| Latin grammar |
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Latin is a heavilyinflected language with largelyfree word order.Nouns are inflected fornumber andcase;pronouns andadjectives (includingparticiples) are inflected for number, case, andgender; andverbs are inflected forperson, number,tense,aspect,voice, andmood. The inflections are often changes in the ending of a word, but can be more complicated, especially with verbs.
Thus verbs can take any of over 100 different endings to express different meanings, for exampleregō "I rule",regor "I am ruled",regere "to rule",regī "to be ruled". Most verbal forms consist of a single word, but some tenses are formed from part of the verbsum "I am" added to a participle; for example,ductus sum "I was led" orductūrus est "he is going to lead".
Nouns belong to one of threegrammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The gender of the noun is shown by the last syllables of the adjectives, numbers and pronouns that refer to it: e.g.hic vir "this man",haec fēmina "this woman",hoc bellum "this war". There are also twonumbers: singular (mulier "woman") and plural (mulierēs "women").
As well as having gender and number, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns have different endings according to their function in the sentence, for example,rēx "the king" (subject), butrēgem "the king" (object). These different endings are called "cases". Most nouns have five cases:nominative (subject orcomplement),accusative (object),genitive ("of"),dative ("to" or "for"), andablative ("with", "in", "by" or "from"). Nouns for people (potential addressees) have thevocative (used for addressing someone). Some nouns for places have a seventh case, thelocative; this is mostly found with the names of towns and cities, e.g.Rōmae "in Rome". Adjectives must agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case.
When a noun or pronoun is used with a preposition, the noun must be in either the accusative or the ablative case, depending on the preposition. Thusad "to, near" is always followed by an accusative case, butex "from, out of" is always followed by an ablative. The prepositionin is followed by the ablative when it means "in, on", but by the accusative when it means "into, onto".
There is no definite or indefinitearticle in Latin, so thatrēx can mean "king", "a king", or "the king" according to context.
Latin word order tends to besubject–object–verb; however, other word orders are common. Different word orders are used to express different shades of emphasis. (SeeLatin word order.)
Anadjective can come either before or after anoun, e.g.vir bonus orbonus vir "a good man", although some kinds of adjectives, such as adjectives of nationality (vir Rōmānus "a Roman man") usually follow the noun.
Latin is apro-drop language; that is, pronouns in the subject are usually omitted except for emphasis, so for exampleamās by itself means "you love" without the need to add the pronountū "you". Latin also exhibitsverb framing in which the path of motion is encoded into the verb rather than shown by a separate word or phrase. For example, the Latin verbexit (a compound ofex andit) means "he/she/it goes out".
In this article aline over a vowel (e.g. ē) indicates that it islong.
Most Latin nouns have two numbers, singular and plural:rēx "king",rēgēs "kings". A few nouns, calledplūrālia tantum ("plural only"), although plural in form, have a singular meaning, e.g.castra "a camp",litterae "a letter",nūptiae "a wedding".
Nouns are divided into threegenders, known asmasculine,feminine, andneuter. The difference is shown in the pronouns and adjectives that refer to them, for example:
To a certain extent, the genders follow the meanings of the words (for example, winds are masculine, tree-names feminine):
Neuter nouns differ from masculine and feminine in two ways: (1) the plural nominative and accusative forms end in-a, e.g.bella "wars",corpora "bodies"; (2) the subject (nominative) and object (accusative) cases are identical.
Nouns in Latin have a series of different forms, calledcases of the noun, which have different functions or meanings. For example, the word for "king" isrēx when it is the subject of a verb, butrēgem when it is the object:
Further cases mean "of" (genitive case), "to/for" (dative case), and "with" (ablative case).
Nouns for people have a separate form used for addressing a person (vocative case). In most nouns for women and girls, the vocative is the same as the nominative.
Some nouns, such as the names of cities and small islands, and the worddomus "home", have a seventh case called thelocative, for exampleRōmae "in Rome" ordomī "at home"; however, most nouns do not have this case.
The genitive, dative and ablative cases are called the "oblique" cases.
The order in which the cases are given in grammar books differs in different countries. In Britain and countries influenced by Britain, the order nominative, vocative, accusative is used as in the table below.[1] In the United States, in grammars such as Gildersleeve and Lodge'sLatin Grammar (1895), the traditional order is used, with the genitive case in the second place and ablative last. In the popularly usedWheelock's Latin (1956, 7th edition 2011) and Allen and Greenough'sNew Latin Grammar (1903), however, the vocative is placed at the end.
The following table shows the endings of a typical noun of the 3rd declension.[2] If Gildersleeve and Lodge's order is preferred, click on the symbol "GL" in the seventh column in the table below; for Wheelock's order click on "Wh":
| Name of case | Use | sing. | meaning | plur. | meaning | Br | GL | Wh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Subject | rēx | a king, the king | rēgēs | kings, the kings | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vocative | Addressing | rēx | o king! | rēgēs | o kings! | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Accusative | Object, goal | rēgem | a king, the king (object) | rēgēs | kings, the kings (object) | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Genitive | of | rēgis | of the king, of a king | rēgum | of kings, of the kings | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Dative | to, for | rēgī | to the king | rēgibus | to kings, to the kings | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Ablative | with, by, from, in | rēge | with the king | rēgibus | with the kings | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Sometimes the same endings, e.g.-ēs and-ibus, are used for more than one case. Since the function of a word in Latin is shown by ending rather than word order, in theoryrēgēs dūcunt could mean either "the kings lead" or "they lead the kings". In practice, however, such ambiguities are rare.
Latin nouns are divided into different groups according to the patterns of their case endings. These different groups are known asdeclensions. Nouns with-a in the nominative singular, likepuella "girl" are known as1st declension nouns, and so on.
The following table shows the declension ofpuella "girl" (1st declension),dominus "lord, master" (2nd declension masculine), andbellum "war" (2nd declension neuter):[3]
| Case | feminine | masculine | neuter | Br | GL | Wh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | 1 pl. | 2 sg. | 2 pl. | 2n sg. | 2n pl. | |||||||
| Nominative | puella | puellae | dominus | dominī | bellum | bella | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Vocative | puella | puellae | domine | dominī | bellum | bella | 2 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Accusative | puellam | puellās | dominum | dominōs | bellum | bella | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Genitive | puellae | puellārum | dominī | dominōrum | bellī | bellōrum | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Dative | puellae | puellīs | dominō | dominīs | bellō | bellīs | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Ablative | puellā | puellīs | dominō | dominīs | bellō | bellīs | 6 | 6 | 5 | |||
1st declension nouns are usually feminine, except for a few referring to men, such asagricola "farmer" orpoēta "poet". The nounsfīlia "daughter" anddea "goddess" have dative and ablative pluralfīliābus, deābus. The locative case ends in-ae, pl.-īs, e.g.Rōmae "in Rome",Athēnīs "in Athens".[4]
2nd declension nouns in-us are usually masculine, but those referring to trees (e.g.pīnus "pine tree") and some place names (e.g.Aegyptus "Egypt") are feminine. A few 2nd declension nouns, such asvir "man" andpuer "boy", lack endings in the nominative and vocative singular. In the 2nd declension, the genitive plural in some words is optionally-um, especially in poetry:[5][6]deum ordeōrum "of the gods",virum orvirōrum "of men".
Neuter nouns such asbellum "war" have-a in the nominative plural. In neuter nouns, the vocative and accusative are always the same as the nominative; the genitive, dative, and ablative are the same as the masculine. Most 2nd declension neuter nouns end in-um butvīrus "poison" andvulgus "crowd" end in-us.
Third declension nouns have various patterns of declension. Some decline like the following:mīles "soldier",urbs "city",corpus "body":[7]
| Case | masculine | feminine | neuter | Br | GL | Wh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 sg. | 3 pl. | 3 sg. | 3 pl. | 3n sg. | 3n pl. | |||||||
| Nominative | mīles | mīlitēs | urbs | urbēs | corpus | corpora | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Vocative | mīles | mīlitēs | urbs | urbēs | corpus | corpora | 2 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Accusative | mīlitem | mīlitēs | urbem | urbēs/-īs | corpus | corpora | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Genitive | mīlitis | mīlitum | urbis | urbium | corporis | corporum | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Dative | mīlitī | mīlitibus | urbī | urbibus | corporī | corporibus | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Ablative | mīlite | mīlitibus | urbe | urbibus | corpore | corporibus | 6 | 6 | 5 | |||
There are some variations, however. A few, such asvīs, vim, vī "force", have accusative singular-im and ablative singular-ī; some, likeignis "fire", optionally have-ī instead of-e in the ablative singular. The genitive plural in some nouns is-um, in others-ium. (For details, seeLatin declension.) 3rd declension nouns can be of any gender.
It is not usually possible to guess the genitive of a noun from the nominative:dux "leader" has genitiveducis butrēx "king" hasrēgis;pater "father" has genitivepatris butiter "journey" hasitineris. For this reason the genitive is always given in dictionaries, and can be used to deduce the remaining cases.
4th and 5th declension nouns are less common. They decline like the following (manus "hand",genū "knee",diēs "day"):[8]
| Case | feminine | neuter | Br | GL | Wh | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 sg. | 4 pl. | 4 sg. | 4 pl. | 5 sg. | 5 pl. | |||||||
| Nominative | manus | manūs | genū | genua | diēs | diēs | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Vocative | manus | manūs | genū | genua | diēs | diēs | 2 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Accusative | manum | manūs | genū | genua | diēm | diēs | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Genitive | manūs | manuum | genūs | genuum | diēī | diērum | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Dative | manuī | manibus | genuī, genū | genibus | diēī | diēbus | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Ablative | manū | manibus | genū | genibus | diē | diēbus | 6 | 6 | 5 | |||
4th declension nouns are usually masculine, but a few, such asmanus "hand" andanus "old lady", are feminine. There are only four 4th declension neuter nouns.[9]
5th declension nouns (except fordiēs (m) "day") are usually feminine.rēs "thing" is similar todiēs except for a shorte in the genitive and dative singularreī.
In addition to the above there are some irregularly declined nouns, mostly borrowed from Greek, such as the nameAenēās "Aeneas" (1st declension masculine).[10]
The vocative is nearly always the same as the nominative, except in 1st and 2nd declension masculine singular words, such asAenēā! "Aeneas!" anddomine! "master!/lord!". Some words, such asdeus "god", have no separate vocative, however.
Thenominative case is used for thesubject of anactive or apassive verb:
It is also used for thecomplement of acopula verb such asest "he is" orfactus est "he became":[11]
Thevocative case is used when addressing someone:
Theaccusative case is used for the object of a sentence:[12]
It is also used as the subject of an infinitival clause dependent on a verb of speaking or the like:
It can be the complement of another word which is itself accusative:
It can also be used with a place name to refer to the destination:
The accusative is also used after various prepositions (especially those that imply motion towards):
Another use of the accusative is to give a length of time or distance:
Agenitive noun can represent possession or relationship:
A genitive noun can stand for the object of mental processes such asmisereor "I pity" andoblīvīscor "I forget":[13]
A genitive noun attached to a verbal noun can stand for the object of the implied verb (called an "objective genitive"):
A genitive noun can stand for the subject of the implied verb (called a "subjective" genitive):[16]
A frequent type of genitive is the partitive genitive, expressing the quantity of something:[17]
Thedative case means "to" or "for". It is frequently used with verbs of saying or giving:
It can also be used with certain adjectives:
It is also used with certain verbs such aspāreō "I obey" orpersuādeō "I persuade":[19]
There are also various idiomatic uses, such as the dative of possession:
Theablative case can mean "with", especially when the noun it refers to is a thing rather than a person:[21]
Often a phrase consisting of a noun plus participle in the ablative can express time or circumstance. This is known as an "ablative absolute":[22]
It is also frequently used with prepositions, especially those meaning "from", "with", "in", or "by":
Another use is in expressions of time and place (except those that give the length of time or distance):
The ablative can also mean "from", especially with place names:[23]
Thelocative is a rare case used only with names of cities, small islands, and one or two other words such asdomus "home". It means "at" or "in":[24]
Adjectives, like nouns, have different endings for the different cases, singular and plural. They also differ as to gender, having different forms for masculine, feminine, and neuter. (But masculine and neuter are identical in the genitive, dative, and ablative cases.)
Many adjectives belong to the 1st and 2nd declensions, declining in the same way as the nounspuella, dominus, bellum. An example is the adjectivebonus "good" shown below:
| Case | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | m. pl | f. pl. | n. pl. | Br | GL | Wh | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bonus | bona | bonum | bonī | bonae | bona | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Vocative | bone | bona | bonum | bonī | bonae | bona | 2 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Accusative | bonum | bonam | bonum | bonōs | bonās | bona | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Genitive | bonī | bonae | bonī | bonōrum | bonārum | bonōrum | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Dative | bonō | bonae | bonō | bonīs | bonīs | bonīs | 5 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Ablative | bonō | bonā | bonō | bonīs | bonīs | bonīs | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Other adjectives belong to the 3rd declension, in which case the masculine and feminine are usually identical. Most 3rd declension adjectives are i-stems, and have ablative singular-ī and genitive plural-ium. An example isingēns "huge" shown below:
| Case | m/f. sg. | n. sg. | m/f. pl | n. pl. | Br | GL | Wh | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ingēns | ingēns | ingentēs | ingentia | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Vocative | ingēns | ingēns | ingentēs | ingentia | 2 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Accusative | ingentem | ingēns | ingentēs/-īs | ingentia | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Genitive | ingentis | ingentis | ingentium | ingentium | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Dative | ingentī | ingentī | ingentibus | ingentibus | 5 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Ablative | ingentī | ingentī | ingentibus | ingentibus | 6 | 6 | 5 |
In a very few 3rd declension adjectives such asācer, ācris, ācre "sharp, keen", the feminine is different from the masculine, but only in the nominative and vocative singular.
A few adjectives (especially comparative adjectives) decline as consonant stems, and have ablative singular-e and genitive plural-um. An example ismelior "better":
| Case | m/f. sg. | n. sg. | m/f. pl | n. pl. | Br | GL | Wh | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | melior | melius | meliōres | meliōra | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Vocative | melior | melius | meliōrēs | meliōra | 2 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Accusative | meliōrem | melius | meliōrēs | meliōra | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Genitive | meliōris | meliōris | meliōrum | meliōrum | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Dative | meliōrī | meliōrī | meliōribus | meliōribus | 5 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Ablative | meliōre | meliōre | meliōribus | meliōribus | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Participles such asdūcēns "leading" usually have-e in the ablative singular, but-ium in the genitive plural.[27]
There are no adjectives in the 4th or 5th declensions.
The adjectivessōlus "only" andtōtus "the whole of" decline like pronouns, with genitive singular-īus and dative singular-ī:
Any adjective that describes or refers to a noun must be in the same case as the noun, as well as the same number and gender. Thus in the phrase below, whererēx is in the vocative singular case,bonus must be in the vocative singular also:
Adjectives have positive, comparative and superlative forms. Superlative adjectives are declined according to the first and second declension, but comparative adjectives are third declension.
When used in sentences, a comparative adjective can be used in several ways:
Examples:
The comparative adjective can be used absolutely (i.e. without any overt comparison) or with the comparison made explicit:
Superlative adjectives are most frequently used absolutely, but they can also be used with the genitiveomnium "of all":
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| longus, -a, -um long, tall | longior, -ius longer, taller | longissimus, -a, -um very long, longest |
| brevis, -e short | brevior, -ius shorter | brevissimus, -a, -um very short, shortest |
| pulcher, -chra, -chrum beautiful | pulchrior, -ius more beautiful | pulcherrimus, -a, -um very beautiful, most beautiful |
| bonus, -a, -um good | melior, -ius better | optimus, -a, -um very good, best |
| facilis, -is, -e easy | facilior, -ius easier | facillimus, -a, -um very easy, easiest |
| magnus, -a, -um great | maior, -ius greater | maximus, -a, -um very great, greatest |
| malus, -a, -um bad | peior, -ius worse | pessimus, -a, -um very bad, worst |
| multus, -a, -um much | plūs (+ genitive) more | plūrimus, -a, -um very much, most |
| multī, -ae, -a many | plūres, plūra more | plūrimī, -ae, -a very many, most |
| parvus, -a, -um small | minor smaller | minimus, -a, -um very small, smallest |
| superus, -a, -um situated above | superior, -ius higher, previous | suprēmus, -a, -um / summus, -a, -um highest, last |
| (prae) before | prior, prius earlier | prīmus, -a, -um first |
Detailed information and declension tables can be found atLatin declension.
Pronouns are of two kinds, personal pronouns and 3rd person pronouns. Personal pronouns decline as follows.
| Case | I | you sg. | himself/ herself | we | you pl. | themselves | Br | Am | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ego | tū | – | nōs | vōs | – | 1 | 1 | |
| Accusative | mē | tē | sē / sēsē | nōs | vōs | sē / sēsē | 3 | 4 | |
| Genitive | meī | tuī | suī | nostrum/-trī | vestrum/-trī | suī | 4 | 2 | |
| Dative | mihī | tibī | sibī | nōbīs | vōbīs | sibī | 5 | 3 | |
| Ablative | mē | tē | sē / sēsē | nōbīs | vōbīs | sē / sēsē | 6 | 6 |
mē, tē, nōs, vōs can also be used reflexively ("I see myself" etc.).[28]
Nōs is frequently used in classical Latin for "I", butvōs is never used in a singular sense.[29]
The genitivenostrum is used partitively (ūnusquisque nostrum "each one of us"),nostrī objectively (memor nostrī "remembering us, mindful of us").[30][28]
3rd person pronouns are those such ashic "this" andipse "(he) himself". The 3rd person pronouns can also be used adjectivally (except thatquid "what?" when adjectival becomesquod). The declension of these pronouns tends to be irregular. They generally have-īus in the genitive singular, and-ī in the dative singular. In a few pronouns (illud "that",istud "that (of yours)",id "it, that",quod "which",quid "anything; what?",aliud "another",aliquid "something") the neuter singular ends in-d.
The declension ofille "that" is as follows:[31]
| Case | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | m. pl | f. pl. | n. pl. | Br | Am | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ille | illa | illud | illī | illae | illa | 1 | 1 | |
| Accusative | illum | illam | illud | illōs | illās | illa | 3 | 4 | |
| Genitive | illīus (illius) | illīus | illīus | illōrum | illārum | illōrum | 4 | 2 | |
| Dative | illī | illī | illī | illīs | illīs | illīs | 5 | 3 | |
| Ablative | illō | illā | illō | illīs | illīs | illīs | 6 | 6 |
Ipse "he himself" is very similar, except that the neuter singularipsum ends in-m instead of-d.
Other very common 3rd person pronouns arehic, haec, hoc "this" andis, ea, id "he, she, it; that". Like other 3rd person pronouns, these can be used either independently (is "he") or adjectivally (is homō "that man"):
| Case | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | m. pl | f. pl. | n. pl. | Br | Am | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | hic | haec | hoc | hī | hae | haec | 1 | 1 | |
| Accusative | hunc | hanc | hoc | hōs | hās | haec | 3 | 4 | |
| Genitive | huius | huius | huius | hōrum | hārum | hōrum | 4 | 2 | |
| Dative | huic | huic | huic | hīs | hīs | hīs | 5 | 3 | |
| Ablative | hōc | hāc | hōc | hīs | hīs | hīs | 6 | 6 |
Before a vowel,hic andhoc are pronounced as if spelledhicc andhocc.Huius is pronounced as if spelledhuiius with a long first syllable.[32]
| Case | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | m. pl | f. pl. | n. pl. | Br | Am | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | is | ea | id | iī | eae | ea | 1 | 1 | |
| Accusative | eum | eam | id | eōs | eās | ea | 3 | 4 | |
| Genitive | eius | eius | eius | eōrum | eārum | eōrum | 4 | 2 | |
| Dative | eī | eī | eī | eīs/iīs | eīs/iīs | eīs/iīs | 5 | 3 | |
| Ablative | eō | eā | eō | eīs/iīs | eīs/iīs | eīs/iīs | 6 | 6 |
Also very common is the relative pronounquī, quae, quod "who, which". The interrogativequis? quid? "who? what?" and indefinitequis, qua, quid "anyone, anything" are similar apart from the nominative singular:[33]
| Case | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | m. pl | f. pl. | n. pl. | Br | Am | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | quī | quae | quod | quī | quae | quae | 1 | 1 | |
| Accusative | quem | quam | quod | quōs | quās | quae | 3 | 4 | |
| Genitive | cuius | cuius | cuius | quōrum | quārum | quōrum | 4 | 2 | |
| Dative | cui | cui | cui | quibus | quibus | quibus | 5 | 3 | |
| Ablative | quō | quā | quō | quibus | quibus | quibus | 6 | 6 |
Like adjectives, pronouns must agree in gender, case, and number with the nouns they refer to, as in the following, wherehic is masculine agreeing withamor, buthaec is feminine, agreeing withpatria:
There is noindefinite article ordefinite article (the, a, an). Sometimes the weakdetermineris, ea, id (English "that, this") can serve for the definite article:
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs by indicating time, place or manner. Latin adverbs are indeclinable and invariable. Like adjectives, adverbs have positive, comparative and superlative forms.
The positive form of an adverb can often be formed from an adjective by appending the suffix-ē (2nd declension adjectives) or-(t)er (3rd declension adjectives). Thus the adjectiveclārus, -a, -um, which means "bright", can be contrasted to the adverbclārē, which means "brightly". The adverbial ending-(i)ter is used to form adverbs from 3rd declension adjectives, for exampleceler "quick",celeriter "quickly". Other endings such as-ō,-e,-tim are also found.
The comparative form of an adverb is the same as the neuter nominative singular form of a comparative adjective and usually ends in-ius. Instead of the adjectiveclārior, which means "brighter", the adverb isclārius, which means "more brightly".
The superlative adverb has the same base as the superlative adjective and always ends in a long-ē. Instead of the adjectiveclārissimus, which mean "very bright" or "brightest", the adverb isclārissimē, which means "very brightly" or "most brightly".
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| dignē worthily | dignius more worthily | dignissimē very worthily, most worthily |
| fortiter bravely | fortius more bravely | fortissimē very bravely, most bravely |
| facile easily | facilius more easily | facillimē very easily, most easily |
| bene well | melius better | optimē very well, best |
| male badly | peius worse | pessimē very badly, worst |
| magnopere greatly | magis more | maximē very greatly, most, especially |
| paulum a little | minus less | minimē very little, least |
| multum much | plūs more | plūrimum very much, most |
| diū for a long time | diūtius for a longer time, any longer | diūtissimē for a very long time |
| saepe often | saepius more often | saepissimē very often, most often |
A prepositional phrase in Latin is made up of apreposition followed by a noun phrase in the accusative or ablative case. The preposition determines the case that is used, with some prepositions allowing different cases depending on the meaning. For example, Latinin takes the accusative case when it indicates motion (English "into") and the ablative case when it indicates position (English "on" or "inside"):
Most prepositions take one case only. For example, all those that mean "from", "by", or "with" take the ablative:
Other prepositions take only the accusative:
In addition, there are a few postpositions.tenus "as far as" usually follows an ablative, sometimes a genitive plural case:[37]
versus "towards" is usually combined withad orin:
causā "for the sake of" follows a genitive:
The wordcum "with" is usually a preposition, but with the personal pronounsmē, tē, sē, nōbīs, vōbīs "me, you sg., him/herself/themselves, us, you pl." it follows the pronoun and is joined to it in writing:
Bothquōcum andcum quō "with whom" are found.
| Preposition | Case | Meaning, notes |
|---|---|---|
| ā,ab,abs | + abl | from; down from; at, in, on, (of time) after, since (source of action or event) by, of |
| absque | + abl | without (archaic, cf. sine and praeter) |
| ad | + acc | towards, to, at |
| adversus,adversum | + acc | towards, against (also an adverb) |
| ante | + acc | before (also an adverb) |
| apud | +acc | at, by, near, among;chez; before, in the presence of, in the writings of, in view of |
| causā | + gen | for the sake of (normally after its noun; simply the abl. of causa) |
| circum | + acc | about, around, near; |
| circā | + acc | around, near, about; regarding, concerning |
| circiter | + acc | (of place and time) near, close, round about |
| cis | + acc | on, to this, the near side of, short of; before |
| citrā | + acc | on this side of (also an adverb) |
| clam | + acc & + abl | without the knowledge of, unknown to (also an adverb). Its use with the ablative is rare.Clanculum is a variant of this preposition. |
| contrā | + acc | against, opposite to, contrary to, otherwise, in return to, back |
| cōram | + abl | in person, face to face; publicly, openly |
| cum | + abl | with |
| dē | + abl | from, concerning, about; down from, out of |
| ergā | + acc | against, opposite; towards, with regard to (sometimes placed after the noun or pronoun) |
| ex,ē | + abl | out of, from |
| extrā | + acc | outside of, beyond |
| fīne, fīnī | + gen | up to (ablative of fīnis). Can also be a postposition.[38] |
| grātiā | + gen | for the sake of. Usually placed after the noun.[39] |
| in | + acc | into, onto, to; about, respecting; according to; against |
| + abl | in, among, at, on (space); during, at (time) | |
| īnfrā | + acc | below |
| inter | + acc | between, among; during, while |
| intrā | + acc | within, inside; during; in less than |
| iūxtā | + acc | nearly; near, close to, just as. Can also follow the noun.[40] |
| ob | + acc | in the direction of, to, towards; on account of, according to, because of, due to, for (the purpose of); against; facing |
| palam | + abl | without concealment, openly, publicly, undisguisedly, plainly, unambiguously |
| penes | + acc | Under one's government or command; In one's disposal or custody; At, with, about, concerning |
| per | + acc | through, by means of; during |
| pōne | + acc | behind; in the rear of |
| post | + acc | behind (of space); afterwards, after (of time) |
| prae | + abl | before, in front of, because of |
| praeter | + acc | besides, except; beyond; more than |
| prō | + abl | for, on behalf of; before; in front, instead of; about; according to; as, like; as befitting |
| procul | + abl | far, at a distance |
| prope | + acc | near, nearby, (figuratively) towards, about (in time) |
| propter | + acc | near, close to, hard by; because of, on account of, for; (rare) through, by means of |
| secundum | + acc | next, along, according to |
| simul | + abl | with |
| sine | + abl | without |
| sub | + acc | under, up to, up under, close to (of a motion); until, before, up to, about |
| + abl | (to) under, (to) beneath; near to, up to, towards; about, around (time) | |
| subter | + acc | under, underneath; following (in order or rank); in the reign of |
| + abl | underneath, (figuratively) below inferior | |
| super | + acc | above, over, beyond; during |
| + abl | concerning, regarding, about | |
| suprā | + acc | above, over, more than, before |
| tenus | + gen & + abl | (with genitive and ablative) right up to, as far as, just as far as; (with ablative, of a process) up to (a given stage of); (with genitive and ablative, of limitation) to the maximum extent of, within. Used as a postposition.[37] |
| trāns | + acc | across, beyond |
| versus, versum | + acc | towards (postposition, usually combined withad orin)[41] |
| ultrā | + acc | beyond |
The first three numbers have masculine, feminine and neuter forms fully declined as follows:[42]
| Declension | 1 m | f | n | 2 m | f | n | 3 mf | n | Br | GL | Wh | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ūnus | ūna | ūnum | duo | duae | duo | trēs | tria | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Vocative | ūne | ūna | ūnum | duo | duae | duo | trēs | tria | 2 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Accusative | ūnum | ūnam | ūnum | duōs/duo | duās | duo | trēs/trīs | tria | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Genitive | ūnīus/-ius | ūnīus | ūnīus | duōrum | duārum | duōrum | trium | trium | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Dative | ūnī | ūnī | ūnī | duōbus | duābus | duōbus | tribus | tribus | 5 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Ablative | ūnō | ūnā | ūnō | duōbus | duābus | duōbus | tribus | tribus | 6 | 6 | 5 |
ūnus (one) can also be used in the plural, with plural-only nouns, e.g.ūna castra "one camp",ūnae litterae "one letter". For larger numbers plural-only nouns use special numerals:bīna castra "two camps",trīna castra "three camps". (SeeLatin numerals.)
The numbersquattuor (four) throughdecem (ten) are not declined:
The "tens" numbers are also not declined:
The numbers 11 to 17 are formed by affixation of the corresponding digit to the base-decim, henceūndecim, duodecim, tredecim, quattuordecim, quīndecim, sēdecim, septendecim. The numbers 18 and 19 are formed by subtracting 2 and 1, respectively, from 20:duodēvīgintī andūndēvīgintī. For the numbers 21 to 27, the digits either follow or are added to 20 by the conjunctionet:vīgintī ūnus orūnus et vīgintī, vīgintī duo orduo et vīgintī etc. The numbers 28 and 29 are again formed by subtraction:duodētrīgintā andūndētrīgintā. Each group of ten numerals through 100 follows the patterns of the 20s but 98 isnōnāgintā octō and 99 isnōnāgintā novem rather than *duodēcentum and *ūndēcentum respectively.
Compounds ending in 1 2 and 3 are the only ones to decline:
The "hundreds" numbers are the following:
However, 1000 ismille, an indeclinable adjective, but multiples such asduo mīlia (2000) havemīlia as a neuter plural substantive followed by a partitive genitive:
Ordinal numbers are all adjectives with regular first- and second-declension endings. Most are built off of the stems of cardinal numbers (for example,trīcēsimus, -a, -um (30th) fromtrīgintā (30),sēscentēsimus, -a, -umnōnus, -a, -um (609th) forsēscentī novem (609). However, "first" isprīmus, -a, -um, and "second" issecundus, -a, -um (literally "following" the first;sequi means "to follow").
Each tense has endings corresponding to three persons in the singular, known as1st person singular ("I"),2nd person singular ("you sg."),3rd person singular ("he, she, it"), and three in the plural, known as1st person plural ("we"),2nd person plural ("you pl."), and3rd person plural ("they"). Unlike Ancient Greek, there is nodual number in the Latin verb.
| 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. | I you sg. he, she, it | amō amās amat | I love you sg. love he, she, it loves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. | we you pl. they | amāmus amātis amant | we love you pl. love they love |
Unlike in Spanish, French, and other Romance languages, there are no respectful 2nd person forms in Latin grammar: the 2nd person singular is used even when addressing a person of high status. However, the 1st person plural is often used to mean "I".[29]
Most verbs do not show grammatical gender: the same ending is used whether the subject is "he", "she", or "it". However, when a verb is made periphrastically out of a participle and part of the verbsum "I am", the participle shows gender, for example:
Impersonal verbs, such asnūntiātum est "it was reported", are neuter singular.
Latin verbs have two voices,active (e.g.dūcō "I lead") andpassive (e.g.dūcor "I am led").
| Active | (doing) | dūcō | I lead, I am leading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive | (being done) | dūcor | I am led, I am being led |
In addition there are a few verbs (e.g.sequor "I follow") which have the endings of passive verbs but with an active meaning, a relic of the oldermediopassive voice. These verbs are known asdeponent verbs.[43]Intransitive verbs such assum "I am" usually have no passive voice. However, some intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice, but only when impersonal, e.g.pugnātum est "(a battle) was fought",ventum est "they came" (literally, "it was come").
Latin verbs have threemoods: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative:[44]
| Indicative | (actual) | dūcit | he leads, he is leading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subjunctive | (potential) | dūcat | he may/would/should lead |
| Imperative | (command) | dūc! | lead! |
Ordinary statements such asdūcō "I lead" orvēnit "he came" are said to be in theindicative mood. Thesubjunctive mood (e.g.dūcat "he may lead, he would lead" ordūxisset "he would have led") is used for potential or hypothetical statements, wishes, and also inreported speech and certain types of subordinate clause. Theimperative mood (e.g.dūc "lead!") is a command.
In addition Latin verbs have a number of non-finite forms, such as theinfinitive and various participles.
Most Latin verbs are regular and follow one of the five patterns below.[45] These are referred to as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugation, according to whether the infinitive ends in-āre, -ēre, -ere or-īre.[46] (Verbs likecapiō are regarded as variations of the 3rd conjugation, with some forms like those of the 4th conjugation.)
Other verbs likesum "I am" are irregular and have their own pattern.[47]
| REGULAR | I love | I see | I lead | I capture | I hear | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present tense active | I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they | amō amās amat amāmus amātis amant | videō vidēs videt vidēmus vidētis vident | dūcō dūcis dūcit dūcimus dūcitis ducunt | capiō capis capit capimus capitis capiunt | audiō audīs audit audīmus audītis audiunt |
| Infinitive | to | amāre (1) | vidēre (2) | dūcere (3) | capere (3) | audīre (4) |
| I am loved | I am seen | I am led | I am captured | I am heard | ||
| Present tense passive | I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they | amor amāris amātur amāmur amāminī amantur | videor vidēris vidētur vidēmur vidēminī videntur | dūcor dūceris dūcitur dūcimur dūciminī ducuntur | capior caperis capitur capimur capiminī capiuntur | audior audīris audītur audīmur audīminī audiuntur |
| Infinitive | to | amārī (1) | vidērī (2) | dūcī (3) | capī (3) | audīrī (4) |
| IRREGULAR | I am | I am able | I bring | I want | I go | |
| Present tense | I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they | sum es est sumus estis sunt | possum potes potest possumus potestis possunt | ferō fers fert ferimus fertis ferunt | volō vīs vult volumus vultis volunt | eō īs it īmus ītis eunt |
| Infinitive | to | esse | posse | ferre | velle | īre |
Compound verbs such asadsum "I am present",nōlō "I don't want",redeō "I go back", etc., usually have the same endings as the simple verbs from which they are made.
Latin verbs have six basictenses in the indicative mood. Three of these are based on the present stem (e.g.dūc-) and three on the perfect stem (e.g.dūx-).
In addition, there are four tenses in the subjunctive mood, and two in the imperative.
Further tenses can be made periphrastically by combining participles with the verbssum "I am" orhabeō "I have", for exampleductūrus eram "I was going to lead" orductum habeō "I have led".
The following table gives the various forms of a 3rd conjugation verbdūcō. As with other verbs, three different stems are needed to make the various tenses:dūc- in the three non-perfect tenses,dūx- in the three perfect tenses, andduct- in the perfect participle and supine. The perfect and supine stems for any particular verb cannot always be predicted and usually have to be looked up in a dictionary.
| INDICATIVE | Active | Passive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | dūcō dūcis dūcit dūcimus dūcitis dūcunt | I lead, I am leading you lead he/she/it leads we lead you pl. lead they lead | dūcor dūceris dūcitur dūcimur dūciminī dūcuntur | I am led, I am being led you are led he/she/it is led we are led you pl. are led they are led |
| Future | dūcam dūcēs dūcet dūcēmus dūcētis dūcent | I will lead, I will be leading you will lead he/she/it will lead we will lead you pl. will lead they will lead | dūcar dūcēris/-e dūcētur dūcēmur dūcēminī dūcentur | I will be led, I will be being led you will be led he/she/it will be led we will be led you pl. will be led they will be led |
| Imperfect | dūcēbam dūcēbās dūcēbat dūcēbāmus dūcēbātis dūcēbant | I was leading, used to lead you were leading he/she/it was leading we were leading you pl. were leading they were leading | dūcēbar dūcēbāris/-re dūcēbātur dūcēbāmur dūcēbāminī dūcēbantur | I was being led, I used to be led you were being led he/she/it was being led we were being led you pl. were being led they were being led |
| Perfect | dūxī dūxistī dūxit dūximus dūxistis dūxērunt/-ēre | I led, I have led you led he/she/it led we led you pl. led they led | ductus sum ductus es ductus est ductī sumus ductī estis ductī sunt | I was led, I have been led you were led he was led we were led you pl. were led they were led |
| Future Perfect | dūxerō dūxerīs/-is dūxerit dūxerīmus dūxerītis dūxerint | I will have led you will have led he/she/it will have led we will have led you pl. will have led they will have led | ductus erō ductus eris ductus erit ductī erimus ductī eritis ductī erunt | I will have been led you will have been led he will have been led we will have been led you pl. will have been led they will have been led |
| Pluperfect | dūxeram dūxerās dūxerat dūxerāmus dūxerātis dūxerant | I had led you had led he/she/it had led we had led you pl. had led they had led | ductus eram ductus erās ductus erat ductī erāmus ductī erātis ductī erant | I had been led you had been led he had been led we had been led you pl. had been led they had been led |
| SUBJUNCTIVE | ||||
| Present | dūcam dūcās dūcat dūcāmus dūcātis dūcant | I may lead, I would lead you would lead he/she/it would lead we would lead you pl. would lead they would lead | dūcar dūcāris dūcātur dūcāmur dūcāminī dūcantur | I may be led, I would be led you would be led he/she/it would be led we would be led you pl. would be led they would be led |
| Imperfect | dūcerem dūcerēs dūceret dūcerēmus dūcerētis dūcerent | I might lead, should lead you might lead he/she/it might lead we might lead you pl. might lead they might lead | dūcerer dūcerēris dūcerētur dūcerēmur dūcerēminī dūcerentur | I might be led you might be led he/she/it might be led we might be led you pl. might be led they might be led |
| Perfect | dūxerim dūxerīs dūxerit dūxerīmus dūxerītis dūxerint | I would have led, I led you would have led he/she/it would have led we would have led you pl. would lead they would have led | ductus sim ductus sīs ductus sit ductī sīmus ductī sītis ductī sint | I would have been led, I was led you were led he was led we were led you pl. were led they were led |
| Pluperfect | dūxissem dūxissēs dūxisset dūxissēmus dūxissētis dūxissent | I would have led, I had led you would have led he/she/it would have led we would have led you pl. would have led they would have led | ductus essem ductus essēs ductus esset ductī essēmus ductī essētis ductī essent | I would have been led you would have been led he would have been led we would have been led you pl. would have been led they would have been led |
| IMPERATIVE | ||||
| Present | dūc! dūcite! | lead! (sg.) lead! (pl.) | (dūcere!) (dūciminī!) | be led! be led! (pl.) |
| Future | dūcitō! dūcitōte! | lead! (sg.) lead! (pl.) | ||
| 3rd person | dūcitō dūcuntō | he must lead they must lead | ||
| INFINITIVES | ||||
| Present | dūcere | to lead | dūcī | to be led |
| Future | ductūrus esse | to be going to lead | ductum īrī | to be going to be led |
| Perfect | dūxisse | to have led | ductus esse | to have been led |
| Periphrastic perfect | ductūrus fuisse | to have been going to lead | ||
| PARTICIPLES | ||||
| Present | dūcēns dūcentēs | (while) leading (sg.) (while) leading (pl.) | ||
| Future | ductūrus/a/um | going to lead | ||
| Perfect | ductus/a/um | having been led | ||
| GERUNDIVE | dūcendus/a/um | (needing) to be led | ||
| GERUND | ad dūcendum dūcendī dūcendō | with a view to leading of leading by leading | ||
| SUPINE | ductum (it) (facile) ductū | (he goes) in order to lead (easy) to lead |
A distinction between perfectiveaspect (I did) and imperfective aspect (I was doing) is found only in the past in Latin. In the present or future, the same tenses have both aspectual meanings.
Unlike in Ancient Greek or modern English, there is no distinction between perfect (I have done) and simple past (I did). The same tense, known in Latin grammar as the perfect tense, has both meanings.
The passive imperative is almost never used except in deponent verbs, e.g.sequere mē! "follow me!"
The different conjugations differ in some tenses. For example, in thefuture tense:
In theimperfect indicative:
They also differ in thepresent subjunctive:
Theimperfect subjunctive of every verb looks like the infinitive + an ending:
In the variousperfect tenses, all verbs have regular endings. However, the stem to which the perfect endings are added cannot always be guessed, and so is given in dictionaries.
Latin allows a very flexible word order because of its inflectional syntax. Ordinary prose tended to follow the pattern of subject, direct object, indirect object, adverbial words or phrases, verb (with the proviso that when noun and verb make a compound, asimpetum facio "I attack / make an attack" the noun is generally placed close to the verb).[48] Any extra but subordinate verb, such as an infinitive, is placed before the main verb. Adjectives and participles usually directly follow nouns unless they are adjectives of beauty, size, quantity, goodness, or truth, in which case they usually precede the noun being modified. However, departures from these rules are frequent.
Relative clauses are commonly placed after the antecedent that the relative pronoun describes. Since grammatical function in a sentence is based not on word order but on inflection, the usual word order in Latin was often abandoned with no detriment to understanding but with various changes in emphasis.
While these patterns of word order were the most frequent in Classical Latin prose, they were frequently varied. The strongest surviving evidence suggests that the word order ofcolloquial Latin was mostlySubject-Object-Verb. That can be found in some veryconservative Romance languages, such asSardinian andSicilian in which the verb is still often placed at the end of the sentence (seeVulgar Latin). On the other hand,subject-verb-object word order was probably also common in ancient Latin conversation, as it is prominent in theRomance languages, which evolved from Latin.[49]
Inpoetry, however, word order was often changed for the sake of the meter for which vowel quantity (short vowels vs. long vowels and diphthongs) and consonant clusters, not rhyme and word stress, governed the patterns. One must bear in mind that poets in the Roman world wrote primarily for the ear, not the eye; many premiered their work in recitation for an audience. Hence, variations in word order served a rhetorical as well as a metrical purpose; they certainly did not prevent understanding.
InVirgil'sEclogues, for example, he writes,Omnia vincit amor, et nōs cēdāmus amōrī!: "Love conquersall, let us too yield tolove!". The wordsomnia (all),amor (love) andamōrī (to love) are thrown into relief by their unusual position in their respective phrases.
The ending of the common Roman nameMārcus is different in each of the following pairs of examples because of its grammatical usage in each pair. The ordering in the second sentence of each pair would be correct in Latin and clearly understood, whereas in English it is awkward, at best, and meaningless, at worst:
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