FAM: Lesson - Numbers as Adjectives

The image shows a series of urns, labeled with Latin for 1-5.

Numbers as Adjectives

Remember that numbers are adjectives. This means that numbers must agree in gender, number and case with the nouns they modify. Let's look at the examples below.

Cardinal Numbers

Only unus, duo and tres (one, two, three) are declined. All other cardinal numbers are indeclinable (will not change their form) but are still considered to agree with the noun they modify.

The image at the top of the page shows this. Let's look through each line:

  • For just one urn, una is nominative, feminine and singular to agree with urna.
    • una urna
  • For two or three urns, duae and tres are nominative, feminine and plural to agree with urnae.
    • duae urnae
    • tres urnae
  • For four or five urns, quattuor and quinque are indeclinable, meaning you just write the number as is. These forms agree by default with urnae.
    • quattuor urnae
    • quinque urnae

Mille

The number mille (1000) is indeclinable as an adjective but can be used as a declinable plural noun to express thousands. Let's look at two examples, comparing the difference:

  • Mille amicos habeo.
    • I have 1000 friends.
    • mille is being used as an adjective, agreeing with amicos
  • Milia amicorum habeo.
    • I have thousands of friends.
    • milia is an accusative plural noun.

Milia is most commonly used with the genitive case to form a partitive genitive. Consider a similar noun: multitudo, multitudinis, f. - multitude:

  • multitudo Romanorum - a multitude of Romans
  • milia Romanorum - thousands of Romans.

Exempli gratia (Additional Examples)

Remember that numbers are adjectives and so can agree with a noun in any case. A number must always agree in gender, number and case with the noun it modifies. Consider the examples below.

  • Decimus unam urnam portat.
    • Accusative usage: Decimus carries one urn.
  • Decimus duas urnas portat.
    • Accusative usage: Decimus carries two urns.
  • Decimus aquam in una urna portat.
    • Abaltive usage: Decimus carries water in one urn.
  • Decimus aquam in tribus urnis portat.
    • Ablative usage: Decimus carries water in three urns.

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are declined like 1st and 2nd declension adjectives:

  • prima urna
  • secunda urna
  • tertia urna
  • quarta urna

In the examples above, the adjectives prima, secunda, tertia, and quarta are all feminine, nominative, and singular to agree with urna. In a sentence, we would see:

  • Decimus aquam in prima urna portat.
    • Decimus carries water in the first urn.

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