Cases, Descriptions and Examples



Cases, Descriptions, and Examples

Latin For Americans Lessons I-XV

nominative

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|nom. s. |puella |servus |

|nom. pl. |puellae |servī |

1. nominative as subject (LFA Lesson I, p. 18)

The subject of a sentence is put in the nominative.

Anna rānam spectat Anna watches the frog

agricolae laborant the farmers are working

Claudia est puella parva Claudia is a small girl

2. nominative as subject complement or predicate nominative (LFA Lesson I, p. 18)

The subject complement of a sentence with a linking verb is put in the nominative. (Think: Because the subject complement describes the subject, it should be in the nominative, right?) The Latin linking verbs you’ve learned so far are est, sunt, erat, and erant.

Claudia est puella parva Claudia is a small girl

īnsula est magna the island is large

genitive

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|gen. s. |puellae |servī |

|gen. pl. |puellārum |servōrum |

3. possessive genitive (LFA Lesson V, p. 47-49)

The genitive is used to indicate the owner (in a wide sense) of the noun it describes. This genitive is placed directly before or after the noun it describes.

vīta agricolae the life of the farmer

the farmer’s life

agricolae vīta est dūra the farmer’s life is hard

the life of the farmer is hard

fortūna puellārum the fortune of the girls; the girls’ fortune

fortūna puellae the fortune of the girl; the girl’s fortune

dative

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|dat. s. |puellae |servō |

|dat. pl. |puellīs |servīs |

4. dative as indirect object (LFA Lesson VII, p. 61-62)

The indirect object of a verb is put in the dative case. Study the example carefully!

cōpiam cibī amīcīs donās you are giving a supply of food to your friends

you are giving your friends a supply of food

Anna rānam amico monstrat Anna shows the frog to her friend

Anna shows her friend the frog

accusative

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|acc. s. |puellam |servum |

|acc. pl. |puellās |servōs |

5. accusative as direct object (LFA Lesson II, p. 22-23)

The direct object of a verb is in the accusative. It is never preceded by a preposition.

Marcia ranam nōn amavit Marcia didn’t like the frog

agricolae urnās portant farmers carry water jars

agricola carrum bonum parat the farmer gets a good wagon ready

Anna servōs spectat Anna watches the slaves

6. accusative of motion toward or place to which (LFA Lesson XV, p. 110)

Motion toward (place to which) is expressed by the accusative case with the prepositions in ‘into, against’, ad ‘to, toward’ and a few other prepositions. There is usually a verb of motion in the sentence. (If there is no verb of motion in the sentence, ad is best translated as ‘near’.)

ad Hispaniam navigat he sails to Spain

pecuniam in casam portavit she carried the money into the house

ad silvam habitant. they live near the forest

ablative

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|abl. s. |puellā |servō |

|abl. pl. |puellīs |servīs |

7. ablative of means or instrument (LFA Lesson VIII, p. 67-68)

The ablative is used to express means or instrument; in other words, it answers the question ‘by what means?’. This ablativ e doesn’t use a preposition. It is best translated with ‘by,’ ‘with,’ or ‘by means of’. It is usually an object.

victōriā nostrā vitās servāmus by means of our victory we save lives

Rōmānī Galliam pugnīs occupant the Romans seize Gaul by fights

8. ablative of place where (LFA Lesson XI, p. 90)

Place where is expressed with the preposition in ‘in, on’ or sub ‘under’ and the ablative.

in insulā habitant they live on an island

servī in viīs manent the slaves remain on the streets

9. ablative of separation or place from which (LFA Lesson XIII, p. 102-102)

The ablative with the preposition ā or ab ‘from’, dē ‘down from’, ē or ex ‘out of’ is used to express separation.

equus dē Galliā ambulavit the horse walked (down) from Gaul

ē silvā ambulavērunt they walked out of the forest

vocative

| |1st declension |2nd declension |

|voc. s. |puella |serve |

|voc. pl. |puellae |servī |

10. vocative as direct address (LFA Lesson XIII, p. 101)

A vocative is used for direct address; it is not usually in the first position in a sentence. A vocative has the same form as a nominative, with only two exceptions:

1. a second declension singular noun or adjective ending in –us has a vocative ending in –e;

2. a second declension singular noun (not adjective) ending in -ius has a vocative ending in -ī.)

ambulā, Anna, ad casam! Anna, walk to the house!

quid vides, Marce Tulli? Marcus Tullius, what do you see?

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download