ROM: Lesson - Declining Adjectives

Declining Adjectives

Latin adjectives are organized by gender, number and case. To achieve this organization, they borrow noun endings. This means that they decline like a noun that can be any of the three genders, and so use both 1st and 2nd declension noun endings. These noun endings are added to the adjective base for each gender.

For adjectives the set of endings used determines the gender. So, if an adjective is using 1st declension endings, it is being used to agree with a feminine noun. The following will be true of all adjectives:

2nd Declension Masculine Endings
- adjective agrees with a masculine noun
1st Declension Endings
- adjective agrees with a feminine noun
2nd Declension Neuter Endings
- adjective agrees with a neuter noun

In an adjective endings chart, adjectives will also be listed in the following order: Masculine, Feminine, Neuter, using the corresponding noun endings as established above.

Adjective Endings Chart

Remember, adjectives borrow noun endings. Use this as an opportunity to review the endings for 1st and 2nd declension nouns!

**Adjective Endings Chart**
Case	Masculine (2nd Declension Endings)		Feminine (1st Declension Endings)		Neuter (2nd Declension Endings)
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	us/er*	i	a	ae	um	a
Genitive	i	orum	ae	arum	i	orum
Dative	o	is	ae	is	o	is
Accusative	um	os	am	as	um	a
Ablative	o	is	a	is	o	is
Vocative	See note**	i	a	ae	um	a

Nota Bene

*The masculine nominative singular can be either -us or -er, but it will only be one or the other (they are not interchangeable endings). Be sure to check the dictionary entry for the correct masculine, nominative, singular form.
**Adjectives used in the vocative follow the same rules as vocative nouns. They use the nominative endings, unless they end in us or ius.
- us changes to e
- ius changes to i
- Example: Marce care = dear Marcus

Adjective Formation Chart - Examples

Let's take a look at two example adjectives.

-us Adjective

First up, let's look at an adjective that has a masculine form ending in -us. Notice that the dictionary entry is abbreviated, but we understand that the feminine form is cara and the neuter form is carum. Adjective base: car- (cara - a).

**Adjective Endings Chart - carus, a, um**
Case	Masculine (2nd Declension Endings)		Feminine (1st Declension Endings)		Neuter (2nd Declension Endings)
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	carus	cari	cara	carae	carum	cara
Genitive	cari	carorum	carae	cararum	cari	carorum
Dative	caro	caris	carae	caris	caro	caris
Accusative	carum	caros	caram	caras	carum	cara
Ablative	caro	caris	cara	caris	caro	caris
Vocative	care	cari	cara	carae	carum	cara

-er Adjective

Now, let's look at an -er adjective. Does miser drop its -e or keep it? The feminine form is misera, so we keep the -e. Adjective base: miser-.

**Adjective Endings Chart - miser, misera, miserum**
Case	Masculine (2nd Declension Endings)		Feminine (1st Declension Endings)		Neuter (2nd Declension Endings)
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	miserus	miseri	misera	miserae	miserum	misera
Genitive	miseri	miserorum	miserae	miserarum	miseri	miserorum
Dative	misero	miseris	miserae	miseris	misero	miseris
Accusative	miserum	miseros	miseram	miseras	miserum	misera
Ablative	misero	miseris	misera	miseris	misero	miseris
Vocative	misere	miseri	misera	miserae	miserum	misera