I am, We are. But in Latin the Pronouns are expressed by the personal suffixes.

• su-m, I am, am-o, I love.

• e-s, thou art (you are).

• es-t, he (she, it) is.

• su-mus, we are.

• es-tis, ye are.

• su-nt, they are.

107. Table of Personal Endings in the Indicative and Conjunctive Moods

The Imperative Mood has only the Second and Third Person Singular and Plural, not the First.

108. Tenses

Tenses express the time of the action or state denoted by the Verb, as being:

• Present, Past, or Future;

• Complete or Incomplete;

• Momentary or Continuous.

In English, by means of auxiliary Verbs, differences of time can be more accurately expressed than in Latin; so that one tense in Latin may correspond to two tenses in English, of which one is momentary, the other continuous. Thus, rogo, I ask, has the following tenses:

Note: Latin has no separate tenses corresponding to the Greek Aorist and Perfect; therefore the Perfect has to fill the place of two Tenses: the Aorist, I loved, and the Perfect, I have loved.

109. The Present, the Future Simple, and the Future Perfect are called Primary Tenses.

The Imperfect and the Pluperfect are called Historic Tenses.

The Perfect in the sense of I have loved is Primary; in the sense of I loved it is Historic.

110. Mood

Moods are the forms in which the idea contained in the Verb is presented.

The Indicative is the mood which states a fact: amo, I love.

The Imperative is the mood of command: ama, love thou.

Note: The forms of the Imperative in -to, -tote, are emphatic, and were used anciently in laws.

The Conjunctive is the mood which represents something as thought of or as dependent: ut amem, that I may love; si amarem, if I were to love.

Note: In the Paradigms the tenses of the Conjunctive are given without any English translation, because their meaning varies so much according to the context that it is impossible to convey it by any one rendering.

107. The Verb Infinite

The Infinitive is a Verb Noun expressing action or state in general, without limit of person or number: amare, to love.

The Gerund is a Verbal Substantive declined like neuters of the Second Declension. It supplies Cases to the Infinitive; as amandi, of loving.

The Gerundive is a Participle, or Verbal Adjective: amandus, a, um, meet to be loved.

The Supines are Cases of a Verbal Substantive: amatum, in order to love; amatu, for or in loving.

The Participles are so called because they have partly the properties of Verbs and partly those of Adjectives; there are three besides the Gerundive:

• Act. Pres. amans, loving (declined like ingens).

• Act. Fut. amaturus, about to love (declined like bonus).

• Pass. Perf. amatus, loved.

Note: The three Participles wanting are: (a) Active Perfect, (b) Passive Present, (c) Passive Future.

108. Voice

The Active Voice expresses what the Subject of a Verb is or does:

• sum, I am; valeo, I am well; amo, I love; rego, I rule.

The Passive Voice expresses what is done to the Subject of the Verb:

• amor, I am loved; regor, I am ruled.

109. Deponent Verbs

Deponent Verbs are Verbs which have chiefly the forms of the Passive Voice with the meaning of the Active Voice.

110. Verbs in the Active Voice and Deponent Verbs are

• (a) Transitive (transire, pass over), acting on an object: amo eum, I love him; hortor vos, I exhort you.

• (b) Intransitive, not acting on an object: sto, I stand; loquor, I speak.

Only Transitive Verbs have the full Passive Voice.

111. The Conjugations

Verbs are generally arranged according to the Character of the Present Stem in four Conjugations.

The Character is most clearly seen before the suffix -re (or -ere) of the Infinitive Present Active. It is either one of the vowels a, e, i, u, or a Consonant.

• First Conjugation, A- Stems.

• Second Conjugation, E- Stems.

• Third Conjugation, Consonant and U- Stems.

• Fourth Conjugation, I- Stems.

Deponent Verbs are also divided into four Conjugations with the same Stem endings.

112. The following forms must be known in order to give the full Conjugation.

113. In the Perfects -avi, -evi, -ovi, v sometimes drops out before -is or -er, and contraction follows: amavisti becomes amasti, amaverunt becomes amarunt, amavissem becomes amassem.

In I- Stems there is no contraction: audivi becomes audii, audiverunt becomes audierunt.

For -erunt (3rd pers. pl. Perf. Act.), -ere is often written: amavere, implevere, audivere; but these forms are not contracted.

The 2nd pers. sing. in the Passive ends in -ris or -re: amabaris, amabare; but in Pres. Indic. the ending in -re is rare.

Note: An old form in -ier of the Pres. Infin. Passive is sometimes found in poetry: amarier for amari.

Poets sometimes use old forms in the Future of I- Stems; as audibo, audibor, for audiam, audiar.

The Gerundive sometimes ends in -undus in Consonant and I- Stems.

114. Periphrastic Conjugation

The Active Future Participle and the Gerundive may be used with all the Tenses of the Verb sum:

• amaturus, -a sum, I am about to love.

• amaturus, -a es, thou art about to love.

• amaturus, -a est, he (she) is about to love.

• amaturi, -ae sumus, we are about to love.

etc.

• amandus, -a sum, I am meet to be loved.

etc.

In the same way the Participle futurus may be used with the tenses of sum: futurus sum, I am about to be.

The Active Future Participle with fuisse forms an Imperfect Future Infinitive, which is only used conditionally: amaturus fuisse, to have been about to love.

115. The Verb Sum, I am

This verb is formed from two roots, es, to be, and fu, to become. The Present Stem is formed from the root es. The Perfect and Participial Stems from the root fu. In the tense forms, es- sometimes drops e: sum, sumus; sometimes s changes to r: eram.

Note: There is no present participle of sum. It is only seen in the compounds, ab-sens, prae-sens.

Like Sum are conjugated its compounds: absum, am absent; adsum, am present; desum, am wanting; insum, am in or among; intersum, am among; obsum, hinder; praesum, am set over; prosum, am of use; subsum, am under; supersum, survive. In prosum the final d of the old preposition is kept before e: prodes.

116. First Conjugation – A-Stems

117. Second Conjugation – E-Stems