Understand Latin's six grammatical cases — the system that tells you who does what to whom, making word order nearly irrelevant. Also learn noun gender and the concept of declensions.
Estimated Time: 40–50 minutes
In English, word order tells you who does what: "The dog bites the man" vs "The man bites the dog." In Latin, endings on nouns do that job instead. The noun's ending changes depending on its role in the sentence — these different forms are called cases.
This means Canis virum mordet and Virum canis mordet and Mordet canis virum all mean the same thing: "The dog bites the man." The -um ending on virum marks it as the object no matter where it appears.
| Case | Function | English Equivalent | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Subject — who does the action | "The girl sees." | Puella videt. |
| Genitive | Possession — "of" | "The girl's book" / "book of the girl" | Liber puellae |
| Dative | Indirect object — "to/for" | "He gives the book to the girl." | Librum puellae dat. |
| Accusative | Direct object — receives the action | "He sees the girl." | Puellam videt. |
| Ablative | Means, manner, place — "by/with/from/in" | "He fights with a sword." | Gladiō pugnat. |
| Vocative | Direct address — calling someone | "O girl!" | O puella! |
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative, Vocative — this is the traditional order you'll see in every Latin textbook and grammar chart.
Every Latin noun has a fixed gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Gender affects which adjective forms you use and which endings the noun takes.
| Gender | Tendency | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine (m.) | Often -us in 2nd declension | servus (slave), amīcus (friend), dominus (master) |
| Feminine (f.) | Often -a in 1st declension | puella (girl), terra (land), aqua (water) |
| Neuter (n.) | Often -um in 2nd declension | bellum (war), dōnum (gift), templum (temple) |
Agricola (farmer) is masculine despite ending in -a. Nauta (sailor) is also masculine. Some 3rd declension nouns are unpredictable. You must memorize gender with each new noun — dictionaries list it as m., f., or n.
Latin groups nouns into five declensions (patterns of case endings). The declension determines which set of endings a noun uses:
| Declension | Genitive Singular Ending | Typical Gender | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | -ae | mostly feminine | puella, puellae (girl) |
| 2nd | -ī | mostly masc/neuter | servus, servī (slave) |
| 3rd | -is | all genders | rēx, rēgis (king) |
| 4th | -ūs | mostly masculine | exercitus, exercitūs (army) |
| 5th | -ēī / -eī | mostly feminine | rēs, reī (thing) |
Latin dictionaries always list two forms: the nominative singular and the genitive singular. The genitive tells you which declension the noun belongs to. For example: puella, -ae (f.) → 1st declension, feminine. rēx, rēgis (m.) → 3rd declension, masculine. Always learn both forms!
Dominus servō pecūniam dat.
(The master gives money to the slave.)
• Dominus = nominative (subject — the master does the giving)
• servō = dative (indirect object — to the slave)
• pecūniam = accusative (direct object — what is given)
• dat = verb (gives)
Fīlia agricolae in vīllā cum amīcīs est.
(The farmer's daughter is in the villa with friends.)
• Fīlia = nominative (subject)
• agricolae = genitive (possession — of the farmer)
• vīllā = ablative (place — in the villa)
• amīcīs = ablative (accompaniment — with friends)
1. Which case indicates the subject of a sentence?
2. How do you determine which declension a noun belongs to?
3. In "Dominus servō librum dat," what case is "servō"?
✦ Latin uses 6 cases (noun endings) instead of word order to show grammatical function.
✦ Nominative = subject, Genitive = "of", Dative = "to/for", Accusative = direct object, Ablative = "by/with/from/in", Vocative = direct address.
✦ Every noun has a fixed gender (m., f., n.) that must be memorized.
✦ Five declensions, identified by the genitive singular ending: -ae, -ī, -is, -ūs, -ēī.
✦ Always learn nouns with both nominative and genitive: puella, -ae (f.) = girl.