IGCSE LATIN RESOURCE: A WORD ABOUT NOUNS AND THEIR ENDINGS

IGCSE Latin Resource

A WORD ABOUT NOUNS AND THEIR ENDINGS.

Latin nouns are categorised into 5 declensions or groups. In Books 1 and 2 you will meet mostly
nouns from the first three declensions, and book three introduces the last two. It is relatively easy to
identify which declension a noun comes from and it is helpful because it means you can more easily
identify the case endings.

For instance a noun ending in -a in its nominative case will have first declension endings. It is always
a good idea to learn the genitive case of nouns as it is this case which helps you identify for sure
which declension it belongs to. A second declension masculine noun tends to end in -us, and its
genitive is -i, but a fourth declension noun also ends in -us, however its genitive ends in -us too.

Learning the genitive shows you what the stem of the noun is and this is particularly important for
the third declension where there is a fair bit of variation. However despite this, the genitive singular
ending is always –is.

Below are some tables showing the endings and stems of the various cases.

In each case the case ending is in a different colour to help you distinguish between the stem and
the ending itself.

1st Declension – feminine

singular plural

Nominative puella puellae

Vocative puella puellae

Accusative puellam puellas

Genitive puellae puellarum

Dative puellae puellis

Ablative puella puellis

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IGCSE LATIN RESOURCE: A WORD ABOUT NOUNS AND THEIR ENDINGS

2nd Declension – masculine and neuter

Masc sing Masc plur Neuter sing Neuter pl

Nom servus servi templum templa

Voc serve servi templum templa

Acc servum servos templum templa

Gen servi servorum templi templorum

Dat servo servis templo templis

Abl servo servis templo templis

3rd Declension – masculine, feminine and neuter

Masc sing Masc pl Fem sing Fem pl Neut sing Neut pl

Nom leo leones urbs urbes nomen nomina

Voc leo leones urbs urbes nomen nomina

Acc leonem leones urbem urbes nomen nomina

Gen leonis leonum urbis urbium nominis nominum

Dat leoni leonibus urbi urbibus nomini nominibus

Abl leone leonibus urbe urbibus nomine nominibus

NB the genitive plural varies between –um and –ium.

4th Declension – mostly masculine (common exception manus and domus) and some neuter.

Masc sing Masc pl Neuter sing Neuter pl

Nom exercitus exercitus cornu cornua

Voc exercitus exercitus cornu cornua

Acc exercitum exercitus cornu cornua

Gen exercitus exercituum cornus cornuum

Dat exercitui exercitibus cornu cornibus

Abl exercitu exercitibus cornu cornibus

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IGCSE LATIN RESOURCE: A WORD ABOUT NOUNS AND THEIR ENDINGS

5th Declension – all feminine except dies and meridies (however if dies refers to a particular day it
becomes feminine).

sing plural

Nom dies dies

Voc dies dies

Acc dies dies

Gen diei dierum

Dat diei diebus

Abl die diebus