AQU: Lesson - Case Ending Review

Case Ending Review

Below is a set of charts containing the nominative, accusative, ablative and vocative case endings. Make sure you have all these endings in your notes before moving on in the course.

Noun Endings - 1st Declension
Case Singular Plural
Nominative a ae
Accusative am as
Ablative a is/abus*
Vocative a ae

Nota bene:

  • 1st declension nouns are mostly feminine, but there are some masculine nouns. The masculine nouns use the same endings as the feminine.
  • *Some feminine nouns, like dea and filia, share a noun base with a 2nd declension masculine noun (deus, filius). The feminine nouns will end with -abus (deabus, filiabus) in the ablative plural instead of -is to avoid confusion with the masculine nouns (deis, filiis).
Noun Endings - 2nd Declension
Case Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Neuter Singular Neuter Plural
Nominative us (er, ir) i um a
Accusative um os um a
Ablative o is o is
Vocative Same as Nom* i um a

Nota Bene:

  • *Remember: the vocative form will be the same as the nominative form, with just one exception: 2nd declension masculine nouns ending in us (or ius):
    • -us changes to -e (Decime from Decimus)
    • -ius changes to -i (Claudi from Claudius)
Noun Endings - 3rd Declension
Case M/F Singular M/F Plural Neuter Singular Neuter Plural
Nominative varies** es varies** a
Accusative em es Same as Nom a
Ablative e ibus e ibus
Vocative Same as Nom es Same as Nom a

Nota Bene:

  • **Varies is not an ending, but a note to remind you that 3rd declension has no set nominative singular ending. Instead, the nominative singular will be the first word listed in the dictionary entry. You will need to take special note of the nominative form when learning the vocabulary for a lesson.

Example Nouns Declined

Let's take a moment to look at a few nouns, one in each declension.

1st declension

Remember that most 1st declension nouns are feminine. However, there are some masculine nouns: these masculine nouns use the exact same forms as the feminine, so if you were working with a masculine noun (like agricola, agricolae, m.) the process would be the same.

  • puella, puellae, f. - girl
    • Base: puell- (puellae - ae)
1st Declension Example
Case Singular Plural
Nominative puella puellae
Accusative puellam puellas
Ablative puella puellis
Vocative puella puellae

2nd declension

  • Masculine:
    • puer, pueri, m. - boy
    • Base: puell- (puellae - ae)
  • Neuter:
    • bellum, belli, n. - war
    • Base: bell- (belli - i)
2nd Declension Examples
Case Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Neuter Singular Neuter Plural
Nominative puer pueri bellum bella
Accusative puerum pueros bellum bella
Ablative puero pueris bello bellis
Vocative puer pueri bellum bella

3rd declension

Remember, 3rd declension masculine and feminine use the exact same endings. So, the provided example is feminine, but it would be the same process if the noun had been masculine (like miles, militis, etc.).

  • Feminine:
    • legio, legionis, f. - legion
    • Base: legion- (legionis - is)
  • Neuter:
    • vulnus, vulneris, n. - wound
    • Base: vulner- (vulneris - is)
3rd Declension Examples
Case Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Neuter Singular Neuter Plural
Nominative legio legiones vulnus vulnera
Accusative legionem legiones vulnus vulnera
Ablative legione legionibus vulnere vulneribus
Vocative legio legiones vulnus vulnera

Nota bene: hopefully you noticed that the masculine/feminine nominative, accusative and vocative are identical in the plural, and the neuter cases are identical in both the singular and plural! Don't forget this shortcut when working with neuter 3rd declension nouns!