Chapter 1: Nouns

What Is a Noun?

A noun is a word that names something: - A person: farmer, soldier, Marcus, woman - A place: Rome, city, garden, Britain - A thing: book, sword, table, horse - An idea: freedom, love, war, virtue

Traditional term: Latin grammars call this nōmen (literally “name”) or nōmen substantīvum (“naming word of substance”).

What Nouns Do in Sentences

Nouns play different roles in sentences. Consider:

The farmer gave the boy a horse.

Three nouns, three different jobs: - farmer — the one doing the giving - boy — the one receiving the horse - horse — the thing being given

In English, word order tells us who’s doing what. The noun before the verb is usually doing the action; the noun after is usually receiving it.

But in Latin, Greek, and German, word endings tell us who’s doing what. The nouns change their form depending on their role. This system of changing forms is called case.

Case: How Nouns Show Their Job

The Core Idea

In English, word order indicates grammatical function. In Latin, the ending does:

English (word order)	Latin (endings)
The dog bites the man.	Canis hominem mordet.
The man bites the dog.	Homō canem mordet.

In the Latin sentences: - Canis / Homō — nominative ending = “I’m the one doing the biting” - Canem / Hominem — accusative ending = “I’m the one being bitten”

Scramble the Latin word order and the meaning stays the same: - Canis hominem mordet - Hominem canis mordet - Mordet canis hominem

All mean “The dog bites the man” because the endings haven’t changed.

The Cases

Different languages have different numbers of cases. Latin has seven:

Case	Main Function	English Equivalent	Example Question
Nominative	Subject (the doer)	—	Who or what is doing this?
Accusative	Direct object (the receiver)	—	Who or what receives the action?
Genitive	Possession, “of”	’s or of	Whose? Of what?
Dative	Indirect object (the recipient)	to or for	To whom? For whom?
Ablative	Various (by, with, from, in)	by, with, from, in	By what means? From where?
Vocative	Direct address	—	Who is being called?
Locative	Location	at, in	Where?

Traditional terms: These come from Latin grammar: - Nominative = nōminātīvus (from nōmen, “name” — the “naming” case) - Accusative = accūsātīvus (the case of the “accused” — the one affected) - Genitive = genitīvus (showing origin or possession) - Dative = datīvus (from dare, “to give” — the “giving to” case) - Ablative = ablātīvus (from auferre, “to carry away” — the “taking from” case) - Vocative = vocātīvus (from vocāre, “to call”)

Let’s examine each case in detail.

The Nominative Case: The Subject

What It Does

The nominative marks the subject — the person or thing doing the action or being described.

The soldier fights.

Who fights? The soldier. “Soldier” is the subject, so in Latin it takes the nominative case.

Identification

The nominative answers the question: Who or what is performing the action?

Examples Across Languages

Language	Sentence	Subject (Nominative)	Translation
English	The dog runs.	The dog	—
Latin	Canis currit.	Canis	The dog runs.
Greek	ὁ κύων τρέχει.	ὁ κύων	The dog runs.
German	Der Hund läuft.	Der Hund	The dog runs.
Spanish	El perro corre.	El perro	The dog runs.
French	Le chien court.	Le chien	The dog runs.

The Nominative After “To Be”

The nominative is also used for nouns that describe the subject after verbs like “to be”:

Marcus is a soldier.

Both “Marcus” and “soldier” refer to the same person, so both are nominative:

Language	Sentence	Translation
Latin	Marcus mīles est.	Marcus is a soldier.
Greek	Μάρκος στρατιώτης ἐστίν.	Marcus is a soldier.

This is sometimes called the predicate nominative — a nominative that follows the verb and refers back to the subject.

The Accusative Case: The Direct Object

What It Does

The accusative marks the direct object — the person or thing that receives the action directly.

The soldier killed the enemy.

Who got killed? The enemy. “Enemy” is the direct object, so in Latin it takes the accusative case.

Identification

The accusative answers the question: Who or what receives the action?

Examples Across Languages

Language	Sentence	Direct Object (Accusative)	Translation
English	I see the boy.	the boy	—
Latin	Puerum videō.	Puerum	I see the boy.
Greek	τὸν παῖδα ὁρῶ.	τὸν παῖδα	I see the boy.
German	Ich sehe den Jungen.	den Jungen	I see the boy.
Spanish	Veo al niño.	al niño	I see the boy.
French	Je vois le garçon.	le garçon	I see the boy.

Spanish Personal “a”

Notice that Spanish uses a before human direct objects: Veo a Juan (“I see John”) but Veo el libro (“I see the book”). This doesn’t exist in other languages — it’s a Spanish quirk marking human direct objects specially.

Accusative for Motion Towards

In Latin, the accusative also shows motion towards a place:

Latin	Translation	Notes
Rōmam eō.	I go to Rome.	City names don’t need a preposition
In urbem venit.	He came into the city.	in + accusative = motion into

Compare with German: - in die Stadt (accusative) = “into the city” (motion) - in der Stadt (dative) = “in the city” (location, no motion)

Accusative for Extent

Latin uses accusative for how long or how far:

Latin	Translation
Trēs diēs mānsit.	He stayed (for) three days.
Decem pedēs lātus	Ten feet wide.

The Genitive Case: Possession and “Of”

What It Does

The genitive shows possession or a relationship that English expresses with “of” or ’s:

The king’s crown / The crown of the king

Identification

The genitive answers the questions: Whose? or Of what?

Examples Across Languages

Language	Phrase	Genitive	Translation
English	the king’s book	king’s	—
Latin	liber rēgis	rēgis	the book of the king
Greek	τὸ βιβλίον τοῦ βασιλέως	τοῦ βασιλέως	the book of the king
German	das Buch des Königs	des Königs	the book of the king
Spanish	el libro del rey	del rey	the book of the king
French	le livre du roi	du roi	the book of the king

Note: Spanish and French don’t have case endings on nouns. They use de (“of”) instead: del rey = de + el rey = “of the king.”

Other Uses of the Genitive

The genitive has several important uses beyond simple possession:

Subjective vs. Objective genitive — a tricky ambiguity:

The phrase amor patris can mean two things: - “the father’s love” (the love the father feels) — subjective genitive - “love for the father” (love felt toward the father) — objective genitive

Context usually clarifies which is meant.

The Dative Case: The Indirect Object

What It Does

The dative marks the indirect object — the person who receives something or benefits from an action. In English, this is often expressed with “to” or “for.”

I gave the boy a book. = I gave a book to the boy.

The boy is the indirect object — he’s the one receiving the book.

Identification

The dative answers the questions: To whom? or For whom?

Examples Across Languages

Language	Sentence	Dative	Translation
English	I give the book to the boy.	to the boy	—
Latin	Dō librum puerō.	puerō	I give the book to the boy.
Greek	δίδωμι τὸ βιβλίον τῷ παιδί.	τῷ παιδί	I give the book to the boy.
German	Ich gebe dem Jungen das Buch.	dem Jungen	I give the boy the book.
Spanish	Doy el libro al niño.	al niño	I give the book to the boy.
French	Je donne le livre au garçon.	au garçon	I give the book to the boy.

Other Uses of the Dative

This is a common trap — you need to learn which verbs take dative objects.

The Ablative Case: The “By/With/From/In” Case

What It Does

The ablative is the Latin catch-all case. It covers several relationships that English expresses with different prepositions. (Greek merged most ablative functions into the genitive and dative.)

The Three Underlying Meanings

Historically, the Latin ablative merged three earlier cases:

Function	Meaning	Example	Translation
Separation	away from	Rōmā abiit.	He departed from Rome.
Instrument	by means of	Gladiō pugnat.	He fights with a sword.
Location	in/at	In urbe habitat.	He lives in the city.

Identification

The ablative typically answers: By what means? With what? From where? In what circumstance?

Examples

Ablative with Prepositions

Note: in takes ablative for location (“in the city”) but accusative for motion (“into the city”).

The Vocative Case: Direct Address

What It Does

The vocative is used when you speak directly to someone:

Marcus, come here!

Identification

The vocative marks the person or thing being directly addressed.

Examples

Language	Sentence	Vocative	Translation
English	Marcus, come here!	Marcus	—
Latin	Marce, venī hūc!	Marce	Marcus, come here!
Greek	ὦ Μάρκε, δεῦρο ἐλθέ.	Μάρκε	O Marcus, come here!

Form

In Latin, the vocative is usually identical to the nominative, except for second-declension nouns ending in -us, which change to -e: - dominus (nominative) → domine (vocative) — “O master!” - Marcus (nominative) → Marce (vocative) — “O Marcus!”

Greek often uses ὦ before the vocative for emphasis.

The Locative Case: Location

What It Does

The locative expresses location without a preposition — answering “where?”

Examples

Word	Locative	Meaning
Rōma	Rōmae	at Rome
domus	domī	at home
rūs	rūrī	in the country
Athēnae	Athēnīs	at Athens
Carthāgō	Carthāginī	at Carthage

Form

The locative has the same form as: - Genitive singular for 1st and 2nd declension singular nouns (Rōmae, like gen. sg.) - Ablative singular for 3rd declension singular nouns (Carthāginī) - Ablative plural for plural place names (Athēnīs)

Usage

The locative is used primarily with: - Names of cities and small islands: Rōmae (at Rome), Corinthi (at Corinth) - A few common nouns: domī (at home), rūrī (in the country), humī (on the ground), militiae (in military service)

For other nouns expressing location, Latin uses the ablative with in: in urbe (in the city).

Number: Singular, Dual, and Plural

Nouns change form to show number — how many things you’re talking about.

Number	What It Means	Languages	Example
Singular	One	All	Latin puella — girl
Dual	Two	Greek	Greek τὼ στρατιώτα — the two soldiers
Plural	More than one	All	Latin puellae — girls

The dual is a distinct set of endings used for pairs (two eyes, two hands, two people acting together). It was archaic even in Classical Greek and had largely disappeared by Hellenistic times, but it appears in Homer and in fixed expressions.

Number Changes Along with Case

Here’s where it gets complex: nouns show both case and number in their endings. Here’s the Latin word puella (girl) in all its forms:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puella	puellae
Accusative	puellam	puellās
Genitive	puellae	puellārum
Dative	puellae	puellīs
Ablative	puellā	puellīs
Vocative	puella	puellae

One word, twelve forms. Each form tells you two things: the noun’s job (case) and whether it’s singular or plural (number).

Gender: Masculine, Feminine, Neuter

Every noun belongs to a gender category. This has nothing to do with biological sex — it’s a grammatical classification.

Gender	Latin Example	German Example	French Example
Masculine	hortus (garden)	der Tisch (table)	le livre (book)
Feminine	silva (forest)	die Lampe (lamp)	la table (table)
Neuter	bellum (war)	das Buch (book)	—

French and Spanish have lost the neuter gender. German and Latin retain all three.

Why Gender Matters

Gender matters because other words must agree. Adjectives, articles, and pronouns change their form to match the noun’s gender:

French: - le petit livre — the small book (masculine) - la petite table — the small table (feminine)

Latin: - hortus magnus — the large garden (masculine) - silva magna — the large forest (feminine) - bellum magnum — the large war (neuter)

If you see magnus, you know it modifies a masculine noun. If you see magna, it’s feminine. This helps you work out which words belong together.

How to Know a Noun’s Gender

Some patterns help: - Nouns naming males are usually masculine; females usually feminine - In Latin, most nouns ending in -us are masculine; -a are feminine; -um are neuter

But there are many exceptions. Ultimately, you must learn each noun with its gender. Good dictionaries mark gender (m., f., n.).

Declension: Patterns of Endings

Nouns don’t all follow the same pattern of endings. They fall into groups called declensions (from Latin dēclīnātiō, “a bending away” from the basic form).

Latin Declensions

Latin has five declensions:

Declension	Typical Ending (Nom. Sing.)	Example	Gender Pattern
1st	-a	puella (girl)	mostly feminine
2nd	-us, -um, -er	dominus (master), bellum (war)	masc. or neut.
3rd	various	rēx (king), corpus (body)	any gender
4th	-us, -ū	manus (hand)	mostly masc. or fem.
5th	-ēs	rēs (thing)	mostly feminine

Each declension has its own set of endings for all cases and numbers. You need to memorise these patterns — they’re the key to reading Latin.

Greek Declensions

Greek has three main declensions with similar logic.

German Declensions

German has several declension patterns (strong, weak, mixed), affecting how nouns form their plurals and how articles change.

Spanish and French

These languages have lost noun case endings. Gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) are the main categories that affect noun forms.

How to Parse a Noun: A Method

When you encounter a noun, work through these questions:

What is the base word? (dictionary form)
What declension does it belong to?
What gender is it?
What case is this form? (look at the ending)
What number is it? (singular or plural?)
What function does it have in the sentence? (subject, object, etc.)

Worked Example

Parse puellārum in this sentence:

Puellārum librōs videō.

Base word: puella (girl)
Declension: 1st (because puella ends in -a)
Gender: feminine
Case: -ārum is the genitive plural ending for 1st declension
Number: plural
Function: genitive = “of” → “of the girls”

Now the rest: librōs is accusative plural (direct object), videō is “I see.”

Translation: “I see the books of the girls” = “I see the girls’ books.”

Translating Cases into English

Here’s a quick reference for turning Latin/Greek cases into English:

Case	Typical English Translation
Nominative	Just the noun (subject position)
Accusative	Just the noun (object position)
Genitive	“of the *” or ”*’s”
Dative	“to the *” or ”for the* ”
Ablative	“by/with/from/in the ___” (context determines which)
Vocative	“O ___!” or just the noun with comma
Locative	“at *” or ”in* ” (for places)

Examples

Latin	Literal	Natural English
Liber puerī	book of-the-boy	the boy’s book
Puerō librum dat.	To-the-boy book he-gives.	He gives the book to the boy.
Cum gladiō pugnat.	With sword he-fights.	He fights with a sword.
Ā rēge laudātur.	By king he-is-praised.	He is praised by the king.

Common Pitfalls

Same Ending, Different Meanings

Watch out — the same ending can mean different things in different declensions:

puellae (1st decl.) = genitive singular OR dative singular OR nominative plural
dominī (2nd decl.) = genitive singular OR nominative plural

Context resolves the ambiguity. Look at: - The verb (is it singular or plural?) - Other words in agreement - What makes sense

Genitive vs. Dative in 1st Declension

In the 1st declension, genitive singular and dative singular are identical (puellae for both). How do you tell them apart?

Genitive: look for possession or “of” relationship
Dative: look for verbs of giving, showing, or telling — actions with a recipient

Accusative vs. Nominative in Neuter Nouns

In Latin and Greek, neuter nouns have identical nominative and accusative: - bellum = nominative singular AND accusative singular

Use verb agreement and context to determine which is which.

Noun Phrases: Nouns with Their Modifiers

Nouns rarely appear alone. They come with modifiers — words that describe or limit them:

the old farmer’s large black horse

This whole phrase centres on “horse.” Everything else tells us more about which horse.

Components of a noun phrase: - Article: the - Adjectives: large, black - Possessive: the old farmer’s - Head noun: horse

In Latin: > equus magnus āter agricolae senis

The adjectives must agree with the noun in case, number, and gender. This agreement helps you identify which words belong together, even when word order varies.

Summary

Concept	What It Means	Why It Matters
Case	The form showing a noun’s function	Tells you who does what to whom
Number	Singular or plural	Tells you how many
Gender	Masculine, feminine, or neuter	Determines agreement with adjectives
Declension	The pattern of endings	Helps you recognise case and number

The key skill: look at the ending, identify the case, determine the function.

Quick Reference: Latin Case Endings

First Declension (puella, girl — feminine)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	-a	-ae
Acc.	-am	-ās
Gen.	-ae	-ārum
Dat.	-ae	-īs
Abl.	-ā	-īs
Voc.	-a	-ae

Second Declension (dominus, master — masculine)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	-us	-ī
Acc.	-um	-ōs
Gen.	-ī	-ōrum
Dat.	-ō	-īs
Abl.	-ō	-īs
Voc.	-e	-ī

Second Declension (bellum, war — neuter)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	-um	-a
Acc.	-um	-a
Gen.	-ī	-ōrum
Dat.	-ō	-īs
Abl.	-ō	-īs
Voc.	-um	-a

(Third, fourth, and fifth declension tables would follow in a complete reference.)

English Historical Context

Modern English retains a reduced inflectional system inherited from Old English (a fully inflected Germanic language).

Old English Noun Declension (c. 900 AD): cyning (king)

Singular:

Case	Form	Example Phrase	Translation
Nominative	se cyning	Se cyning rīdeþ.	The king rides.
Accusative	þone cyning	Hīe gesāwon þone cyning.	They saw the king.
Genitive	þæs cyninges	þæs cyninges hors	the king’s horse
Dative	þǣm cyninge	Hīe sealdon þǣm cyninge gold.	They gave gold to the king.

Plural:

Case	Form	Example Phrase	Translation
Nominative	þā cyningas	Þā cyningas cōmon.	The kings came.
Accusative	þā cyningas	Wē gesāwon þā cyningas.	We saw the kings.
Genitive	þāra cyninga	þāra cyninga land	the kings’ land
Dative	þǣm cyningum	Hē spræc tō þǣm cyningum.	He spoke to the kings.

Note the distinct endings: -∅ (nom. sg.), -es (gen. sg.), -e (dat. sg.), -as (nom./acc. pl.), -a (gen. pl.), -um (dat. pl.).

Collapse to Modern English

Case	Old English Singular	Modern English
Nominative	se cyning	the king
Accusative	þone cyning	the king
Genitive	þæs cyninges	the king’s
Dative	þǣm cyninge	(to) the king

Case	Old English Plural	Modern English
Nominative	þā cyningas	the kings
Accusative	þā cyningas	the kings
Genitive	þāra cyninga	the kings’
Dative	þǣm cyningum	(to) the kings

What survived: - Nominative/accusative distinction: lost (both → king/kings) - Genitive: retained as -’s (singular) and -s’ (plural) - Dative: lost (replaced by preposition to) - Article inflection: lost (se/þone/þæs/þǣm → the)

Pronouns retained more:

Case	Old English	Modern English
Nominative	hē	he
Accusative	hine	him
Genitive	his	his
Dative	him	him

The accusative–dative distinction collapsed (hine + him → him), but nominative–accusative remains (he ≠ him).

Why the Apostrophe?

The genitive -’s derives from Old English -es:

þæs cyninges hors → the kinges hors → the king’s horse

The apostrophe marks the lost e. This explains: - it’s (= it is) vs. its (possessive): possessive pronouns (his, its, hers) never took the -es suffix - the kings’ horses: the apostrophe follows the plural -s, since kings already ends in s

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