Nouns

Introduction

Nouns in Latin are words which refer to people, places, things and ideas. There are two types of nouns:

• Proper nouns are the names of particular people or places such as “Caesar” and “Rōma”.
• All other nouns are known as common nouns.

Gender

Every noun in Latin has a grammatical gender which can be either masculine, feminine or neuter. For the most part, each word needs to be learnt together with its gender, although there are certain rules which can sometimes make it possible to predict the gender of a given noun:

• The names of male people, rivers, winds, months and mountains are generally masculine - “pater”, “Iūlius”, “Tiberis”, “auster”, “Iānuārius”, “Apennīnus”.
• The names of female people, cities, countries, plants, trees, gems, many animals (especially birds) and most nouns which refer to abstract concepts are usually feminine - “māter” (mother), Iūlia (Julia), “Rōma” (Rome), “Ītalia” (Italy), “rosa” (rose), “pīnus” (pine), “sapphīrus” (sapphire), “anas” (duck), “vēritās” (truth).
• Indeclinable nouns, infinitives, terms or phrases used as nouns, and quoted words are usually neuter - “fās” (right), “nihil” (nothing), “gummī” (gum), “scīre” (lit. “a knowing”, knowledge), “valē” (a goodbye, a farewell).

Warning

These are only rules of thumb and there are plenty of exceptions to them.

Number

Most Nouns can be in one of two numbers - singular or plural. Singular nouns are used to refer to only one instance of something, while plural nouns refer to multiple instances. Whether a noun is singular or plural is reflected by its ending.

Note: singulāria tantum

Some nouns, known as singulāria tantum, lack plural forms.

Note: plūrālia tantum

Some nouns, known as plūrālia tantum (“plural only”), have the endings of and behave like plural nouns grammatically but they still refer to only one instance of a thing.

Case

Every noun can be in one of seven cases depending on its role in a given sentence. This is reflected by its ending.

Morphology

Declension

The vast majority of nouns change their form to reflect their case and number, in a process known as declining. In dictionaries, nouns are listed by their nominative singular form followed by their genitive singular form and you must learn both forms for each noun.

Nouns are divided into five groups known as declensions depending on their genitive singular ending. Each ending stands for a combination of case and number and, for the most part, nouns belonging to the same declension use the same set of endings. To decline a noun, you just attach the appropriate ending to its stem. The stem is obtained by removing the ending from the noun’s genitive singular form. For plūrālia tantum nouns, the genitive plural is used instead.

Declensions Chart

Declension	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
Genitive Singular Ending	-ae	-ī	-is	-ūs	-ēī (-eī) / -e

Example: Determining the Stem

stella (nominative singular), stellae (genitive singular) → stem “stell-” (star)

nauta, nautae → stem “naut-” (sailor)

dominus, dominī → stem “domin-” (master)

ager, agrī → “agr-” (field)

tempus, temporis → stem “tempor-” (time)

rex, rēgis → stem “rēg-” (king)

metus, metūs → stem “met-” (fear)

As you see, the stem can differ quite a lot from the nominative form.

Since there are seven cases and two numbers, a single noun may have up to 14 forms. Moreover, there are five declensions for a total number of $14\times 5=70$ endings. Luckily, many endings are identical and there are some rules which can help you memorize them:

• The nominative and accusative of neuter nouns are always the same and end in -a in the plural. This is one of the few rules with absolutely no exceptions.
• The dative and ablative plural of a given noun are always the same.
• The genitive plural always ends in -um.
• The vocative is always the same as the nominative except for second declension singular nouns ending in -us.

First Declension

These are the endings used by nouns belonging to the first declension.

First Declension Endings Chart

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-a	-ae
	Genitive	-ae	-ārum
	Dative	-ae	-īs
	Accusative	-am	-ās
	Ablative	-ā	-īs
	Locative	= Dative	= Dative
	Vocative	= Nominative	= Nominative

Example: First Declension Nouns

stella, stellae (star)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	stella	stellae
	Genitive	stellae	stellārum
	Dative	stellae	stellīs
	Accusative	stellam	stellās
	Ablative	stellā	stellīs
	Locative	stellae	stellīs
	Vocative	stella	stellae

Warning: Exceptions

There are a few exceptions to the above endings but they are quite rare:

• In Old Latin, the genitive singular ended in -āī. This form is still occasionally found in some words such as “aulāī”.
• The word “familia” has preserved the old form “familiās” of the genitive singular.
• The genitive plural is sometimes just -um instead of -ārum, especially in Greek words meaning “descendants of” (such as “Aenaedum”) and in compounds with -cola and -gena which signify provenance or dwelling (such as “caelicolum” or “Trōiugenum”).
• The dative and ablative plural of “dea” (“goddess”) and “fīlia” (“daughter”) end in -ābus (“deābus”, “fīliābus”) to distinguish them from the corresponding cases of “deus” (“god”) and “fīlius” (“son”).
• Some words borrowed from Greek can retain some of their original Greek forms in the singular. These are best learnt on a case-by-case basis.

The vast majority of first-declension nouns are feminine. The only exceptions are nouns signifying male people such as “nauta” (“sailor”) and “agricola” (“farmer”) - these are masculine. There are also some family and personal names, such as “Mūrēna”, “Dolābella”, “Scaevola” and “Hadria”, which are also These are the endings used by nouns belonging to the first declension. No neuter nouns belong to the first declension.

Second Declension

There are two sets of endings used by nouns belonging to the second declension depending on gender.

Second Declension Endings Chart (Masculine and Feminine)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-us, -er, -ir	-ī
	Genitive	-ī	-ōrum
	Dative	-ō	-īs
	Accusative	-um	-ōs
	Ablative	-ō	-īs
	Locative	-ī	-īs
	Vocative	-e, -ī, = Nominative	= Nominative

If the noun ends in -us, then its vocative singular ends in -e. The vocative and nominative forms of nouns ending in -er / -ir are identical . If a proper noun ends in -ius, then its vocative singular ends in -ī and not -iī (i.e. “Vergilius” becomes “Vergilī”), but the stress remains on the same syllable as in the nominative singular. The same applies for the words “fīlius” (“son”) and “genius” (“divine guardian”).

Some nouns ending in -er do not have the -e in the stem, while others do.

Example: Second Declension Nouns (Masculine and Feminine)

servus, servī (slave)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	servus	servī
	Genitive	servī	servōrum
	Dative	servō	servīs
	Accusative	servum	servōs
	Ablative	servō	servīs
	Locative	servī	servīs
	Vocative	serve	servī

ager, agrī (field)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	ager	agrī
	Genitive	agrī	agrōrum
	Dative	agrō	agrīs
	Accusative	agrum	agrōs
	Ablative	agrō	agrīs
	Locative	agrī	agrīs
	Vocative	ager	agrī

puer, puerī (boy)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	puer	puerī
	Genitive	puerī	puerōrum
	Dative	puerō	puerīs
	Accusative	puerum	puerōs
	Ablative	puerō	puerīs
	Locative	puerī	puerīs
	Vocative	puer	puerī

vir, virī (man)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	vir	virī
	Genitive	virī	virōrum
	Dative	virō	virīs
	Accusative	virum	virōs
	Ablative	virō	virīs
	Locative	virī	virīs
	Vocative	vir	virī

Warning: Exceptions

The genitive plural is often just -um (or -om after v) instead of -ōrum, especially in poetry, in compounds of “vir” and in many words related to money, measure and weight: “deum”, “superum”, “dīvom”, “virum”, “Sēvirum”, “nummum”, “iūgerum”, etc.

The word “deus” has many alternative forms:

deus, deī (god)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	deus	deī, diī, dī
	Genitive	deī	deōrum, deum, dīvom, dīvum
	Dative	deō	deīs, diīs, dīs
	Accusative	deum	deōs
	Ablative	deō	deīs, diīs, dīs
	Locative	deī	deīs
	Vocative	dee, deus	deī, diī, dī

There are also many Greek nouns which may retain some of their original forms. These are best learnt on a case-by-case basis.

Most nouns ending in -us, -er and -ir are masculine. The major exceptions are the names of many countries and towns ending in -us (“Aegyptus”, “Corinthus”), the names of many plants and gems (“alvus”, “carbasus”, “colus”, “humus”, “vannus”) and many Greek nouns which retain their original gender (“arctus”, “methodus”) - all these are feminine. There also the three nouns “pelagus” (“sea”), “vīrus” (“poison”) and “vulgus” (“crowd”) which are neuter. Their nominative and accusative forms are identical, as with all neuters.

Second Declension Endings Chart (Neuter)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-um	-a
	Genitive	-ī	-ōrum
	Dative	-ō	-īs
	Accusative	= Nominative	= Nominative
	Ablative	-ō	-īs
	Locative	-ī	-īs
	Vocative	= Nominative	= Nominative

Example: Second Declension Nouns (Neuter)

bellum, bellī (war)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	bellum	bella
	Genitive	bell-ī	bellōrum
	Dative	bellō	bellīs
	Accusative	bellum	bella
	Ablative	bellō	bellīs
	Locative	bellī	bellīs
	Vocative	bellum	bella

All nouns ending in -um are neuter.

Third Declension

The third declension is the most diverse and complicated of all the declensions.

Third Declension Endings (Masculine and Feminine)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-a, -e, -ī, -ō, -y, -c, -l, -n, -r, -s, -t, -x	-ēs
	Genitive	-is	-um
	Dative	-ī	-ibus
	Accusative	-em	-ēs
	Ablative	-e	-ibus
	Locative	-ī (-ē)	-ibus
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

Example: Third Declension Nouns (Masculine and Feminine)

ōrātor, ōrātōris (speaker, orator)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	ōrātor	ōrātōrēs
	Genitive	ōrātōris	ōrātōrum
	Dative	ōrātōrī	ōrātōribus
	Accusative	ōrātōrem	ōrātōrēs
	Ablative	ōrātōre	ōrātōribus
	Locative	ōrātōrī (ōrātōrē)	ōrātōribus
	Vocative	ōrātor	ōrātōrēs

Third Declension Endings (Neuter)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative		-a
	Genitive	-is	-ium
	Dative	-ī	-ibus
	Accusative	= Nominative	= Nominative
	Ablative	-ī	-ibus
	Locative	-ī (-ē)	-ibus
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

Example: Third Declension Nouns (Neuter)

tempus, temporis (time)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	tempus	tempora
	Genitive	temporis	temporium
	Dative	temporī	temporibus
	Accusative	tempus	tempora
	Ablative	temporī	temporibus
	Locative	temporī (temporē)	temporibus
	Vocative	tempus	tempora

Warning: Exceptions

There are a few nouns which decline irregularly.

bōs, bovis (cow, ox)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	bōs	bovēs
	Genitive	bovis	boum
	Dative	bovī	bōbbus (būbbus)
	Accusative	bovem	bovēs
	Ablative	bove	bōbbus (būbbus)
	Locative	bovī (bovē)	bōbbus (būbbus)
	Vocative	bōs	bovēs

vīs, vīs (force)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	vīs	vīrēs
	Genitive	vīs	vīrium
	Dative	vī	vīribus
	Accusative	vim	vīrīs (vīrēs)
	Ablative	vī	vīribus
	Locative	vī	vīribus
	Vocative	vīs	vīrēs

Also, some Greek nouns may retain some of their original forms. These are best learnt on a case-by-case basis.

Most nouns ending in -or, -ōs, -er, -es (gen. -itis), -ex (gen. -icis) are masculine. Nouns ending in a consonant + -ō, -ās, -ēs, -is, -ūs, -x or -s are usually feminine. Nouns ending in -a, -e, -l, -n, -ar, -ur or -us are predominantly neuter.

i-Stems

There is a special subset of third-declension nouns known as i-stems. These are a remnant of Old Latin and use slightly different endings. Moreover, there exist two types of i-stem nouns:

• pure i-stems - these use all of the i-stem endings;
• mixed i-stems - these use the i-stem endings only in the plural.

Third Declension i-Stem Endings (Masculine and Feminine)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-	-ēs
	Genitive	-is	-ium
	Dative	-ī	-ibus
	Accusative	-em (-im)	-īs (-ēs)
	Ablative	-ī (-e)	-ibus
	Locative	-ī (-ē)	-ibus
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

Third Declension i-Stem Endings (Neuter)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative		-ia
	Genitive	-is	-ium
	Dative	-ī	-ibus
	Accusative	= Nominative	= Nominative
	Ablative	-ī	-ibus
	Locative	-ī (-ē)	-ibus
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

If multiple forms are present, then the one outside parentheses is preferred.

Most masculine and feminine nouns which have the same number of syllables in the nominative and genitive singular are pure i-stems. Neuter nouns ending in -e, -al or -ar are also usually pure i-stems.

Example: Pure i-Stems

ignis, ignis (fire)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	ignis	ignēs
	Genitive	ignis	ignium
	Dative	ignī	ignibus
	Accusative	ignem (ignim)	ignīs (ignēs)
	Ablative	ignī (igne)	ignibus
	Locative	ignī (ignē)	ignibus
	Vocative	ignis	ignēs

animal, animālis (a living being, animal)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	animal	animālia
	Genitive	animālis	animālium
	Dative	animālī	animālibus
	Accusative	animal	animālia
	Ablative	animālī	animālibus
	Locative	animālī (animālē)	animālibus
	Vocative	animal	animālia

The following words are usually mixed i-stems:

• Nouns ending in -ēs such as “mēlēs,” “nūbēs”, “vulpēs”, etc.;
• Nouns whose nominative singular has only one syllable and ends in a consonant + -s or -x, such as “ars”, “pōns”, “arx”, etc.;
• Nouns whose nominative singular has more than one syllable and ends in -ns or -rs, such as “cliēns” and “cohors”;
• Nouns whose nominative singular ends in -tās and whose genitive singular ends in -tātis, such as “cīvitās”;
• The words “Penātēs”, “optimātēs” as well as nouns denoting birth whose nominative singular in -ās, -īs (with plural -ātēs, -ītēs), such as “Arpīnās” and “Quirīs”;
• The words “dōs”, “fraus”, “glīs”, “līs”, “mās”, “mūs”, “nix”, “nox”, “strix”, “vīs”.

Example: Mixed i-Stems

ars, artis (skill)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	ars	artēs
	Genitive	artis	artium
	Dative	artī	artibus
	Accusative	artem	artīs (artēs)
	Ablative	arte	artibus
	Locative	artī (artē)	artibus
	Vocative	ars	artēs

Fourth Declension

These are the endings used by nouns belonging to the fourth declension.

Fourth Declension Endings (Masculine and Feminine)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-us	-ūs
	Genitive	-ūs	-uum
	Dative	-uī (-ū)	-ibus (-ubus)
	Accusative	-um	-ūs
	Ablative	-ū	-ibus (-ubus)
	Locative	-ī	= Dative
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

Example: Fourth-Declension Nouns (Masculine and Feminine)

manus, manūs (hand)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	manus	manūs
	Genitive	manūs	manuum
	Dative	manuī (manū)	manibus (manubus)
	Accusative	manum	manūs
	Ablative	manū	manibus (manubus)
	Locative	manī	manibus (manubus)
	Vocative	manus	manūs

Fourth Declension Endings (Neuter)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-ū	-ua
	Genitive	-ūs	-uum
	Dative	-ū	-ibus
	Accusative	-ū	-ua
	Ablative	-ū	-ibus
	Locative	-ī	= Dative
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

Example: Fourth Declension Nouns (Neuter)

genū, genūs

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	genū	genua
	Genitive	genūs	genuum
	Dative	genū	genibus
	Accusative	genū	genua
	Ablative	genū	genibus
	Locative	genū	genibus
	Vocative	genū	genua

The vast majority of fourth-declension nouns are masculine. However, some names of trees and plants as well as the words “acus”, “anus”, “colus”, “domus”, “manus”, “nurus”, “porticus”, “socrus” and “tribus” are feminine. The only neuter nouns are “cornū”, “genū”, “pecū” and “verū”.

Fifth Declension

These are the endings used by nouns belonging to the fifth declension.

Fifth Declension Endings

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	-ēs	-ēs
	Genitive	-ēī	-ērum
	Dative	-ēī	-ēbus
	Accusative	-em	-ēs
	Ablative	-ē	-ēbus
	Locative	-ē
	Vocative	=Nominative	= Nominative

The locative is only encountered in the singular and even then only in very specific expressions. The -ēī ending of the genitive and dative singular for the words “fidēs”, “spēs” and “rēs” is shortened to just -eī.

Example: Fifth-Declension Nouns

diēs, diēī (day)

		Number
		Singular	Plural
Case	Nominative	diēs	diēs
	Genitive	diēī	diērum
	Dative	diēī	diēbus
	Accusative	diem	diēs
	Ablative	diē	diēbus
	Locative	diē
	Vocative	diēs	diēs

All fifth-declension nouns are feminine except for “diēs” (“day”) and “merīdiēs” (“noon”), which are masculine.